Internet Domain Names, Trademarks and Free Speech

Book excerpt: 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.