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22 J. Marshall J. Computer & Info. L. 625 (2003-2004)
A Normative Critique of Private Domain Name Dispute Resolution

handle is hein.journals/jmjcila22 and id is 631 raw text is: A NORMATIVE CRITIQUE OF PRIVATE DOMAIN NAME DISPUTE RESOLUTION I. INTRODUCTION In recent years much has been made of the rapid expansion and tre- mendous commercial potential of the Internet. As individuals and corpo- rations have begun to harness the vast potential of the Internet, our traditional law has struggled to respond to the rapid evolution of the America West Airlines, Gerber Products Company, The Hoover Com- pany, Seiko Corporation, Wells Fargo & Company, Mattel, Inc., Xerox Corporation, the International Olympic Committee and the United States Olympic Committee each received domain name transfers through domain name dispute arbitration.' These corporations have clearly recognized the value of domain names that contain or imply their trademarked words and phrases. Each of these corporations have turned to domain name dispute resolution as a method of capturing the goodwill value of trademark containing domain names held by unaffili- ated Internet users. However, the interests of the trademark owners in realizing and protecting the value of their trademarks in Internet do- main names create a potential conflict with the interests of the larger community of Internet users as a whole. The difficulty of balancing the rights of trademark owners with those of Internet users within the burgeoning commercial environment of the Internet has generated extraordinary tension between competing interests and proven a major challenge for the American legal establish- ment. United States federal law contemplates at least four avenues through which trademark owners may attempt to protect their marks from registration and use as Internet domain names: an action for tradi- tional trademark infringement under the Lanham Act,2 an action for di- 1. ICAAN, List of Proceedings Under Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Pol- icy, <http://www.icann.org/udrp/Detail58.htm> (updated May 10, 2004). 2. The Lanham Act, or Trademark Act of 1946, is codified at 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051- 1141(n) (2003) and is the statutory corpus of federal law directed at regulating and protect- ing trademarks and service marks. Within this Note the term trademark or mark is intended to encompass both trademarks and service marks. The Restatement (Third) of Unfair Competition defines a trademark as a word, name, symbol, device or other designa- tion, or a combination of such designations, that is distinctive of a person's goods or ser-

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