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WIPO To Loosen Domain Names Transfer Standards
ethereal writes "According to Brian Livingston's column on C|Net, WIPO is considering some new rules which would make it easier for plaintiffs to get domain names which are '"geographical terms," individuals' personal names and "tradenames"'. The story also discusses how WIPO now gets the lion's share of the domain name disputes because they rule for the plaintiff the most often (surprise surprise) and have even transferred domains away from defendants who were acting in good faith (read: cybersquatting). WIPO is accepting comments on these new rules until Aug. 15."
He states that the crew.com case involved a "small business" and not a squatter, yet the company that registered it had 50+ domain names of registered companies it was selling. Seems to be a squatter to me.
Likewise, the montyroberts.com dispute involves a person using it for negative commentary about the actual plaintiff. This would be considered misuse under most arbitrators review.
I agree with his concerns, just wish he used more appropriate examples of the abuses WIPO has performed.
I AM, therefore I THINK!
Not to be a nitpicking editor, but the slashdot writeup of this article is a bit confusing.
I think it would be clearer to say that WIPO is considering some new rules that force people to give up domain names which are geographical terms, individuals' personal names, and fall into the loosely defined catagory of "tradenames".
I think you mean to say that WIPO is forcing people to give up their domain names even when they are NOT cybersquatting.
What the poster is trying to say is that people who bring domain disputes get to choose which organization hears their case. WIPO has a track record of finding for the defendent 84% of the time, much more than competing organizations, so they are the favoured choice of people bringing such suits.
I personally don't understand how this ludricrious idea of letting the plantiff pick the court ever got off the ground! What kind of f*cked up legal system works this way?!?
-OTif you put wipo through babelfish (Russian to English), it translates as "shaft"
:)
Seems quite appropriate really
However, by my understanding, *both* sides get a say in which arbitrator is used, ususally by submiting a list of sealed names of acceptible candidates from a master list. With this arrangement, ICANN has effectively given away the store. I think one of the few cases they ruled for a defendent was in the sting.com affair.
I worry about this with my own domain name. There are a .com and .net, though they don't seem to be particularly worrisome now. In fact, I've not talked to either of them. But, say the .com gets a wild hair and says I'm infringing on their trade name? We registered about two months apart. I've managed to keep a working site for two years, they will disappear for a bit as they jump bandwidth providers. Would my constant activity and the fact that I don't do anything like they intend to do matter?
Three years ago, a company wanted a domain because they were late to the party, and they paid money to get it. Now, they seem to be quite willing to sue or "arbitrate" when the deck is clearly stacked in their favor. "Not only aren't we going to pay you, we are going to make your life a living hell. Screw you for not having the foresight to know we want this domain."
Makes me nervous.
--Humpty Dumpty was pushed!
If you don't like how ICANN operates, what alternatives do you have? Does ICANN have a government-granted monopoly on com/net/org addresses?
.ocm domains, but that's just me) they do cooperate with other alternative DNS heiarchies (e.g. alternic) and are compatible with ICANN. They are also very democratic about how TLDs are given out, and are compatible with ICANN.
I strongly urge you to use and support opennic. While not as subversive as I would prefer (I would have relegated all ICANN domains to domain.com.icann, rathar than respecting their
This means you can still resolve all ICANN names, but in addition you can resolve alternic, opennic, and various other competitor's TLDs as well.
ICANN has been given a monopoly by our governments, primarilly because our governments cannot (or will not) imagine a system in which there is not some central authority. It is up to us, as individuals and as ISPs, to thwart this powergrab at the grass roots level, by supporting independent, democratic, and popularist efforts to take back control of our internet.
The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
While it makes sense now, wait until it is actually implemented. Corps buy up or sue for net, com and org now. In some cases they play for the country-code TLDs too. What makes you think they won't buy up or sue for beer, music, xxx, biz, parody, and cars?
.sig: Now legally binding!
Had you read the article, it explained that the ICANN allows plaintifs to pick the arbitration body. As the WIPO arbitrates such disputes and finds for plaintifs 84% of the time, plaintiffs pick WIPO. So, the WIPO has majority market share, and they are producing new guidelines. ICANN basically put WIPO in charge.
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Really, you're almost asking for trouble with any domain name you register.
I really really hope that none of the domains I own get disputed. I really just don't want to put up with some corporate meany conglomerate knocking on my door and threatening me with legal action because they want a domain I'm using.
Think about it this way. Say I have the 1-800 number 1-800-dom-inoe by pure coincidence. Can Dominoes pizza come sue me take that 1-800 number from me? It's just stupid.
I hate corporate America more and more every day...
Mike
"I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet, tasty beer."
A problem with using trademarks in domain name disputes:
.edu, please! Maybe then other groups and people will be on an equal footing
IANAL, but IIRC(enough I's for ya?) trademarks only extend through one commercial domain. So, for example, I could start up a company called Ford's Musical Instruments, Inc. and not be breaking trademark law. However, an attempt to start up a Ford Car Company would result in a nasty lawsuit that I would most likely lose.
So who gets the domain name ford.com? Ford Motor Company? Ford Musical Instruments? Betty Ford? Joe Ford, the guy down the street? Why should the one with the most money have any intrinsic right to the name? The internet's not just about commerce for big corporations.
I feel that a decent way to address the problem is to actually hold register-ers to the purpose of the various top level domains. No more corporations in
Visit the
Computers don't use them, they are purely for the convenience of the human operator. In addition, domain names are scoped. They are NOT necessarily global. That depends on how the DNS servers are configured and on the entry itself.
So, WE, the users of the Internet, are funding several massive, costly organizations who do absolutely nothing than order other massive, costly organizations to move pointers around.
Sorry, but that feels like a bit of a rip-off.
Whilst I like the idea of overseers, the overseers CANNOT be a part of the system they are overseeing, if they are to be efficient, honest and rational.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
WIPO has jurisdiction in exactly the same way as a mugger has jurisdiction over your wallet when he's pointing a gun at you.
The government, big business, the judicial system and law enforcement are basically all one big protection racket enforced at the point of a gun, and they dish out legal jurisdiction as suits them.
Moral jurisdiction is a different matter of course, but you have to pay lip service to the immoral but legal kind occasionally if you want to retain your freedom. I don't see it changing any time soon.
"The question of whether machines can think is no more interesting than [] whether submarines can swim" - Dijkstra