Understanding The Internet
Domain Name Arbitration
After several minutes of pondering and looking at keyword analyzers,
you find the perfect domain name for your new website. You see if it
is available through your desired domain name company. When you find
that it is, you get excited because it seems that it is going to be
quite profitable for your site. So, you sign up for it, thinking
that it is up for grabs, since your domain name company has said it
is available.
Then after a few months you get correspondence from an attorney
saying that your new domain name has violated another company's
trademark. You are now stuck with a potential legal battle that
could cause you to lose your domain name, your reputation and maybe
even worse. Fortunately, with domain name arbitration, there's a
chance you can get out of such a situation and avoid any possible
legal consequences.
What is domain name arbitration? It is a process in which the
complainant and the original holder of the domain name try to work
out a reasonable agreement as to who actually has the rights to the
domain name in question. The arbitration in itself is done through
the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, (also known as
UDRP). This is a special arbitration method set forth by the ICANN
(Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) organization.
It is used for most domain name disputes, because it is cheaper and
less time-consuming than 'traditional' litigation.
In order to initiate a domain name arbitration proceeding, a
webmaster must go through a provider that has been approved by ICANN
to handle such disputes. Once the arbitration begins, the provider
will first determine if the complainant has merit in their claim.
They will do this by evaluating whether the domain name in question
is similar to a trademark or domain name set forth by the claimant.
They will then determine what rights the claimant has to the title
along with whether or not the domain was chosen accidentally or with
the intention of taking advantage of the claimant's brand
popularity. If it is found the domain name was chosen in bad faith,
rights to it will be granted to the claimant. Otherwise, the
original owner will retain possession of the disputed domain name.
If either party is not satisfied with a domain name arbitration
proceeding, they can challenge the findings in a regular courtroom.
An example of this happened with Robert De Niro, when he tried to
claim the rights to any domain name containing the phrase 'Tribeca.'
He is still in court trying to retain the rights to Tribeca.net,
which has been claimed by another person.
In conclusion, domain name arbitration is a great alternative to
avoiding taking a domain name dispute into a courtroom, at least
initially. There is the option to go to court if either side feels
an arbitration isn't fair. Yet, for most webmasters, the decisions
made by the UDRP panel are good enough for them, since getting their
consul is a lot cheaper than going to a judge.
To employ advanced and effective marketing methods to your site,
be sure to contact us at
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Market domination is possible, if you want it.
-Scott H Leonard
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