Pope Francis Loses His Domain Names On Day One In The Job

WORCESTER, England, March 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

- New Pope Francis I loses his domain names thanks to Cybersquatters  -  

The Vatican have already lost one key piece of intellectual property by losing key domains surrounding newly elected Pope Francis I on his first day of Papal duties, and could "spark a bidding war" reveals domain name company names.co.uk.

Over 600 domains were registered within hours of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio's anointment as the Head of the Catholic Church. These include:

• Popefrancisi.com - registered in Gatlinburg, Tennessee on 13 ^th March 2013
• Popefrancis.co.uk - registered in Florida on 13 ^th March 2013
• Popefrancis.org - registered in Arizona on 13 ^th March 2013
• Popefrancisi.eu - also registered yesterday
• Popefrancis.fr - registered in Australia on 13 ^th March 2013
• Popefrancis.com - registered in 2010, well in advance

Argentina's permeation, Popefrancis.ar.com, is, however, still available.

Stephen Ewart, Marketing Manager for names.co.uk, thinks that the Vatican has overlooked this announcement: "No sooner had the white smoke billowed from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel than cheeky cybersquatters from Ireland had began registering key domain names connected to Pope Francis I."

He explains: "We expect this to spark a real bidding war for Pope Francis' domains. In 2005 the address for Pope was sold for over $5,000. Not bad for a $20 investment! I find this a very surprising oversight on such a major appointment. Previously the Catholic Church has been very savvy about owning their domain names. In December last year they paid over $180,000 to own .catholic and actually had the chinese version of the domain name selected as the first top level domain to go live in the world. Unfortunately the new Pope has fallen at the first hurdle of connecting with the Internet Generation."

"At Names.co.uk we like to highlight the importance of individuals and businesses registering the right domain name on day one. This oversight by the Vatican shows that even the most high profile organisations can forget to own their online brand."

1 2 Next › Last »