Originally Posted by Brett Lewis

Not really a fair or accurate analogy. The Earth exists. It is empirically round.

A domain name is a creature of contract. To be registered, a registrant must agree to a set of terms and conditions that define a set of legal rights that the domain holder acquires through registration. The registration is subject to limits on use, payment, term, maintenance of accurate contact information and other factors. Without the Services Agreement, the domain name does not exist.

You are essentially arguing that, "a domain name is property, so saying it's something else does not change the fact that it is property." You are assuming a conclusion without proving it. The fact is that what a domain name is is decided by the courts.

In New York, and every other jurisdiction, save for the 9th Circuit, where the only decision is by a federal court interpreting a state law issue of first impression, i.e., Sex.com, a domain name is not considered by the courts to be property. In fact, seven judges on three different courts in New York, including the First Department Appellate Division, have unanimously agreed that domain names are creatures of contract, not property. Given NSI's registration services contract, which was not in effect at the time that <sex.com> was initially registered, most questions regarding the nature and scope of rights in and to domain names are governed by contract. As a result, no one should assume that domain names will be treated as "property" and passed by operation of law to surviving family members.

If a domain name is included in a Will, hopefully, a registrar would respect that choice, although legally, I am not sure that the registrar would have an obligation to renew the registration unless the registration agreement requires that it do so.