[wplug] DNS law?

Bill Moran wmoran at potentialtech.com
Thu Sep 10 08:37:32 EDT 2009


In response to Yaakov Nemoy <loupgaroublond at gmail.com>:

> 2009/9/10 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!
> >
> > Thanks for your (non-legally binding) input! ;)
> 
> IANAL here, but asking such advice is potentially illegal to respond
> to. None of us can give legally binding advice, and anything that we
> say could set a precedent against you that could backfire. In
> otherwords, you should really only ask a lawyer these questions. There
> may be ways out of this situation to your advantage, but i don't want
> to comment on them too deeply.
> 
> Generally the rule is that if your domain violates some trademark,
> they have to enforce it by taking all legal action they can, and that
> means that they're probably going to get the trademark. As for the
> content and any other legal liability, and even the fact that another
> travel related company also uses the same trademark makes this
> entirely the domain of lawyers.  Asking for real advice here is a
> really bad idea.

Yes!  Fleee!!! Hide in your homes!!! Be afraid of your own shadow!!!

What a bunch of bull.  In _The_Art_of_Unix_Programming_, Eric Raymond
makes an excellent point about how people mindlessly flee from legal
crap by constantly making claims like "I am not a lawyer" and refusing
to answer legal questions.  I agree with him that it's stupid to be
afraid to discuss it.  If you're going to take a stand in this (which
I think is a bad idea) you'll _need_ a lawyer.  However, talking about
what it makes sense to do with people in general is fine.  When the
law makes it dangerous to discuss this kind of thing in public, we're
all fucked.

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


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