IDN Tools

Will Newly Passed Legislation Impact Domain Owners?

Subscribe to Elliot's BlogI don’t have a legal background, but I was just sent a link to some legislation that was just passed by US Senate.  The Act, known as the “Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008’’ creates a Cabinet-level position called the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator.

Recently, some companies have gone after trademark domain names by citing violations of copyright acts in lieu of the Lanham Act, which specifically covers domain names.  This Act will allow the US Justice Department to file lawsuits against people who violate copyrights on behalf of the copyright holders.  Could this could be dangerous for domain owners whose names could potentially be considered copyright violations?

Related posts:

  1. Potential Concern on Piece of New Legislation I wanted to share a concern I have with a...
  2. More on Anti-Phishing Legislation Thank you to Larry Fischer at DirectNavigation.com for analyzing and...
  3. Domain Impact of the Weak Dollar Back in the 1980s when the US economy was...
  4. Contributory Trademark Infringement Ruling Could Impact Parking Companies Mike posted an article about a case that I read...
  5. Potential Liability for a Newly Purchased Domain Before you buy a domain name, especially an acronym, check...

Comments (4)

Michael Berkens

September 27th, 2008 at 12:53 am    

gravatar

Elliot

I believe the ICA legal advisers looked at this a while back and decided it was not a threat to domain names in and of themselves

Mickie Kennedy

September 27th, 2008 at 10:08 am    

gravatar

It all depends on how they apply the law. I read a while back that there have been only a couple of suits filed under the CAN-SPAM Act. Now, we all know there are hundreds, if not tens of thousands of violators of the CAN-SPAM act (check you spam folder). If the new act will be used to go after the most egregious abusers, that’s fine. If, however, the department goes on the attack, it could be problematic.

Efrin Saffin

September 27th, 2008 at 1:47 pm    

gravatar

Since we now live in a fascist country; one cannot depend on law or justice, property can be taken at will, for any reason or no reason at all.

If thought through, one can see no reasonable hope for retaining any property at all, (unless one is part of the regime, that is!)

so fasc

Andrew

September 27th, 2008 at 2:26 pm    

gravatar

I doubt it. A copyright is usually something longer…

Leave a reply

Name *

Mail *

Website