Re: WIPO delays, resubmitted to PAB and POC

Peter Mott (peter@2day.net.nz)
Sun, 28 Dec 1997 10:42:41 +1300


At 15:49 27/12/97 -0500, Bob Helfant wrote:
>The kind of practice described by Robert below does not really happen much
>if at all. The rightful owner of a domain name can usually get it simply
>by asking.

Not here in NZ. Xerox and others had to ask the courts and throw some money
at the problem to get the names.

The registrar received quite a bit of flack over the case for its strictly
hands off approach.

> No small time pirate is going to attempt to fight "Xerox" in
> court when they know they will lose.

Perhaps, but the issue is the registrars credibility in the market place.

Any business associated with legal action does not seem to gain
market credibility from the experience.

>The opposite, referred to as reverse
>piracy is much more common. This is when a large company who wants a
>domain name threatens a small company who owns it with extensive legal
>action. The small company may have the right to use the domain because
>they use the same word (such as "apple") which may be used by any number of
>companies in several industries. The small company cannot stand against a
>corporation in the courts (where most of these disputes will end up anyway).

I would like to see a mechanisim which limits opportunity for those with
power and money from taking domains from small name holders who have
possibly the same or greater right to its use.

Any ideas?

Regards

Peter Mott
Chief Enthusiast
2DAY INTERNET LTD

http://www.2day.net.nz
peter@2day.net.nz

-/-