Online fraud is growing rampantly without any end in sight.  While the Internet has become a lucrative channel for conducting business and selling goods and services, it also created a lucrative avenue for scammers and thieves.

Today, anyone can put up a professional website for very little costs.  A domain only costs $8, hosting can be free in some cases, and you can buy pre-made professional web templates that can rival the looks of the most established businesses.  Ecommerce functionality is likewise getting cheaper so anyone can set up a cheap way to extract money from unsuspecting web customers.

The technology and laws that have arisen to protect privacy on the Internet can be manipulated to protect revealing the identity of the scam artists.  Some of the most famous scams have extracted billions of dollars and the law enforcement agencies cannot trace the criminals.

The legal system has always been one of the slowest institutions in society to act to address new legal problems that arise due to an evolving society.  And, the law will never catch up.  Arguably, the minds behind criminal schemes are clever and even more innovative than the entrepreneurs with legimitate business models.

Technology will always outpace the law and even when the law does address a new problem, enforcement and real remedies are just not practical to a single person who has been defrauded.

We have gotten to a point where online commerce has become accepted and mainstream, but the concerns of online fraud are only now becoming a matter of significant concern to the average person.  Online fraud cases are showing up more and more in the news. The average business and consumer is becoming aware of the problems and the increasing chances that they could become a victim.

No longer will any security or trust certification seals work to alleviate the concerns. The public is becoming more savvy and understands that MOST (not all) of those certification programs are just another way someone is making a quick buck to sell a nice looking seal.

This issue will be elevated in the next few years and as a result- online buyers have started and will start to change their buying habits online based on these concerns.  They will want to only do business with companies that they KNOW are legitimate.

Even more, customers will come to realize that just because a website looks professional does not mean it is legimitate.  And, just because it posseses certifications or seals, does not mean it is a trustworthy business.  Customers will do more diligence seeking independent evidence of credibility.

This trend will make it more challenging for the new and small businesses to be successful and compete with the larger and more established businesses.  The best way to address this in your business is to focus on building your branding and establishing a presence in your industry.

Don’t look for shortcuts but think about what any real, legitimate company does over time to build their brand presence. Branding activity can be expensive but with new Internet based tools such as social media to help spread the word, a business can build a brand quickly with the right focus and approach.

Another question I get often is whether an online business owner can register a domain name with a big name in their space.  The goal here is that the search engines give some value from a search engine perspective to words in a domain name.

For example, if someone sells a product or service related to online auctioning, can they get a domain name like “www.ebay-alternative.com” to help them get traffic to their site?

No- this is only opening the door to trouble.  There now is a specific law called the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) passed in 2000. The goal of this law is to stop the misappropriation and improper use of domain names.  While there is a lot of complexity in this set of laws and in some cases a use of a name may not be in violation of laws . . . from a business perspective, the bottom line is to not go down the path of using the brand or marks of other companies in your space to build your businesses. URLs are intellectual property and protected under the laws.

I always advise business owners to build their own brand and not try to take advantage of short cuts by using others makes and names in any way without their permission and involvement. Now, if you are doing a business development deal or a co-branding deal with another company, then you can negotiate the use and leverage of the other company’s brand.  This topic is the unilateral use- just do not do it.

One big issue with the Internet is that it is really easy for competitors and other businesses to publish and share content on the Internet. Because many Internet businesses are so easily reproducible, the biggest competitive advantage you can create is developing your BRAND in your market.

Think about the best brands on the Internet- Amazon, eBay, Google, Facebook for example.  People choose to visit sites and do business with these companies sometimes because of their brand reputation. While you may be operating a much smaller business, your brand is still going to be the most valuable asset to your technology or online business.

Now, as you develop your brand and establish your trade names and trademarks, there may be others out there who will seek to exploit them.  One method includes attempt to try to confuse the public into buying their products and services based on the customers thinking it is part of your company – this is through the unlawful use of your trade names or trademarks on your site.

If you ever find one of these culprits, what can you do?  There are two things you can do immediately.

1. First, find the owner of the site with the offending content and send them a cease and desist letter.  This is basically a letter notifying them of the infringement and asking them to remove your marks and any other infringing content from their website immediately.  You can send this directly or have your lawyer send out on law firm letterhead (there is nothing to get people to behave more than sending letter from a lawyer).

2. Second, there is a law called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which provides an avenue for you to send a letter to the internet service provider or the website that is hosting the content where your trademark resides.  Now, this company can be a hosting provider like GoDaddy or Hostgator, but it also includes every major website that hosts content (e.g., Google, Yahoo, Facebook, YouTube, Craigslist).

They will have a policy on their sites for how you can notify them of an infringement in their hosted content.  Make sure you follow their policies exactly as written.  They all have staff dedicated to this because if they do not take down infringing content once they are put on notice of it, they could later be held liable.  The law requires that have a policy.

The law has specific requirements for what should be in the notice to the service provider and you should review the specific provision before preparing one, but generally it requires -

- a signature of the person who owns the trademark being infringed

- adequate description and location of the infringing material (URL link)

- information to help the provider contact you

- a statement that you in good faith believe that the use of the material being complained of is not authorized by the owner or the law

- certification of accuracy

One really important step when starting a small business is coming up with a name for your company.  There are two main areas of law to concern yourself about.  The first is business organizations law.  Whether you plan on using a limited liability company or a corporation, the name you use must be available for use as a legal entity name in your state of organization.

Also, check in your locality where your principal business will be conducted.  There are many non-legal entity businesses that are required to file for DBA and busines licenses and so you want to be sure there will be no conflicts with the names being used by those businesses as well.

So before you get too comfortable with a name, make sure you check with your state corporation agency (called the Secretary of State in most but not all states) to confirm that your name is not already being used or is not too similar to another name registered.  If your business name is really integral to your business, consider reserving the name if you are not yet ready to move forward with your business entity organization.

If you plan on using your name as your company brand and in connection with promoting your products or services, then there is a second area of law- trademark and trade names, that become relevant.  Generally, these laws prevent you from using a mark that is so similar to another trademark that it has a likelihood of causing confusion in the marketplace.

Unfortunately, there is no black and white answer to this inquiry.  First, determine where you will be selling and promoting your products.  If it is just locally, then you need to determine whether there is another business in your local area which uses the same name to sell a similar category of goods or services. If you plan on selling nationally or even internationally, your inquiry needs to cover your scope of coverage.  How do you do this?  The answer is through getting trademark searches.

You can start by searching the government website where marks are registered- Thet patent and trademark office.  They have a search function on their site.  Another option is to pay for some trademark search reports.  Or, you can find attorneys who will do this for you at a flat fee.

Now, many small business owners do not inquire into trademark matters because money is an issue and the company is just starting.  However, think about what may happen if your business becomes the successful and thriving one you plan on creating?  You do not want to spend thousands and thousands of dollar promoting your brand only to find out that you can no longer use your name and you may be liable to another company for substantial damages.

This analysis of course depends on how integral your name is going to be to your business and where you plan on conducting business.  At the very least, conduct your own web based inquiries to see if there are any blatant similarities with competitor businesses or those that are in the same general industry as your contemplated business.