Linda McCulloch is running for secretary of state in Montana, and a Web site bearing her name makes no mention of why the Democrat is qualified for the job. Instead, it says ''Bad Grades. Bad Candidate.''

McCulloch's domain name, www.lindamcculloch.com, was bought by Republicans, which some people are calling ''political cyberfraud.'' Others say such Web sites are fair and protected under the First Amendment.

The site features a negative tone -- similar to attack ads on TV -- and appears to be taking ''cyberfraud'' in a new direction, said an academic who studies the issue. Jacqueline Lipton, an expert on technology law at Case Western University, said she expects more Web sites like it will crop up as the 2008 campaign season progresses.

''I think it will be interesting, because the Internet is going to be much more important from now on for these campaigns,'' Lipton said.

Phil Noble, with the PoliticsOnline consulting firm, said national candidates tend to be more savvy and lock up their domain names early. But candidates ''down the food chain'' in state and local races can still overlook the need to lay claim to their name on the Web and the different Web addresses for it, Noble said.

McCulloch is unable to do anything about the site, which she used to own and used in her last campaign for state school superintendent. After winning the race, she had stopped paying for the site. It is now owned by the state Republican Party, which bought it earlier this year in advance of the 2008 elections.

''In this day and age of identity theft, taking somebody's name and using it without their permission seems kind of like going into their house without permission,'' McCulloch said.

The candidates who lose their names on the Web can do little except find an alternate Internet site.

Although experts expect to see more of these cases, they are less common than ''cybersquatters'' who sit on a Web site in hopes of selling it for big money to the candidate or their opponents.

In 2004, John Kerry and John Edwards ran into a problem when they found that KerryEdwards.com was owned by someone who wanted to profit from it. They ignored the Web site and bought an alternate.

Lipton pointed to a recent case where a Web site featuring ''HRC2008'' was being sold to the highest bidder -- in the hopes Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign would take notice. So far, it is still for sale.

Cyberfraud case law is largely untried, unlike corporate domain fraud and cybersquatting, which has tilted in favor of the owners of trademarked names, Lipton said.

She noted that some very famous people have been able to argue their own names are essentially trademarks. So far, few politicians have tried to make a similar claim, Lipton said.

In 2002, Maryland gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend lost a claim before the United Nations domain name dispute panel asserting she had a trademarked right to her name. She had hoped to prevent someone from selling her namesake Web site for profit.

MarkMonitor, a company that helps businesses protect their names on the Internet, said it can be more difficult for individuals. Famous people can trademark their name but, for the most part, people don't have ownership rights of their name on the Web.

''Savvy, forward-thinking public figures generally have gotten ahead of this and own (Web sites) associated with their public person,'' said Frederick Felman, chief marketing officer for MarkMonitor. ''They either bought it early before they were famous, or later negotiated to buy it.''

California banned the practice a few years ago, with the Political Cyberfraud Abatement Act aimed at cutting down on the Web site trickery. But so far, that is the only legislation addressing the issue, Lipton said. She was not aware of any similar legislation proposed elsewhere.

Some experts say there is little to gain from the deception.

''I would sort of put it into the category of online political pranks,'' said Noble of PoliticsOnline. ''I can understand why people do it, but it is a little juvenile to tell you the truth.''

McCulloch is not alone in Montana. Republican Bob Keenan is considering a run against incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, but he won't be able to use www.BobKeenan.com if he enters the race. The state Democratic party owns the site, which asks, ''Where do they find these candidates?''

Jim Farrell, who as executive director of the Montana Democrats launched the Keenan Web site, defended the move.

''Campaigns are always innovating and much of the innovation in campaigns in the last few years is increasingly coming in the way of finding new uses for technology, particularly Web sites,'' said Farrell, who is leaving his position to join the presidential campaign of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.

One of the few things Farrell and his counterpart at Republican headquarters agree on is that Web sites are fair game.

''We are just putting the information out there for folks,'' Chris Wilcox, executive director of the Montana Republican Party, said of the site they set up attacking McCulloch's record.

Mikki Barry, president of the Domain Name Rights Coalition, said he believes using the names on the Internet for political speech is protected activity. The group defends the free use of domain names by those who register them first, even if they use or include trademarked names.

The names ''are merely addresses to space on the Internet,'' Barry said, adding the public can tell when a Web site is not owned by the person.

''Voters are smart enough to understand that a site attacking a candidate is not likely endorsed by that candidate,'' Barry said.