An Amazonian tribe is threatening to take an alleged cybersquatter to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo).

The primitive Yanomami Indians - one of the world's last stone age peoples - claim that a US speculator has registered the domain name www.yanomami.com, and has offered it to them for £17,000.

According to reports, the name has been registered by Florida resident Mercedes Meier.

The domain name could become valuable because a Hollywood studio is planning to make a film about the 26,000-strong tribe, who live on the border between Brazil and Venezuela.

Chief Davi Kopenawa Yanomami, the head of the tribe, has written to Meier telling her that "the Yanomami name is not up for sale".

The case could become the latest to be adjudicated on by Wipo, which in recent weeks has tackled a number of high-profile cybersquatting cases, including those of Bridget Jones author Helen Fielding and the BBC.

First published on uk.internet.com