TTHHEECCAASSEEOOFFSSUUCCKKDDOOMMIIAANNNNAAMMEESSAANNDDCCYYBBEERR--SSMMEEAARRIINNGGEEXXAAMMIINNAATTIIOONNOOFFSSUUCCKKCCAASSEESSWWIITTHHTTHHEEWWIIPPOOAARRBBIITTRRAATTIIOONNAANNDDMMEEDDIIAATTIIOONNCCEENNTTEERRBBYYRRAAMMIIOOLLWWAANNThepurposeofthepaperistoexaminesuckdomainnamesandtheUniformDomainDisputesResolutionPolicy(UDRP)thatdealswiththemandhowthosearehandledinWIPOArbitrationandMediationCenter(“WIPOCenter”).Mypaperisdividedintofiveparts,inpart;Iwillgiveageneralintroductionondomainnames.InpartII,Iwillexaminetheproblemofcybersquattingandthesolutionsproposedonthenationalandinternationallevel.InpartIII,IwillexaminetheUniformDomainNameDisputeResolutionPolicy(UDRP).Inpart

,IwillconsidersuckdomainnamesandthecomplaintsthathavebeenbroughtinfrontofWIPOcenter.MypreliminaryexaminationwillbetowhatextentfreespeechisallowedundertheUDRPandthedecisionsofWIPOpanellists.Attheendofthepaper,IwillprovidemyownsuggestionsonhowwecanimprovetheUDRPandhavebetterdecisionsthatallowfreespeechontheinternet.



1.DomainNamesBasics(Overviewofdomainnames)

Forthesakeofintroducingthereadertodomainnames,Iwilldefinewhataredomainnamesandthedomainnamesystem(DNS).Iwillalsomentiontypesofdomainnames.Finally,IwillconsidertheInternetCorporationforAssignedNamesandNumbers(ICANN).



MeaningofDomainNamesandDomainNameSystem(DNS)

Therearemultiplemeaningsfordomainname

,andthisdependsonthetechnicalornontechnicalbackgroundofthepersonwhoistryingtodefinethem.Forourownpurposes,adomainnameis“human-friendlyformofInternetaddresses,andarecommonlyusedtofindwebsites”

.Domainnamesidentifyaparticularcomputerserverthatisconnectedtotheinternet,andtheyareusedeitherasanemailorWorldWideWebsiteaddress.Domainnamesarealphanumericcombinationstypicallycomprisedofanabbreviation,anameoranacronym,followedbyaperiodandoneofthethreeworldwidegeneric“top-leveldomain”categories

.IwilldiscussbelowwhatistheDomainNameSystem(DNS).ComputesonthenetworkusesdifferentoperatingsystemssuchasMicrosoft,AppleandMacintosh,andtheyallneedacommonlanguagetocommunicatewitheachother;oneofthelanguagesthattheyuseistheDNS.TheDNSprovidesthemechanismforconvertingdomainnamesintoInternetProtocol(IP)addressesandthenbackagain

andthatenablesuserstolocatecomputersthroughtheuseofnamesratherthannumbers

.TheDNSisessentiallyaglobaladdressingsystemthatlocates,translatesnumericalIPaddressesandfacilitatesidentificationofaspecificwebsiteontheinternet

.Domainnamesareregisteredina“firstcomefirstservedbasis”andthisbasicprinciplehasbeenadoptedwidelybyallregistrarsandregistries.Wewilldiscussthedifferencebetweenthesetwowhenwestudytheirrole.

Seeforexamplethemultiplemeaningsfordomainnameatwikipedai,availableathttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name(LastvisitedonApril26,



2007)

2

WIPOFrequentlyAskedQuestionsAboutInternetDomainNames,availableat



http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/center/faq/domains.html(LastvisitedonApril26,



2007),seeAlsotheITMA,Domainnamedefinitionavailableatwww.itma.org.uk/pdf_downloads/publications/domain-names.pdf





(LastvisitedonApril26,



2007).



IANC.BALLON,E-COMMERCEANDINTERNETLAW,11-01(2001).

id

UNCTAD&WIPO,DomainnameDisputesSettlement,5,availableatwww.

unctad

.org/en/docs//edmmisc232add35_en.pdf 

id(LastvisitedonApril26,



2007).

B.TypesofDomainNames

Basicallytherearetwotypesofdomainnamesandtheyare:genericTopLevelDomains(gTLDs)andCountryCodeTopLevelDomains



(ccTLDs)

.Genericdomainsarethemostprizedandaremeanttoindicateaglobalpresence

.Inthe1980s,sevengTLDs(.com,.edu,.gov,.int,.mil,.net,and.org)werecreated

.InadditiontothesesevengTLDs,ICANNhasintroducedonNovember16,2000,thefollowingdomainnames:.aero,.biz,.coop,.info,.museum,.nameand.pro,andsinceMarch2004ithasbeenintheprocessofintroducingthefollowingsponsoredTLDandtheseinclude:asia,.cat,.jobs,.mobi,.post,.telandtravel

.ccTLDsontheotherhandconsistoftwoormorelettersthatcorrespondtothetwo-letteredabbreviationsforcountries

.TheInternetAssignedNamesNumbersAuthority(IANA)establishedccTLDs,anddelegatedmanagementresponsibilityforthedesignatedcountrymanagerswhooperatedtheminaccordancewithlocalpolicies“adoptedtobestmeettheeconomic,cultural,andlinguisticcircumstancesofthecountryinquestion

.

Inadditiontothesetwotypesofdomainnames,thereisalsoAlternativeDomainNames(ADR)providedbyNewNet,whichcurrentlyregistersdomainnameswithseveraldifferentTLDs,including.shop,.art,Inc,.kids,.family,.travel,.club.xxx,and.law.ThesedomainnamesarenotapprovedbyICANN,andthereforemoststudiesdonotmentionthem.Thereisaspecialdisputeresolutionpolicyforthem.Disputeresolutionproviders,NAFandWIPOhandlestheirdisputesundertheNew.netgTLDs.Seewww.new.net(LastvisitedonApril26,



2007).