The
Federal Trade Commission has brought suits against mousetrappers, charging that the practice is a deceptive and unfair competitive practice, in violation of section 5 of the FTC Act. Typically, mousetrappers register
URLs with misspelled names of celebrities (e.g.
BrittnaySpears.com) or companies (e.g.
BettyCroker.com and
WallStreetJournel.com). Thus, if someone seeking the
BettyCrocker website typed
BettyCroker, the user would become ensnared in the mousetrapper's system. Once the viewer is at the site, a JavaScript or a click induced by, as one example, promises of
free samples, redirects the viewer to a URL and regular site of the mousetrapper's client-advertiser, who (the FTC said in the Zuccarini case) pays 10 to 25 cents for capturing and redirecting each potential customer. An FTC press release explaining why the agency opposes mousetrapping states: ==See also==