Domain Déjà vu for NBCU

You’d think that media conglomerates in this day and age would be more mindful of their digital p’s and q’s. But when it comes to snatching up brand-rich domain names, it seems those enterprising, sometimes mischievous cybersquatters keep getting there first.

When news broke in late September that Comcast was looking to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal, Danny Pezzotta was on the ball. On Oct. 2, he purchased NBCComcast.com and ComcastNBC.com. (If you visit now, you’ll be redirected to PlanetBravo.com, an L.A. based computer camp for kids owned by, wait for it, Danny Pezzotta.)

Sure, Comcast executives were likely too preoccupied with complex matters of due diligence to jump on GoDaddy.com and secure potential domain names. But you’d think the folks at NBCU might’ve learned from experience the last time around, when a Korean national purchased NBCUniversal.com when news of that merger leaked, sparking a lawsuit by NBCU.

But all is not lost for the potential media conglom. On Oct. 19, the Corporation Service Company purchased ComcastNBCU.com and NBCUComcast.com. One of the CSC’s businesses is to acquire and manage digital properties for its clients, which are comprised almost entirely of large companies. Comcast uses the CSC to register all of its domains, including Comcast.com and Fancast.com.

But cybersquatters (and, ahem, NBCU and Comcast’s legal departments) take note. NBCUniversalComcast.com and ComcastNBCUniversal.com are both available for purchase as of this writing.

Ready, set, go!