webeweb

I thought this was something that everyone should have a look at that was sent to me in a newsletter from SEDO and I do not know a lot about domain legal stuff but I trust that they do:



As a founding member of the Internet Commerce Association, Sedo believes that it is important to invest our resources in ensuring the long term health and viability of the domain name market and the business of traffic monetization. Whether you buy and sell domains for your business, maintain a portfolio of domain properties, or simply enjoy the use of domain names for personal websites or blogs, a threat has emerged to domain ownership and it is time for interested individuals and businesses to protect our rights.

As you may have already read in the news or on a forum, a bill was recently introduced in the United States Senate by Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) that aims to drastically and needlessly expand the scope of rights associated with a trademark outside the realm of traditional trademark law. The Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008, or the Snowe bill as it is referred to, appears on its face to be directed to fighting the practice of “phishing”, which is a worthwhile cause, but contains many elements completely unrelated to this purpose, such as creating a cause of action for displaying advertising on a generic or descriptive domain name simply because another company has registered rights to a similar word or phrase.

If this bill is passed by Congress and signed by the President, it would immediately arm large businesses and government agencies with the ability to claim countless valuable and legitimate domains from their current owners. Supported by the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA), a coalition of companies that include Verizon, AIG, Dell, and several large hotel chains, the Snowe bill is attempting to confuse the issue of malicious phishing scams with the lawful and legitimate business of buying, selling and monetizing domain names.

By removing many of the intended checks and balances of traditional trademark law, designed to ensure that trademark rights are limited by geography and class of goods and services, the Snowe bill is attempting to eliminate many of the roadblocks large companies have faced in their attempt to gain de facto monopoly rights on words that rightfully belong to the public domain. Furthermore, the absence of due process principles make it likely that valuable domain properties could be taken from their rightful owner due only to a vague resemblance to another’s mark.

I encourage all Sedo users and domain owners anywhere to help fight the Snowe bill by joining the Internet Commerce Association, a non-profit industry organization founded to help represent domain name investors and developers and the direct search industry. The Internet Commerce Association is comprised of responsible businesses and individuals who have joined together to improve public confidence in internet commerce. Based in Washington D.C., their mission is to promote and share best practices among participants in the domain name industry and to educate consumers, policy makers, law makers and the media about the value and benefits of direct navigation traffic and the domain name industry.

Please visit Internet Commerce Association | The Voice of Internet Commerce and Entrepreneurship to learn more about the Snowe bill and how you can support the ICA in our effort to fight its passage.

__________________
Social Bookmark Advertising Bidding Directory

SpOrTsDuDe.Reese

Hmm, never knew about that. It's good that Olympia is trying to help us out!

__________________
+-(X)HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SEO, PHP, Flash-+
GameYin. Redesigning for DevPlooth.

gotlinks

I doubt this will happen imo.

__________________
Forget Im Here...

Hunter1

Let's hope not anyways but if i were a betting man, I would bet it will happen.

It makes sense that you cannot own a Trademark domain just like you couldn't open a company called Microsoft.......it only makes sense.

Heck, I'm surprised it took them this long to do it!

__________________
Website Launch l Bid for Position l Website Advertising l phpLD Template Blogl Bid for Top l WordPress Theme Blog

Neusha G.

Hmmm interesting article...

__________________
Bid For Position

bitslinker.com

lol Mate.
Don't Worry.... This is not gonna happen only with ya...

it can be with any one :)

__________________
free web based proxy
http://www.fxan.net
Computer Tips n Tricks Forum
http://www.bitslinker.com

bizwiz

Well it's a possibility but what if the owner is in another country like in Asia. Would they be willing to spend money to go after you?

__________________