"Windows Vista" is a Microsoft trademarked operating system.

The last time I checked, I noticed thousands of domain names being registered and offered for sale to other users targeting use for "Windows Vista" web activities.

Something interesting is the site http://www.vista.com , a small business homepage, registered since 1994. Since it has been registered for over a decade, the rightful owner should have no worries about Microsoft coming after them but a curious notice is that they have surely for the purpose of financial gain on Microsoft Vista related type-in traffic, recently changed to offer 5 or 6 Vista / Office / Linux / Outlook navigation links on the right. Some of the links change a small text blurb from page to page others are the same that mention Vista operating systems and software. It's deceptive and offers nothing but to refresh ads on the left content area but I think they will get away with it. At the very bottom of the page is a link to their previous homepage which advertises Sam's Club Business websites.

UPDATE: At some point recently it appears they have reverted to their original homepage with no reference to Microsoft Windows Vista the operating system or Microsoft. Perhaps they received a letter from Microsoft lawyers pointing out their deceptive changes.

Other web entrepreneurs might not be so lucky to get away with possession of Vista/Microsoft related domains. Domainer's scooped up thousands of premium Vista related domain names years ago and have been reselling them to interested parties at varying but inflated prices ever since. Web gurus with dreams of creating an Vista add-on, a Vista support site, a Vista wallpaper archive, etc. might buy one of these domain names and find themselves at some point down the road having to turn it over to Microsoft. We've seen it before and we'll see it again.... this is especially certain because of all the recent activity. Those familiar with domain squatters capitalizing on typo domains and trademark name variations are starting to piss the big companies off and there is some house cleaning or domain cleaning I suppose you call it,,,,,,, in progress... so look out squatters and look out anyone that uses the 'Windows Vista' trademark or variation of in their domain name.

In August 2006, Microsoft filed lawsuits against owners of 400+ domain names used by typo squatters, domains squatter, cyber squatters, whatever you wanna call them! The lawsuits were a result of research through the Strider Typo-Patrol Project, lead by Yi-Min Wang. The free tool, the Strider URL Tracer, helps domain owners spot these squatters. URL: http://research.microsoft.com/URLTracer/ The specific trademarks that were of attention in this lawsuit were Age of Empires, Halo, Hotmail, Microsoft, MSN, Windows, Windows XP. You can bet 'Windows Vista' violations will be reviewed next and for those infringing Microsoft's trade and service marks by registering Internet Domain names that are identical or confusingly similar to Microsoft's trade and service marks, and by using those domain names in bad faith to GET RICH! ..... be warned!

These and other such domains are not maintained by Microsoft, but by professional domain name holding operations that illegally profit through the misuse of Microsoft’s intellectual property.

Thousands of such domains targeting Microsoft are being registered each day. Surfing to these Web pages leads site visitors to a screen chock full of pay-per-click advertisements and little meaningful content. Each click on one of these ads yields a transaction that delivers revenue to the cybersquatter paid through an online ad network. The result: potential confusion for visitors to Microsoft’s legitimate Web sites and illegal profiteering through the misuse of Microsoft’s intellectual property.

Internet Safety Enforcement Attorney Aaron Kornblum leads Microsoft’s new enforcement campaign that targets Web site cybersquatters and typosquatters. Kornblum says that Microsoft’s Trademark and Internet Safety Enforcement groups began to notice a surge in domain name registrations containing the company’s intellectual property earlier this year while monitoring Web sites registered by online fraudsters known as phishers. This existing anti-phishing “Domain Defense Program,” operated in conjunction with Microsoft vendor Internet Identity of Tacoma, Wash., will be expanded to incorporate these new anti-cybersquatting initiatives.

“Microsoft has witnessed a virtual land rush for Internet domain names with the goal of driving traffic for profit,” Kornblum says. “Placing a high profile or pop culture trademark in your domain name is a tempting but illegal way to generate pay-per-click revenue.”

View the August 2006 lawsuit. .PDF here.
http://ivory.vnunet.com/assets/binaries/the_inquirer/pdf/microsoftdomainnamesaugust06.pdf

More Reference:
http://www.microsoft.com/about/legal/intellectualproperty/trademarks/usage/general.mspx

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