New Bill Threatens Domain Registrants and Poses Risks to Internet Commerce

[draggar]

Maybe someone should use that as a defense...stranger things have happened

Actually, read my letter, this legalizes domain hijacking and cybersquatting for large corporations.

 

[Focus]

of course it does...why do you think it was drafted? Not to stop the phishing spammer in Nigeria..

 

[thevirtual]

Here is an interesting perspective on this ridiculous Bill, from CNET's News.com

"Remember when the FTC warned legislation-happy politicians that antispyware laws could do more harm than good? The same is true with this new antiphishing legislation, which will probably do as much to stop e-mail and Web scams as Congress' Can-Spam Act did to end junk e-mail."

http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9879859-38.html

 

[VTEC]

CADNA™

see www.cadna.com

IMO opinion this is also misleading, because it looks like a typo of CANADA :uhoh:


ps. I've just signed the petition and I think that everyone who has a blog etc, should put this link on his website.

 

[rush]

Wow this is ****ing gay. I signed the petition!

 

[domain newbie]

IMO opinion this is also misleading, because it looks like a typo of CANADA :uhoh:

it's not even their site- .org is original

 

[Dorian]

Who is this 'Bill' that is threatening everybody?
Is he a new kind of Bill Gates?

 

[AnnaS]

http://skamarakas.com/jim/2008/03/05/domaining-crisis-show-your-support/

There is no self policing in this industry, no one in China is getting their hands chopped off with an axe for sending out billions of spam emails for sugar pills. This free range wild west attitude is what is going to "end the business" because for the average person it is bad business.

The bad apples always spoil the bunch. Where are the domain industry activities crying for regulations to fight the scum of this industry -
domain squatters
domain name chruners who prey on registration fees and DNS opportunities
domain registrars who allow dictionary registrations of adsjhbfahjbdj.com and every other bogus phishing, spam, and junk website propped up on the Internet every day,
or the sites that make money selling instructions, e-books, and link ads on how to make your millions fast on the Internet?

Without self regulation, you can only expect government regulation. And for those that expect this to be US only, it only takes for it to start somewhere for it to roll to the 2nd, 3rd and so on...

 

[Rockefeller]

Only up to 94 signatures on the petition.

 

[KaneCo]

Anybody know shoemoney? Got a lot of people on his blog. member here too I think.

 

[draggar]

http://skamarakas.com/jim/2008/03/05/domaining-crisis-show-your-support/

There is no self policing in this industry, no one in China is getting their hands chopped off with an axe for sending out billions of spam emails for sugar pills. This free range wild west attitude is what is going to "end the business" because for the average person it is bad business.

The bad apples always spoil the bunch. Where are the domain industry activities crying for regulations to fight the scum of this industry -
domain squatters
domain name chruners who prey on registration fees and DNS opportunities
domain registrars who allow dictionary registrations of adsjhbfahjbdj.com and every other bogus phishing, spam, and junk website propped up on the Internet every day,
or the sites that make money selling instructions, e-books, and link ads on how to make your millions fast on the Internet?

Without self regulation, you can only expect government regulation. And for those that expect this to be US only, it only takes for it to start somewhere for it to roll to the 2nd, 3rd and so on...

No there isn't but we do not have the authority to police the industry. How can we stop someone from spamming? Not buy their domains? Not click on their links?

The best we can do is educate the average person. How to spot phishing attempts, how to recognize a real site from a fake one, personal internet security, etc.

Since we are the industry (and we have some heavy hitters on there) then we need to start letting our senators know about the industry, how it needs to be managed, and what laws should and shouldn't be passed.

We can't rely on our government to act justly to protect us espcially since they do not know much, if anything, about the domaining industry. We need to educate the people we put up there on this and if they don't want to listen, then don't vote for them.

We put these people into office. Campaigning is nothing more than a proactive interviewing process and WE hire them. We can also fire them (or not re-hire them).

Maybe we need some heavy hitters who do have a lot to lose from this, people like Adam or other big name domainers, registrars like GoDaddy, Moniker, and even other companies who benefit from us, Google, Yahoo, Sedo, Parked.com etc..

This industry is no longer a little lemonaide stand, it is a multi billion dollar industry and it is the first TRULY global industry. I can't count the number of different nations represented on just this board. If our (the US) government wants to remain forward thinking then they need to open their eyes to the industry. The legitemate people are not stealing or cheating yet we are going to be punished (like most laws punish the lawful) while the scum sit back under international protection or ill-intended copyrights and trademarks (as I always say, the people who do things right live a life of Ramen noodles and Macaroni&cheese while the unethical people are living a life of luxury) and rake in the profits from our punishments.

Maybe it is time for people to step up and start policing ourselfs and educating the general public.

</rant>

And as a side note, I just hand registered two good domains for this. I don't think I'll have the time to develop them, though.

 

[NameCharger]

Nice to see a petition going.

 

[Rockefeller]

Computer world ran an article on it today:

http://www.computerworld.com/action...articleId=9066610&taxonomyId=70&intsrc=kc_top

 

[rush]

So is there any benefit in trying to trademark our premium domains ourselves?

 

[NameCharger]

Computer world ran an article on it today:

http://www.computerworld.com/action...articleId=9066610&taxonomyId=70&intsrc=kc_top

Thanks for posting.

Here is Snowe's blog regarding this issue: http://blog.thehill.com/2008/02/29/protect-internet-consumers-from-fraud-and-theft-sen-olympia-snowe

This goes without saying, but I definitely recommend keeping emotions in check if posting to her blog (there has already been a comment posted by a Nat C. that sets a great example for the rest of us). Comments conveyed from the standpoint of informed, concerned constituents are more likely to be given respect and credibility.

 

[Focus]

Nat Cohen is awesome, good guy and excellent comments there...and it's actually published which say's something for all of us I think..

 

[RWAC]

So, let me get this straight.

Large corporations with huge bottomless wallets, who have recognised that many online businesses are worth more than $325, are using this ploy to essentially take out from under people's noses, their own legitimate business, by registering a trademark using every dictionary word they can think of, and then, since they own all those dictionary words and the respective trademark corresponding to each, then want to lay claim and ownership over as many domain names as possible, knowing full well that given time, they can not only control the future direction of the internet as a whole, but just about any business operating from within it, close them down and in effect, steal their assets, all the while claiming that whilst doing so, under this bill, that this is completely legal.

In a nutshell, is that it, or am I missing the point somehow?

If that is what they are up to, it'd certainly be a cheap way to acquire a truly huge amount of assets for very cheap dollars, which no doubt, they would have sole monopoly upon, to trade between themselves into the future, controlling who exactly can do what, where and when.

If I'm barking up the wrong tree, tell me.

 

[NameCharger]

Large corporations with huge bottomless wallets, who have recognised that many online businesses are worth more than $325, are using this ploy to essentially take out from under people's noses, their own legitimate business, by registering a trademark using every dictionary word they can think of, and then, since they own all those dictionary words and the respective trademark corresponding to each, then want to lay claim and ownership over as many domain names as possible, knowing full well that given time, they can not only control the future direction of the internet as a whole, but just about any business operating from within it, close them down and in effect, steal their assets, all the while claiming that whilst doing so, under this bill, that this is completely legal.

Nail. Head.

 

[draggar]

So is there any benefit in trying to trademark our premium domains ourselves?

Yes, it makes it harder for us to keep our domains. A lot of us can't afford $325 per domain just to TRY to protect ourselves (we all know high priced lawyers that these corporations can afford can get around trademarks.

As for the lawyer writing about the law and the loopholes, what about Berryhill? He's been on this forum offering advice and from what I gather he's honest, to the point, and isn't afraid to step on some toes to shed some ethical light on a subject?

 

[Gregcyber]

Has any one found what the guys at Google think about the Snow Bill?