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21 Suffolk Transnat'l L. Rev. 179 (1997-1998)
Do Any Viable Solutions Exist to Prevent the Exploitation of Trademarks Used as Internet Domain Names

handle is hein.journals/sujtnlr21 and id is 185 raw text is: Do ANY VIABLE SOLUTIONS EXIST TO PREVENT THE EXPLOITATION OF TRADEMARKS USED AS INTERNET DOMAIN NAMES? I. INTRODUCTION The rapid growth of the internet in recent years has spawned a new marketplace for businesses to sell their goods and services worldwide.' The internet enables busi- nesses to expand beyond their local markets and enter the global marketplace easily and inexpensively.2 The rapid growth of advertising on the internet has made readily identifiable internet domain names valuable commodities.' 1. See JILL H. ELLSWORTH & MATTHEW V. ELLSWORTI, THE INTERNET BUSINESS BOOK 39-42 (1994) (discussing explosive growth of commercial users on internet). An estimated 100 million users will be on the internet by the turn of the century. See id. at 5. 2. See PETER KENT, THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO THE INTERNET 26 (2d ed. 1994) (noting that companies can connect to internet for as little as $5.00 a month). In addition, internet service providers offer services and infor- mation to help businesses connect to the internet. See id. at 15-27, 241-59. See ELLSWORTH & ELLSWORTH, supra note 1, at 33-34 (discussing isolated busines- ses' use internet for globalizing business and competing in larger marketplace). Companies use their presence on the internet to gain and maintain a competitive advantage through online marketing and sales. See id. at 37-39. 3. See ELLSWORTH & ELLSWORTH supra note I, at 39-42 (describing rapid growth of commercial users of internet); KENT supra note 2, at 51-53 (describ- ing two schemes used for internet addresses). Each host computer on the inter- net has a unique address made up of numbers and dots (such as 119.322.45.116) so other computers can find the host computer. See id. Internet governing authorities developed a Domain Naming System (DNS) to make computer addresses more user- friendly by matching words and abbreviations to the numbered addresses that computers use. See id Addresses such as mcdonalds.com or nbc.com are easier for internet users to remember than 234.532.21.164. See id. When an internet user accesses the mcdonalds.com site, his computer must first access a computer name server on the internet to translate the words into the numbered address so the computer can find the host computer the user requested. See KENT supra note 2, at 51-53, 344 (stating that businesses, organizations and individuals use domain names to distinguish their web sites from others); ANDREW R. BASILE JR. ET AL., ONLINE LAW: THE SPA'S GUIDE TO DOING BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET 229-31 (Thomas J. Smedinghoff, ed., 1996) (discussing use of domain names and domain name conflicts). Businesses often use trademarks as internet domain names because consumers recognize famous trademarks and can easily guess those businesses' domain names, which promotes ready access to the businesses' web sites. See

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