Domain name disputes
The New York Times ran an
item this morning [registration required] about a new report, looking at the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, an arbitration system set up to resolve domain name disputes. What happens when two people or organizations battle for control of a certain domain name?
Domain names are those strings in the address bar of your browser: www.michaeldietsch.com, for example, is a domain name. If a company were to begin doing business as, say, Michael Dietsch Enterprises, Inc., the owners could attempt to prove that my use of michaeldietsch.com infringes on their right to further their business activities. Similar domain name disputes have arisen over
nissan.com,
madonna.com, and
brucespringsteen.com.
This report, written by Dr. Milton Mueller, an associate professor in the School of Information at Syracuse University, looks at 3800 such disputes, studying how the current arbitration system addresses and resolves them. The report also recommends improvements to the system. The report is available online in PDF format, along with a database containing information about the first 3800 cases arbitrated by this system.
Here you'll find links to the report and to the database.
Dr. Mueller has also written
Ruling the Root, a new book about Internet governance, available through MIT Press. Given my growing interest in Internet law and policy, the report, its accompanying database, and this book should make for nice, light, summer reading.