Law

51 CEOs Call on US Congress for Urgent Nationwide Data Privacy Law Overriding State-Level Laws

A letter, signed by 51 CEOs, was sent to U.S. House and Senate and leaders of other committees today urging policymakers to pass a comprehensive national data privacy law. more

Recovering Domain Names Lost to Fraudulent Transfer

Domain Names composed of generic terms and combinations – dictionary words, random letters, and short strings – have achieved ascending values in the secondary market. DNJournal.com (Ron Jackson) reports on his year to date chart, for example (just a random sampling from the charts) in August 2019 joyride.com was sold for $300,000, in June voice.com sold for $30 million, in July rx.com sold for $1 million, and in January california.com sold for $3 million... The magnitude of the reported sales suggests that businesses have come to depend on resellers than go to the trouble of inventing brand names from scratch. more

WIPO Becomes First Non-Chinese Entity to Provide Domain Dispute Resolution Services for China’s .cn

WIPO's Arbitration and Mediation Center earlier this month became the only non-Chinese entity to provide domain name dispute resolution services for the .CN and .?? (China) country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD). more

Domain Name Registrar Isn’t Liable for Counterfeit Goods – InvenTel v. GoDaddy

InvenTel makes security cams for cars. It is trying to crack down on Chinese counterfeiters. It brought a prior lawsuit against a wide range of defendants, including GoDaddy. InvenTel voluntarily dismissed GoDaddy from that suit. It brought a second round of litigation involving a new counterfeit site allegedly by the same bad guys, www.hdminorcarnbuy.com, a domain name registered via GoDaddy. more

Satisfying the Evidentiary Demands of the UDRP

It continues to surprise that some counsel in proceedings under the Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) are unaware or oblivious of its evidentiary demands, by which I mean they file and certify complaints with insufficient evidence either of their clients' rights or their claims. Because the UDRP requires conjunctive proof of bad faith registration and bad faith use (as opposed to the disjunctive model of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act), it should be ingrained for counsel experienced in the jurisprudence to know they cannot hope to succeed with marks postdating registration of domain names. more

New Zealand’s Domain Name Commission Wins Appeal in Lawsuit Against US DomainTools

New Zealand's Domain Name Commission (DNC) wins in court against the US company DomainTools for "illegally scrapping personal information" of .nz domain name owners. more

GDPR Fine Enough or More Disclosure?

The UK cares about its citizens' privacy to the tune of a $229 million (US) fine of British Airways for a breach that disclosed information of approximately half a million customers. It's exciting -- a significant fine for a significant loss of data. I think GDPR will lead to improved security of information systems as companies scramble to avoid onerous fines and start to demand more from those who provide information security services and products. more

EU Court of Justice Ruling Could Result in Cutting Off Data Flows to US

EU holds an eight-hour-long hearing taking an extensive look at whether US surveillance practices break European data protection laws. more

The Question of Fairness in UDRP Decision-Making

In disputes under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), parties should be able to rely on Panels delivering predictable, consistent, and legally reasoned decisions. In large measure, this depends on Panels analyzing the facts objectively through a neutral lens and applying principles of law consistent with the jurisprudence. However, the results are not always seen by the losing party as having achieved a fair result. more

Responding to “The Case for Regulatory Capture of ICANN”

This past Monday, as ICANN65 was beginning in Marrakesh, the technical review blog Review Signal published a detailed expose, "The Case for Regulatory Capture of ICANN" authored by site founder and "geek-in-charge" Kevin Ohashi. The post was clearly the product of extensive investigative reporting – and what it reveals is deeply disturbing. more

What Modern Businesses Need to Know Regarding Geo Names and Jurisdiction in Domain Name Disputes

The Internet has provided an unprecedented number of opportunities while raising far-reaching legal issues. It has created a complex matrix of national laws, global circumstances and new definitions -- or, at least, definitions in progress. The turmoil over Brexit and the international implications of the EU General Data Protection Regulation are signs of the times; as are issues surrounding domain names. more

Words and Descriptive Phrases as Trademarks Registered as Domain Names

In a trademark context, who owns or controls, or would prevent others, from using words and phrases commonly available to speakers in a language community, is in persistent tension. While common words alone or combined may become protected from infringing uses under trademark law, their protection is contingent on factors such as linguistic choices and strength or weakness of marks in the marketplace. more

Huawei Files Motion in US Federal Court Calling Ban Unconstitutional, an Assault on Human Rights

Huawei has filed a legal motion in the United States federal court calling for the ban to be declared unconstitutional and deemed an assault on global human rights. more

Qualcomm’s Licensing Practices Are Illegal, U.S. Judge Rules

A U.S. district court judge rules that Qualcomm violated anti-trust laws and has ordered the chip maker to change some of its licensing and negotiation practices. more

Microsoft Sees Serious Appetite for Revised Privacy Laws in US, Says It’s Time to Match EU’s GDPR

With the first anniversary of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) approaching in just a few days, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Julie Brill says GDPR has been an important catalyst for progress in privacy protection around the world. more