Tatas seek ownership of fake Cyrus Mistry site

Tata Sons has obtained an order from the Delhi high court asking a cyber squatter to transfer the domain name www.cyruspallonjimistry.com to them. The domain name was registered on November 23 immediately after the announcement that Cyrus Pallonji Mistry would be the next Tata chief. Rachit Vats and Tejeesh NS Behl report.

Tata Sons has obtained an order from the Delhi high court asking a cyber squatter to transfer the domain name www.cyruspallonjimistry.com to them. The domain name was registered on November 23 immediately after the announcement that Cyrus Pallonji Mistry would be the next Tata chief.

The website had a notice proclaiming that the domain name was for sale and had a contact email address posted on it. Domain names are usually available on a first-come-first-served basis.

“The site was registered on the day of the announcement and it was clearly done with the intention of sale. Individuals do it for business purpose and our aim is to prevent the misuse of his (Cyrus Mistry’s) name,” FN Subedar, COO, Tata Sons told HT. Earlier, too, Tata Sons was faced with a similar situation when cyber-squatters registered domain names of current chairman Ratan Tata and his predecessor JRD Tata, added Subedar.

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Dharmendra Chowdhari, 23, who designed the website, admitted that he was hoping to cash in on the newfound fame of Mistry following his elevation as deputy chairman of Tata Sons.

“I had registered this domain name for Rs 500 and was planning to sell it for anywhere between Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 to earn some pocket money. I have not received any notice from the Tatas as yet, but I am willing to transfer it and recover my cost,” Chowdhari told the Hindustan Times in a telephone chat.