Typosquat Storm

You've all seen them: Try logging onto Slate's web page but accidentally type sslate.com instead, and you find yourself on a "typosquatter" site, where enterprising men and women set up a site bristling with links to advertisers in the hopes that a small percentage of Web viewers will click on one of them. They're mostly harmless—or are they? Harvard Business School Professor Benjamin Edelman thinks it's trademark infringement, and he's filed a class-action lawsuit against Google for placing ads on such sites through its AdSense service. Edelman estimates that Google makes up to $50 million a year through such web sites and wrote in the McAfee Security Journal that several companies have successfully sued typosquatting companies on grounds of infringement, netting some hefty settlements. A Google rep told the Industry Standard that the lawsuit is "entirely without basis," and that the company intends to defend itself "vigorously."