Entrepreneur Dominic Holland has been slammed by Qantas and Westpac after attempting to sell the two companies domain names similar to their own official URLs.
Holland registered domains such as Qant.as and most recently, Westp.ac, in order to show the businesses how competitors could control differing URLs which appear similar to the companies’ names.
He has said these URLs have attracted bids of over $1 million in private auctions, evidence of their commercial power. But Westpac has said it has no desire to do business with him.
“Westpac is not interested in engaging with Mr Holland,” a spokesperson told The Australian. “We believe his approach is opportunistic and unethical.”
Mr Holland declined to comment on Westpac’s response. It is understood Qantas is currently pursuing investigating possible legal action regarding the URL.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
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