Internet Domain Names, Trademarks and Free Speech

by Jacqueline Lipton

Overview

As the first form of truly rivalrous digital property, Internet domain names raise many challenges for law and policy makers. Analyzing the ways in which past disputes have been decided by courts and arbitrators, Jacqueline Lipton offers a comprehensive, global examination of the legal, regulatory and policy issues that will shape the future of Internet domain name governance.

This comprehensive examination of domain name disputes involving personal names and political and cultural issues sheds light on the need to balance trademark policy, free speech and other pressing interests such as privacy and personality rights. The author stresses that because domain names can only be registered to one person at a time, they create problems of scarcity not raised by other forms of digital assets. Also discussed are the kinds of conflicts over domain names that are not effectively addressed by existing regulations, as well as possible regulatory reforms.

Internet Domain Names, Trademarks and Free Speech brings pivotal new insights to bear in intellectual property and free speech discourse. As such, policymakers, scholars and students of intellectual property, cyber law, computer law, constitutional law, and e-commerce law will find it a valuable resource.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848444140
Publisher:	Edward Elgar Publishing
Publication date:	12/29/2010
Series:	Elgar Intellectual Property and Global Development series
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jacqueline Lipton, David L. Brennan Chair in Law and Director, Center for Intellectual Property Law and Technology, University of Akron School of Law, US

Table of Contents

Contents: Preface Introduction 1. Overview of Domain Name Regulation 2. Competing Trademark Interests 3. Domain Names and Free Speech 4. Personal Names in the Domain Space 5. Political, Cultural and Geographic Identifiers in the Domain Space 6. The Boundaries of Bad Faith in the Domain Space 7. Domain Name Theory 8. Conclusions Index

Editorial Reviews

‘The growth of the global information economy has opened up a series of conflicts between civil society advocates on the one hand, and commercial interests seeking to expand intellectual property rights on the other. Jacqui Lipton has provided a wide-ranging and thoughtful analysis of the clash between commercial values and broader social values unfolding within the administration of the Internet domain name system. Lipton’s analysis is both rigorous and balanced, evaluating the development of the ICANN dispute resolution system and its impact on national laws, as well as considering possible future directions in the regulation of domain name rights and different dignitary interests.’

Jane K. Winn