In the case decided in a legal proceeding of ICANN, the Internet
governing organization, a citizen of the United Kingdom registered
the domain name dorsetpolice.com for the purpose of criticizing
alleged corruption of his local police department. The police
department then initiated a legal proceeding under the ICANN domain
name dispute procedures to attempt to obtain the transfer of the
domain name from the individual. In its legal submissions the police
department argued that the criticism on the website was offensive
"to a point beyond libellous" and that the registrant did not have a
legitimate right to own the domain name. Today's decision supported
the individual's right to freedom of expression and held that "there
is a general, legitimate interest in allowing citizens to use
descriptive domain names to publish criticism about their
government."
The owner of the domain name was represented by noted domain name
expert Stephen H. Sturgeon, a Washington, DC attorney. During a
recent presentation to the American Intellectual Property Law
Association, Mr. Sturgeon described the issues in the case as being
"extraordinarily important to the future of the Internet." According
to Mr. Sturgeon, "The Internet can provide an unsurpassed
opportunity for the free exchange of ideas and for the unfettered
debate about important issues. Legal decisions affecting the
Internet must promote and not stifle freedom of speech."
The case represents the first time that a government agency has
attempted to obtain a transfer of a domain name that is being used
to criticize the government. The legal action was filed pursuant to
the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Policy which was established by
ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers in
1999. The policy provides that a domain name can be transferred from
a registrant if it can be proven that (1) another individual or
organization has a trademark in the words that are included in the
disputed domain name, (2) the registrant does not have a legitimate
reason to own the domain name and (3) the registrant is using the
domain name in bad faith. To date more than 4,000 domain name
disputes have been decided by the arbitration panels appointed by
ICANN. Most disputes are initiated by companies that own trademarks
in an attempt to require the transfer of the domain name to the
trademark owner.
CONTACT: |
Stephen H. Sturgeon |
|
(202) 393-8033 |
|
http://www.domain-name-dispute-lawyers.com/ |
The full text of the decision can be viewed at http://www.eresolution.com/services/dnd/decisions/0942.htm
.
The website for Stephen H. Sturgeon, attorney for the successful
domain name owner is http://domain-name-dispute-lawyers.com/
.
The website of the arbitration organization appointed by ICANN is
http://www.eresolution.com/ .
The website of ICANN, the governing body of the Internet is http://www.icann.org/ .
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SOURCE Law Offices of Stephen H. Sturgeon & Associates, PC
Copyright 2000, PR Newswire