Should expired domains be treated like abandoned property or intellectual property?

[nicenicnicenic is verified member.]

Right now, when a domain expires, it enters a system that treats it basically like abandoned property. It gets auctioned, recycled, or picked up by whoever's fastest.
But a lot of people argue that domains, especially branded ones, feel more like intellectual property.

So what's the right way to think about it?
Should they have some kind of IP-style protection, even after expiration?
Where's the line between "fair market process"and "digital identity hijacking"?

 

[cactusfly]

We can petition organizations who own the registry to extend due dates. I might be wrong, but what's your suggestion?

 

[Ricado]

Treating domain names as either “abandoned property” or “intellectual property” is a misunderstanding in itself. Although we commonly refer to the registrant as the domain owner, what the registrant actually holds is a right of use, not ownership.


This is closer to the concept of land use rights. When a lease expires and the holder chooses not to continue paying the fee, the right is revoked and the land returns to the system, waiting for the next party to sign a new agreement.


If ownership was never obtained in the first place, it makes little sense to frame expired domains as any form of “property” at all.

 

[cactusfly]