Good Article-
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_bresnahan/20000810_xnbre_who_owns_a.sht
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"There has already been a legal dispute over domain name ownership, and NSI
has established legal precedent in the state of Virginia for its claim that
domain names are like telephone numbers. You can use it for as long as you
pay your bill, and for as long as the registrar allows you to -- but you do
not own the domain name if you are registered with NSI.
"Network Solutions went to the Virginia Supreme Court and argued that you
don't own your domain name. So in Virginia at least, domain names aren't
intellectual property," explained Truax.
A lower court had ruled that domain names registered to James Tombas of
Canada could be garnished by NSI and sold to pay legal fees. NSI disagreed
and appealed to the Virginia Supreme Court where the ruling was reversed. "
The court ruled that a domain name is "the product of a contract for
services," and therefore "is not subject to garnishment."
A top Internet executive who previously worked for NSI now works for an
Internet hosting service that no longer provides domain registration through
NSI. Although he was reluctant to permit his name to be used, he offered a
strong opinion about the recognition of domain name ownership.
"To me, it's common sense that domains should be classified as real estate,
virtual real estate," the former NSI executive told WorldNetDaily. "By
definition, real estate information is a matter of public record. If domains
were treated like numbers, Amazon.com would not be a registered trademark.
You cannot trademark a number. Business.com would not have sold for $7.5
million since it's illegal to sell numbers according to the FCC. And, people
wouldn't be recognizing domain sales as a capital gain (after X number of
months) since the practice would be considered illegal by the IRS."
He added, "Maybe my logic is incorrect, but if domains were not an asset,
wouldn't all sales be treated as ordinary income? As NSI has demonstrated in
the past, treating domains like numbers minimizes their liability. Clearly,
everything points to this and market share preservation for as long as
possible."
J Scott Schiller
Vice President
GIA Web Services, Inc.
PHN +1.425.454.3663
FAX +1.425.454.7458
EML [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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