Veterans of the legislative process have often been heard to observe that the one law that never gets repealed is the law of unintended consequences. That is, new laws not only often fall short of their intended effect but also produce negative fallout. The classic example is the 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, otherwise known as Prohibition, which fell …
Domains and Law Enforcement Are Focus of Recent White House and FTC Meetings
The intersection of domain names and law enforcement concerns was the focus of two very high level meetings held recently in Washington, DC. The discussions that ensured mark a demarcation line that will change the tenor of all future discussions of the rights and responsibilities of DNS participants. On September 28th, a group of leading registries and registrars – many …
Action on Senate Domain Blocking Legislation Put Off Until “Lame Duck” Session – House Version Rumored To Include Private Right
Congress ended its regular session in the last week of September with no action taken by the Senate Judiciary Committee to amend and report S. 3804, proposed legislation to block and shut down services to domains alleged to be abetting copyright and trademark infringement. However, shortly before adjournment Committee staff circulated a revised “Managers’ Amendment” that made several significant changes …
ICA Urges ICANN to Undertake Independent Third Party Review of the Current State of Internet Trademark Law and the UDRP
On the eve of its Board retreat in Norway to consider final matters to be resolved before the opening of the application window for new GTLDs, the ICA communicated with the Chairman and the CEO of ICANN. Our September 23rd letter reiterated two prior ICA positions: Refrain from reopening the trademark protections for new gTLDs that have been put in …
Concerns about Senate Domain Blocking Proposal Grow as Action is Deferred
The Senate Judiciary Committee did not act on S 3804, the proposal to let the U.S. government seize or otherwise block access to and severely impair allegedly infringing domains on a global basis, after Ranking Republican Member Jeff Sessions exercised the automatic deferral option at the Committee’s September 23rd Business Meeting. But the bill is back on the agenda for …
Proposed Online Infringements and Counterfeits Legislation Targets Domains
On September 20, 2010 Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, joined by nine other Senators, introduced S. 3804, the “Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act”. If enacted, this proposal would expedite Department of Justice (DOJ) actions against domains that abet the sale or distribution of unauthorized copyrighted materials and counterfeit goods. It would also give U.S. law extraterritorial effect by …
Google & eBay, Keywords & Domains, & ICANN
Sell a trademark as a keyword for directed search or online auctions and make $billions. But use a trademark in a domain name for direct search and lose the domain, or worse. The gap between how trademark law treats the two species of search has grown wider in the wake of several landmark 2010 trademark law decisions – and provides …
None-Of-Your-Business-dot-Privacy
The Wall Street Journal’s (online.wsj.com ) July 31st issue carries a front page story, with extensive sidebars, titled “The Web’s New Gold Mine: Your Secrets”. It’s the first of an eye-opening series. If the remaining installements are as revelatory as this opening salvo, it will likely stoke the growing calls on Capitol Hill for federal online privacy legislation. Domainers need to pay …
ICA ON The Record At ICANN-Brussels
The recent ICANN Meeting held in Brussels was marked by heavy attendance and an even heavier issues agenda. Every ICANN meeting includes a Public Forum in which attendees and other interested parties may direct questions and comments to ICANN’s Board of Directors. ICA Counsel Philip Corwin used his two minutes at the microphone (plus a few additional seconds) to raise …
ICANN’s Proposed EOI Likely to Limit the Number of New gTLDs
Thinking about applying for a new generic top level domain? Then ante up $55,000 for the right to file an application. That’s the heart of a tentative proposal for an Expressions of Interest (EOI) procedure for new gTLDs released on December 18th by ICANN for public comment by January 27, 2010 (see http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-18dec09-en.htm). In a nutshell, the proposal is: • …