Domain names a really heating up. What is also interesting is that the legal issues around domain names are heating up right alone with them. Microsoft has a aggressive program to stop people from holding domain names that are closely related to their product offerings. The university of Iowa recently bought a bunch of domains related to their athletic program, more directly having to do with firing and negative information about their coaches. Companies threaten to sue and do sue over trademark issues having to do with domain names each day. My issue is that these companies can just go to ICANN and say that this person has a domain name that is close to our trademark and that person usually loses that domain name even though they paid for it. The company in most cases doesn’t even reimburse the owner for the registration fees nor is there a refund from the registrar.
I guess my real problem is that companies are using laws that weren’t nessasarily written for domain names to capture what comes down to internet property. Items that do have value to people other than the companies that own the trademarks. It is one thing if it is blatant infringement but these companies are strong arming misspellings. Now it is also one thing if the person is trying to capitalize on the other companies brand but I know of cases where domain names were taken from people and companies who were not harming the company.
I believe that in the next 5 years this will come to a head and there will be some big court cases and hopefully some changes in the law. If it is going to be like this than it should be put on the registrars to check trademark issues or to atleast warn the person registering the domain name that there is a possible issue and that they could lose their registration fees or could be taken to court and loss much more than that.
I listened to an interview with the lawyer leading the team for Microsoft working to “recover” trademarked domain names. He said that in a lot of cases the domains were given to Microsoft without any legal action and most without the exchange of money and that any money paid was paid to Microsoft.
So basically the Domain registering companies and ICANN are the companies making money on this. New laws are needed to help protect the consumer and to further define what infringement is and to define what is squatting, which honestly I think is a bunch of crap, and what is legal. I look at this a lot like the land rush for the late 1800’s. I didn’t see too many Oklahoma Sooners going to jail or having their land taken from them, some may have gotten shot over it, but other than that the worst thing that happened was they got a college to use them as their mascot. But in the early 2000’s you get your property torn from you and given to large companies. Now it might be a little different, but like I said before if it isn’t blatant then I don’t see the issue.
