About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

40 Washburn L.J. 110 (2000-2001)
What's in a Domain Name - A Critical Analysis of the National and International Impact on Domain Name Cybersquatting

handle is hein.journals/wasbur40 and id is 132 raw text is: WHAT'S IN A DOMAIN NAME? A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
OF THE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL IMPACT ON
DOMAIN NAME CYBERSOUATrTING
Matthew Edward Searingt
I. INTRODUCTION
The Internet resembles a spider web that encompasses the globe,
consisting of an intertwined network of computers that allows users to
distribute information and conduct commerce.1 It is a free market in
which there are few restrictions or boundaries.2 This lack of restriction
allows cybersquatters to flourish.' Disputes between trademark holders
and cybersquatters have captured the attention of the federal
government        and    international      governmental        agencies.4     These
governmental bodies created laws to prohibit the stealing of domain
names by cybersquatters. However, the laws tend to go too far and give
too much power to the trademark holder, restricting some forms of free
speech and eliminating competition from companies with similar names.
This note is a critical analysis of the bad faith factors of the United
States Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), and the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN)6
Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy7 as they are applied
t B.F.A. 1998, Pittsburg State University; J.D. Candidate 2001, Washburn University School
of Law. I would like to thank my editors, who scrutinized my note with vengeance. I want to thank
Professor Wadley, Professor Rich, and Professor Christensen for their insight. Finally, I would like
to thank my wife, Amy, for her incredible patience and support during this writing process.
1. See Brookfield Communications Inc. v. West Coast Entertainment Corp., 174 F.3d. 1036,
1044 (9th Cir. 1999); see also Name.Space, Inc. v. Network Solutions, Inc., 202 F.3d 573, 576 n.1 (2d
Cir. 2000) (The Internet is a vast system of interconnected computers and computer networks.);
Jews for Jesus v. Brodsky, 993 F. Supp.. 282,287 n.2 (D.N.J. 1998) (The Internet is not a physical or
tangible entity, but rather a giant network which interconnects innumerable smaller groups of linked
computer networks.).
2. See Elizabeth M. Shea, The Children's Interest Protection Act of 1999: Is Internet Filtering
Software the Answer?, 24 SETON HALL LEGIS. J. 167, 178 (1999). However, there are some
restrictions as to obscenity, fraud, and child pornography. See id. at 170-78.
3. See generally S. REP. No. 106-140, at 5 (1999) (Trademark owners are facing a new form of
piracy on the Internet caused by acts of 'cybersquatting'.).
4. See Lisa Carroll, A Better Way to Skin the Cat: Resolving Domain Name Disputes Using
State Unfair Competition Law, 18 IPL NEWSLETrER, 1 (2000).
5. See 15 U.S.C. § 1125(d) (1999).
6. See Michael S. Denniston & Margaret Smith Kubiszyn, WWW.YOURCLIENT.COM:
Choosing Domain Names and Protecting Trademarks on the Internet, 61 ALA. LAWYER 40, 42 (2000).
A not-for-profit international corporation made up of private Internet business people to develop
and administer international policy for domain names. See id.
7. See Uniform    Domain   Name   Dispute  Resolution  Policy  (1999), available at

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

profiles profiles most