Legal Question in Technology Law in California

Domain Name Confiscation

Is it legal for a ''registrar'', i.e., Network Solutions or GoDaddy Software, to confiscate a domain I have ''registered'' using their services? Isn't registration of a particular domain name (URL) considered ownership, since I can sell it to someone else? If I own it, then how can they confiscate it and shut it down altogether, even if it is hosted on my own server?


Asked on 5/16/03, 11:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Domain Name Confiscation

Read your registration contract carefully. It may amount to a lease. I have one like that myself. Don't confuse registration with the kind of "ownership" that arises from an intellectual property right in a name, such as cocacola.com -- anyone other than the Coca-Cola Company or its licensee who used that name would be committing cybersquatting or cyberpiracy. This kind of ownership arises under trademark law whereas registration amounts to a contract between the registrar and the registrant, and the terms can and do vary from registration to registration.

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Answered on 5/16/03, 12:42 pm


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