Intellectual Property in Cyberspace: Provenance of Domain Name Deceptions and Present Scenario
Intellectual Property in Cyberspace: Provenance of domain name deceptions and the present scenario
Abhishek Shivpuri*
* Student, 5th year, Gujarat National Law University
Abstract
ARPANET, predecessor of the internet, was developed by United States of America to prove their robustness in the realm of technology and as answer to USSR’s launch of sputnik. This marks the beginning of the era of internet. Internet’s ubiquitous nature has pervaded the lives of each and every person in this world. It has provided intellectual property owners with a seemingly unlimited market for their creations. Simultaneously, however, it has also offered ample opportunities to users seeking to infringe the rights of others. Since internet is an infinite space the place of commission of the crime is extremely difficult to determine and also to make the person committing the crime liable for it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to surmount this obstacle by creating an impervious system of protection of intellectual property on the Internet. The focus of this paper is particularly on the abuse of domain names and ‘Uniform Domain Names Dispute Resolution Policy’ which helps in securing the rights of the victims of ‘cybersquatting’. It will also discuss the Indian scenario right from the landmark Yahoo! case till the more recent cases. This paper also seeks to explain the Indian Domain Name System and provide recommendations to make the Internet a safer haven for the Intellectual Property owners.
Keywords: Intellectual Property, Domain Name, Internet
Introduction
With the efflux of time we have seen phenomenal growth in the use of Internet for commercial purpose. Every business or an individual tries to identify itself to its users through its unique brand name and its symbol. With the growth of Internet as a platform or marketplace for businesses to market and sell their products the companies trading online try to acquire a domain name which is easy to remember and relates
Abhishek Shivpuri*
* Student, 5th year, Gujarat National Law University
Abstract
ARPANET, predecessor of the internet, was developed by United States of America to prove their robustness in the realm of technology and as answer to USSR’s launch of sputnik. This marks the beginning of the era of internet. Internet’s ubiquitous nature has pervaded the lives of each and every person in this world. It has provided intellectual property owners with a seemingly unlimited market for their creations. Simultaneously, however, it has also offered ample opportunities to users seeking to infringe the rights of others. Since internet is an infinite space the place of commission of the crime is extremely difficult to determine and also to make the person committing the crime liable for it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to surmount this obstacle by creating an impervious system of protection of intellectual property on the Internet. The focus of this paper is particularly on the abuse of domain names and ‘Uniform Domain Names Dispute Resolution Policy’ which helps in securing the rights of the victims of ‘cybersquatting’. It will also discuss the Indian scenario right from the landmark Yahoo! case till the more recent cases. This paper also seeks to explain the Indian Domain Name System and provide recommendations to make the Internet a safer haven for the Intellectual Property owners.
Keywords: Intellectual Property, Domain Name, Internet
Introduction
With the efflux of time we have seen phenomenal growth in the use of Internet for commercial purpose. Every business or an individual tries to identify itself to its users through its unique brand name and its symbol. With the growth of Internet as a platform or marketplace for businesses to market and sell their products the companies trading online try to acquire a domain name which is easy to remember and relates
References: Guide To Cyber Laws (Information Technology Act, 2000e-Commerce, Data Protection and The Internet), Rodney D. Ryder, 2007 edition Trademark Issues in Digital Era, Mayuri Patel and Subhasis Saha, 14th February 2008 Domain Name Disputes and Evaluation of ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute resolution Policy, Sourabh Ghosh, 22 July 2004 Passing off In Internet Domain Names – A Legal Analysis, Sunando Mukherjee, 23 January 2004 www.icann.org, as viewed on 24th November, 2010 www.icannwatch.org/icann4beginners.shtml, as viewed on 24th November, 2010 http://spicyipindia.blogspot.com/search?q=travel+indiatimes+v.+indiatimes+travel, as viewed on 23rd November 2010 http://www.registry.in/INDRP%20Rules%20of%20Procedure, as viewed on 25th November 2010 http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/casesx/index.html, as viewed on 25th November 2010