[wplug] DNS law?

[Bill Moran]

In response to Douglas Green <diego96 at mac.com>:

> Hi Group-
> 
> I understand that I'm not consulting an attorney by addressing your  
> guys, and that your opinions don't constitute legal advice, etc.  
> Nevertheless, many of you are pretty well informed regarding internet  
> and The Law. Besides that, you're all pretty sharp.
> 
> Some weeks ago I had a horrible customer experience with an airline.  
> My issues were completely ignored by customer service, who actually  
> didn't return email or phone calls. My final step was to register a  
> domain name and put up a website, documenting the problems I've  
> experienced with this airline.
> 
> The airline owns "theirname".com.mx, but does not own "theirname".com,  
> which is owned by some other travel-related company. I was able to  
> purchase "theirname".us, just in time for them announcing US flight  
> servce (previously, they only operated within Mexico).
> 
> Today I got a cease/desist letter from a legal firm out of New York  
> stating that my website is defamatory, and that I must immediately  
> remove the website content AND give the airline company the Domain  
> Name!!!
> 
> It's this second point that I'm asking your opinions on- If I own  
> airline.us, do I have to hand over the DNS to airline.com.mx who  
> apparently failed to secure the top domain space despite their  
> "tradename"? As far as the content being defamatory, AFIK if it's True  
> then it ain't Slander!

Part of this boils down to "how much are you willing to spend to prove
that you're right?"  You can be totally in the right, but if you
haven't got thousands or more to spend defending your position, the
airline can use the court system to effectively win the case, simply
because you'll have to back down.

See http://www.potentialtech.com/cms/node/69

That being said, I don't think they can "demand" the site back.  If you've
paid for it, they have a legal obligation to at least reimburse you for
your expense.  Again, is it worth thousands in lawyer fees to recoup a
$25/year domain registration?

However, on the rest of the points, I believe the others are correct.
Based on precedents in other areas of trademarks, it's on _your_ shoulders
to ensure that you're not wasting your money buying something that you
can't use.

Look at it this way: I open a restaurant and put a bit sign on it calling
it "McDonalds" because I figure people will gravitate to that name.  When
"McDonalds evil corporation LLC" files a cease and desist order, would
anyone be surprised or argue their right to do so?  If I cry, "well, it's
MECLLC's responsibility to reimburse me for the cost of the sign" will
anyone care?

The "I registered it first" mentality doesn't really stand up to US and
other country's trademark law.  Early on in the history of the internet
there were some crazy things that happened with companies spending big
$$$ to buy domain names that other people had scarfed first, but if you
think about it, those were usually names like "business.com" which are
not trademarkable.

-- 
Bill Moran
http://www.potentialtech.com
http://people.collaborativefusion.com/~wmoran/