Apple registers COVID-19 domain name on same day as contact tracking API announcement

Apple now owns a domain name relating to COVID-19, with "AppleCoronavirus.com" under the iPhone maker's control and having the potential to be used to point concerned users to contact-tracking apps.

The registration for the domain name took place on Friday, Whois records for AppleCoronavirus.com reveals, the same day that Apple and Google announced a joint plan to create a "contact-tracking API". The domain is set to expire on April 10, 2021, but there is the possibility of it being renewed for another year once the period elapses.

The firm conducting the registration on behalf of Apple is CSC Corporate Domains, a company MacRumors reports registers and protects domain names for businesses and major entities. Whois records show it is already pointing to name servers under Apple's control, though attempts to visit the URL fail to go through to an actual website.

It is unclear exactly why the domain was registered, but it could be for a number of reasons. One of the most obvious is as a defensive registration, preventing anyone else from registering it and either domain squatting or using the address for misleading purposes.

Given the timing of the registration coinciding with the coronavirus tracking announcement, it is also plausible Apple has a more constructive reason for the registration. Apple could create a resource for accessing iOS apps relating to COVID-19, highlighting apps with official advice or government-created contract-tracking apps that use Apple and Google's API.

4 Comments

MplsP 4020 comments · 8 Years

About 4 years ago

I’m surprised that no one had registered the name before. I would’ve expected some spam or malware company to grab it.

gatorguy 24603 comments · 13 Years

It could be just to prevent what @MplsP mentions: cyber-squatting.

After last month's mention of Google perhaps establishing a Covid-19 info site (which they eventually did) someone(s) quickly lay claim to GoogleCoronavirus.com and CoronavirusGoogle.com. So now Google has to go thru the whole UDRP crap to dismiss the ownership claims.

Rayz2016 6957 comments · 8 Years

gatorguy said:

It could be just to prevent what @MplsP mentions: cyber-squatting.

After last month's mention of Google perhaps establishing a Covid-19 info site (which they eventually did) someone(s) quickly lay claim to GoogleCoronavirus.com and CoronavirusGoogle.com. So now Google has to go thru the whole UDRP crap to dismiss the ownership claims.

Might be quicker to just buy the domains. The people who took them have no intention of doing anything with them, so make the money a small offer. If they refuse, make sure the domains never show up in a search.

Rayz2016 said:

gatorguy said:

It could be just to prevent what @MplsP mentions: cyber-squatting.

After last month's mention of Google perhaps establishing a Covid-19 info site (which they eventually did) someone(s) quickly lay claim to GoogleCoronavirus.com and CoronavirusGoogle.com. So now Google has to go thru the whole UDRP crap to dismiss the ownership claims.

Might be quicker to just buy the domains. The people who took them have no intention of doing anything with them, so make the money a small offer. If they refuse, make sure the domains never show up in a search.

I don't think that would be Apple's approach, and I think I remember Apple challenging the ownership of a domain or two. Neither Google more Apple would go down that path since it encourages registering domains for no reason other than selling it back to the proper trademark holder.

So why enrich potential scam website owners, make it unprofitable for them to do so instead. Kinda like Apple fighting relatively minor patent infringement claims from NPE's rather than just taking a license. It encourages more of the same.