Bill Lovell wrote:
>Now here's a real kick:
>
>http://www.lawnewsnet.com/stories/A385-1999Mar30.html
>
>NSI says it's not the net police, but that sure has not stopped
>it from screwing up a lot of domain name registrants.
I just read the story you cite regarding WORLDSPORTS.COM. This is TRULY a
wrongheaded judgment, and while I am publicly critical of NSI's domain
dispute policies, I hope that NSI prevails in this case.
In Worldsport Networks Ltd. v. Artinternet S.A., U.S. District Judge Bruce
W. Kauffman ordered NSI to deregister a name that violated a trademark AND
barred NSI from ever permitting "the registration as a domain name of any
similar word, name or term by any party other than plaintiff." Worldsport,
which is based in Ireland, complained that the public would be confused by
Artinternet's use since it had simply added an S to the domain name already
being used at www.worldsport.com.
Sigh.
This judgment thrusts NSI into the position of domain name cop and sets a
terrible precedent. It throws a protective umbrella over the alpha string
WORLDSPORT for all worldwide use on .COM, NET and ORG, extending trademark
protection to the Irish company far beyond its rights in traditional
commerce.
ALLWORLDSPORTS? EWORLDSPORTS? WORLDSPORTBANK? WORLDSPORTSTATS?
WORLDSPORTSINFO? NEWWORLDSPORT? MYWORLDSPORT? WORLDSPORTUNIFORM?
WORLDSPORTGIRL? WORLDSPORTAWARDS? WORLDOFSPORT? All prohibited according
to this judicial order, without respect to actual use of the domain names.
If this judgment prevails, the domain name system will be turned into a
trademark owner's paradise, and we will see a fallout of litigation that
makes the past few years of disputes look like a walk in the park.
But NSI cannot have it both ways. According to the article, NSI's only
function is to "record" domain names as they are registered. Would that
this were true. We all know that NSI's domain name dispute policy places
NSI in the center of a debate between a trademark owner and a domain holder
w/o a trademark registration for the name and converts NSI into a quasi
courtroom. That policy surely weakens NSI's defense against this absurd
WORLDSPORTS.COM judgment.
Ellen Rony Co-author
The Domain Name Handbook http://www.domainhandbook.com
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ISBN 0879305150 *=" ____ / +1 (415) 435-5010
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On the Internet, // \\ no one knows you're a dog.
