Yes, I'm going further with this but this is not on just me. Everyone who owns a domain name portfolio needs to get involved in one way or another.
What we need to do is make sure this bill doesn't leave that committee in its present form. We could be writing the Senators on the Senate Commerce Committee at this point. These are the people that will determine if the larger Senate body will even see this bill. I'm getting varying information on how long it's likely to stay in this committee, but it's good to get started on this campaign early and keep it persistent.
If it passes the Senate committee, and then passes Senate, only then does it go to the House of Representatives. I wouldn't even bother writing your House Rep at this point. Start with the Senate Commerce Committee and your own Senators.
Let's not rely on the online petition alone to protest the bill.
Letter writing seems like a good place to start. Phil Corwin of the ICA says he'll have a sample letter available within a few days. Once we have a clear plan of action, we'll get the larger NamePros community involved to the fullest extent.
Absolutely. You have a domain with no trademark on it. Somebody decides they like the name. They trademark it. You receive a demand letter in the mail. You give up the name for free because you can't afford either the legal costs to fight or the potential penalties.
I believe it has a very high probability of getting passed.
They're calling it anti-phishing legislation, when up and down it is really a trademark bill. Who would vote against a bill outlawing phishing?
It's unlikely the senators voting on this bill understand the full technical details of what they are voting on. They probably really believe this will help stop phishing.
Domain owners traditionally do not garner much sympathy, nor are they commonly recognized on capital hill as legitimate business industry.
To remind everyone what this bill does:
Companies and trademark holders can sue any domain owner with a similar domain similar to their name.
NO bad faith is required to be proven.
There is NO protection for generic domains.
WHOIS privacy will be eliminated.
It will do next to nothing to stop phishing. Phishers are already breaking the law by committing fraud. Do you really think outlawing whois privacy and allowing companies to sue them over their domain will help?
I believe the domainer community could help by an organized letter writing campaign, and possibly proposing alternative language for the bill that would actually help curb phishing without infringing on domain owners rights.
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You are probably not safe if you still live in America.
Why?
1) For 'more traditional security' you want your non-US registrar to be ICANN certified.
2) If they are ICANN certified, then the US gov can probably still 'get to you'.
ps. I would feel much better if someone could convince me I'm wrong about all American domain holders being in serious danger, even if they use non-US registrars.
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Finally, would people living outside of America, and using ICANN certified registrars be safe?
(for legitimate cases not cybersquatting)
This potentially could affect domainers outside the USA because the central registry for .COM (Verisign) is based in the US. As a result even if your registrar is outside the US, ultimately every .COM is within legal reach of the US government.
How much does it cost to trademark your own domains?
I think we will have to do this sooner or later anyway, I don't have a problem with developing, but I suppose that a trademark won't be so cheap :/
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$275 if you file online yourself. Legalzoom.com will do it for $494. If you have a very valuable domain, it's worth considering seeking a trademark on the term and NOT parking it. Even if the Snowe bill doesn't pass, owning a trademark gives you excellent protection.
I would inagine trademarking would increase the value of the domain...selling a trademarked domain would be like selling it with insurance...buyer would have some peace-of-mind.
Exactly. UDRP's are now considering a change of ownership to be the same as a new registration. That means anyone who has established trademark rights in a term after your registration could dispute the domain the minute it changes hands to a new owner.
The only downside of a trademark is that it takes almost a year from your application to get the final registration.
"such domain name is or contains the identical name or brand name of, or is confusingly similar to the name or brand name of a government office, nonprofit organization, business, or other entity;"
And was considering how such a law would affect my domain: www.Justice.info
considering the Justice department website: www.Justice.gov
Eventually the domain will be developed further as a parody style site, to voice views about various issues...
I am not an American, I am an Australian residing in Australia.
I have also been thinking that .info domains would be safer from US laws because the extension is managed by Afilias which is based in Europe. Whereas .com and .net are managed by the Verisign, which is US based.
Usually you TM the name without extension eg. Apples and not 'apples.com'.
If the name is distinctive or another party is using the same name in a different TLD in a way that infriges your TM maybe you could go after them.
BTW certain TLDs like .co.uk or .eu have their own dispute resolution services while others rely on UDRP. Some TLDs don't have any dispute policy at all.
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1) I'm holding Original_Idea.com (for example) and my domain reg is in place before someone tries to get a trademark.
2) Someone applies for a trademark for the term 'Original_Idea'.
Does my original domain ownership give me rights to apply for a trademark, even after someone else?
Would I win under current laws??
(LLLL, LLL)
