London Police in URL ownership row

The Metropolitan Police Service -- London's police force -- is said to be taking action against a cybersquatter. Around 20 different names based around Metropolitan Police have been registered by Redwood Wilson, IT manager with an accountancy firm. The Met is concerned that Redwood's sites are attracting communication from people looking for the force's official site, which can be found at www.met.police.uk. Emails relating to investigations as well as from people asking for information about joining the Met are among those said to have been sent to Wilson by mistake. Wilson claims he is not a cybersquatter and says he is simply in the habit of registering domain names which he then sells on at a profit. According to the FT, Wilson wants "at least £1,500 to cover his registration costs to gain ownership of the names." Nice to know the police, already strapped for cash and lacking in manpower, are having their time taken up by such important and weighty matters. Wilson contacted the police via email to ask if the Met was interested in buying them. Not surprisingly, he received a terse reply threatening him with court action. The FT said that Wilson was ready to battle with the Met, but that the police had now said legal action was not on the cards. ® Related story Man banned from flogging BBC domains