Who will take your domain?
Senator Snowe of Maine and two other members of the U.S. Senate commerce committee have recently introduced legislation that would allow trademark interest to bypass the UDRP and ACPA and engage in legally sanctioned reverse domain hijacking. The proposal allows corporate interests to take away domains that have nothing to do with trademark infringement. If this law passes it will provide a much easier way for corporate hijacking to take place with no due process. This bill if passed could affect owners of generic domains, by allowing them to be sued at the whim of any trademark owner that feels they have deeper pockets than the current owner. This bill is being labeled as an anti-phishing bill, however the bill is being labeled incorrectly in hopes that Congress will allow it to pass. Bypassing the UDRP process and going straight to court could triple the statutory damages awarded, up to a maximum of $6 million. In my opinion this is just another ploy by big business to make up for their lack of foresight, and not getting it initially.
Domainers need to see this as a wake-up call. If domain owners do not understand that this is just the beginning of the war against big business, then it will be too late. The ICA “Internet commerce Association” led by lobbyist Phil Corwin, is taking a strong stance on fighting this bill from making it through Congress, however without the help of domain owners across the world, big business will always have the upper hand because of their deep pockets. Join The Fight
