GOP Lawmakers Say NTIA Violated Law in IANA Transition Plan
A number of Congressional Republicans today questioned National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) for apparent violation of federal law in using federal funds to relinquish U.S....
View ArticleThe Popularity of .co (not .com) Domain Name Disputes
One of the most popular top-level domains under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) is not even a gTLD (generic top-level domain). It's a ccTLD: .co, the country-code top-level...
View ArticleNo Time Bar for Cybersquatting Claims Under UDRP
Headline in TheDomains.com, June 18, 2016: "Wow: 20 Year Old Domain Name WorldTradeCenter.com Lost in UDRP." For those who don't follow UDRP decisions carefully this may elicit, how can this be? Well,...
View ArticleChina One Step Closer to Implementing Controversial Cybersecurity Law
China is moving forward towards implementing a controversial cybersecurity law that could have significant implications for foreign businesses operating in that lucrative market, reports Katie Bo...
View ArticleLuddites of the 21St Century Unite? (Revisited)
In the winter of 2014 I wrote a blogpost under the title 'Luddites of the 21st century unite?' (read here). In the post I wondered where the 21st century Luddites were. ICT, automation, artificial...
View ArticleCyber Infringement of Trademarks by Typosquatting
A fabled, serial cybersquatter of the early Internet argued that typographical errors in domain names were not cybersquatting at all because they had their own distinct identities. Moreover, "I have"...
View ArticleICANN Says It Will Not Get Directly Involved With Infringing Domains
ICANN will not act as judge and jury in copyright disputes. TorrentFreak reports: "In a letter to the president of the Intellectual Property Constituency, ICANN chief Stephen Crocker says that ICANN is...
View ArticleUK Bill Ups Prison Term for Online Piracy from 2 to 10 Years
The UK government has unveiled its latest Digital Economy Bill as part of an "ambition for the UK to be the most digital nation in the world". TorrentFreak / 6 Jul 2016: "One of the most controversial...
View ArticleDomain Names Identical to Trademarks But No Likelihood of Confusion
Confusion is a basic element in both cybersquatting and trademark infringement. It appears twice in the UDRP; once in paragraph 4(a)(i) in the adjectival phrase "confusing similarity", and once in...
View ArticleOpen Internet Access on the Line in Brussels
This summer EU regulators are finalizing their guidelines for member states on legal protections for wired, wireless and mobile open Internet access service. European citizens, businesses and NGOs have...
View Article5 Myths About DMCA 'Take-Down' Notices
The so-called notice-and-take-down provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provide both a very effective tool for copyright owners to get infringing content removed from the Internet...
View ArticleFair Use Incorporating Trademarks in Domain Names
The paragraph 4(c)(iii) safe harbors of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy are construed from a five word phrase, "legitimate noncommercial or fair use." "Noncommercial" like "identical"...
View ArticleFeds Shut Down Largest File-Sharing Site KickassTorrents - Founder Arrested,...
"U.S. Authorities Charge Owner of Most-Visited Illegal File-Sharing Website with Copyright Infringement" – statement issued by United States Department of Justice on Thursday: "U.S. authorities have...
View Article'Pokemon' Domain Names are a No-Go
The legal issues surrounding the sudden success of "Pokemon Go” — one of the world's fastest-growing apps or games — are popping up as quickly as unhatched Eggs at a PokéStop. Within days of the game's...
View ArticleAstronomical Increases in Domain Names: Low Constancy of Abusive Registrations
When ICANN implemented the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) in 1999, the number of registered domain names were in the low eight digits. Registered domain names passed the first...
View ArticleCourt of Appeals Avoids "Doomsday Effect" in Iran ccTLD Decision
Earlier today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its decision in Weinstein vs. Iran, a case in which families of terror victims sought to have ICANN turn over control of Iran's .IR...
View ArticleFair Use Registration of Domain Names for Artists and Hobbyists
There is in the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act a provision not expressly found in the UDRP (at least, not in so many words) but the concept is nevertheless present in the Policy by...
View ArticleThe Truth About Supplemental Filings in UDRP Cases
A typical proceeding under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) consists of a complaint and, sometimes, a response. UDRP Rule 12 makes clear that "further statements or documents...
View ArticleReselling Domain Names on the Secondary Market: Bona Fide Offering, or Not?
On the question of reselling domain names on the secondary market, a dissenting panelist in a 2005 case observed that "[t]here is no doubt Respondent is in the business of being a reseller of domain...
View ArticleThe Impact of Reverse Domain Name Hijacking on Supplemental Filings in UDRP...
In another blog post, I wrote about the sometimes confusing circumstances in which domain name dispute panelists will consider supplemental, or additional, filings from the parties (in addition to a...
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