Glossary of Domain Name Disputes

The domain name dispute resolution system was supposed to be user-friendly, but this goal has not always been achieved. One of the main barriers to effective access has been the jargon that has grown up around the system. To successfully negotiate the system you must need to know the differences between registrants, registrars and registries; you must not confuse your UDRP with your ACPA; and you’ll need to be able to choose between NAF and WIPO should it become necessary.

Abusive registration:

This is a key concept under the Nominet Dispute Resolution Policy; there is no concept of an abusive registration under the UDRP (although see the entry on bad faith). An abusive registration is one which was registered or acquired or has subsequently been used “in a manner which took unfair advantage of or was unfairly detrimental to the Complainant’s Rights”.

ACPA:

See the entry on the Anti-Cybersquatting Protection Act.

ADR:

ADR stands for alternative dispute resolution. In the domain name dispute context, arbitration proceedings are sometimes called ADR proceedings, especially in EURid documentation.

Alternative dispute resolution:

See the entry on ADR.

Anti-Cybersquatting Protection Act:

A US law enacted on 29 November 1999. It amended the Lanham Act - the centrepiece of US trade mark legislation - and forms section 43d. The ACPA may - in certain circumstances - be applied to your case by the US courts, even if you're not a citizen of or based in the US.

Arbitration:

Domain name arbitration is the contractually-based system of dispute resolution used to determine disputes about the proper ownership of domain names. It is distinct from traditional arbitration: a sophisticated system of private dispute resolution proceedings commonly used to determine international contractual disputes.

Bad faith:

Under the UDRP a successful complainant must prove that the domain name was registered or is being used in bad faith. The concept of bad faith is not defined in the UDRP; however four examples of circumstances which are evidence of bad faith are given, and I have (crudely) summarised these below. First, circumstances indicating that the respondent intended to sell the domain name to the complainant are evidence of bad faith. Second, so-called “blocking” registrations are evident of bad faith, providing they are part of a pattern of such registrations. Third, evidence of bad faith may be found in registrations intended to disrupt a competitor’s business. Finally, circumstances indicating the commercial use of a domain name which creates a likelihood of confusion between the domain name and the complainant’s mark are evidence of bad faith. The list is non-exhaustive.

Cancellation:

One of the remedies permitted under the UDRP, Nominet Policy, and the .eu Regulation, but rarely employed. The usual remedy is transfer. Cancellation is also known as revocation.

ccTLD:

This stands for country code top level domain. Examples of ccTLDs include .us, .uk and .de.

Complainant:

The person making a complaint via a domain name arbitration service about a domain name registration (analogous to a plaintiff or claimant in litigation).

Complaint:

The document setting out the complainant’s case. There are detailed rules about what must go into a complaint, and the length of complaints is strictly limited under some regimes. Typically, a complaint would include references to the provisions of the relevant policy document, a description of the factual circumstances of the case, arguments as to why the case should be found in the complaint’s favour, and references to previous decisions which support the arguments.

Cybersquatting:

The practice of improperly registering or acquiring domain names in which others have rights.

Decision:

The domain name dispute equivalent of a court judgment. There is no formal system of precedent in domain name arbitration. However, the arbitration bodies are loath to allow a diversity of interpretations of their rules, and in practice panelists will not usually depart from well-reasoned earlier decisions (or at least that they know about).

Domain name holder:

Another name for a registrant.

EURid:

The body administering the .eu domain name. The EURid dispute resolution service is provided by the Prague-based Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic and Agricultural Chamber of the Czech Republic.

Expert:

The Nominet term for panelists - the “judges” of the domain name dispute resolution system. Most experts are practising intellectual property lawyers.

Federal Trademark Dilution Act:

US legislation providing a powerful remedy for the owners of famous trade marks. The FTDA was enacted in 1996. It was the first statutory amendment of the US Lanham Act to address the challenges presented by the internet. Its main effect was to expand the protection available to famous marks by prohibiting dilution.

FTDA:

See the entry on the Federal Trademark Dilution Act.

gTLD:

This stands for generic top level domain. Examples of gTLDs include .com, .net and .org. Compare ccTLDs.

ICANN:

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) administers the domain name system. It has promulgated no less than 10 different policies relating to dispute resolution. The most important policy is the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the UDRP). The UDRP must be read in conjunction with the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (the Rules). ICANN's other dispute resolution policies relate, for instance, to specific kinds of domain name with particular registration requirements (e.g. .pro or .biz), the .info sunrise period, and disputes with registrars over domain name transfers.

IDNs:

See the entry on Internationalised Domain Names.

Internationalised Domain Names:

A domain name potentially containing non-ASCII characters, for example a domain name consisting of Arabic or Hebrew characters.

Legitimate Interests:

To help defeat a complaint made under the URDP, a Respondent should argue that he or she has legitimate interests in the domain name in dispute. A non-exhaustive list of ways of demonstrating a legitimate interest is set out in the UDRP. First, pre-dispute use of (or preparations for the use of) the domain name or a name corresponding to the domain name “in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services” may constitute a legitimate interest. Second, you or your business being commonly known by the domain name may constitute a legitimate interest. Third, a legitimate non-commercial or fair use of the domain name may constitute a legitimate interest, providing that use does not misleadingly divert consumers of the complainant or tarnish the trade mark at issue.

NAF:

The National Arbitration Forum is a major forum for the resolution of domain name disputes. NAF focuses upon North American domain name disputes. Arbitration proceedings using NAF are governed by the UDRP, the Rules and NAF's Supplemental Rules. NAF also provides non-UDRP dispute resolution services, for example for disputes about .us and .kids.us domain names.

Mediation:

Mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution where the parties to a dispute try to agree a settlement to the dispute with the help of a professional facilitator. The Nominet Dispute Resolutions Service provides a free mediation service.

Mutual jurisdiction:

This concept is used in the UDRP and other policies to refer to the jurisdictions in which formal court proceedings should be conducted in the event that domain name arbitration proceedings do not produce a satisfactory outcome. Under the UDRP it means either the courts of the country in which the relevant registrar is based or the courts in the country which the registrant claims to be based in its WHOIS entry.

Nominet:

The Nominet dispute resolution service deals with disputes involving .uk domain names (including .net.uk, .ltd.uk, .plc.uk, .co.uk, .org.uk and .me.uk). Nominet does not use the UDRP; instead, disputes are determined under Nominet's own Policy and Procedure.

Panel:

One or three panelists usually constitute the panel.

Panelists:

The judges of the domain name dispute resolution system. Many are practising intellectual property lawyers; many NAF panelists are retired US judges.

Party:

Legalese meaning a person who is involved in legal proceedings as a litigant. In the context of domain name arbitration proceedings, that means involvement as either a complainant or a respondent.

Passing off:

The English-law tort of passing off has been inherited many other common law jurisdictions. It is sometimes referred to (with some carelessness) as "unregistered trade mark infringement". The registration and use of a domain name can constitute passing off.

Policy:

The UDRP and the Nominet Policy are the most important documents in UDRP and Nominet arbitrations respectively. The equivalent rules in .eu arbitrations are contained in the Regulation.

Procedure:

The Nominet Procedure contains the detailed rules governing the conduct of Nominet domain name arbitrations – for example, time limits for action.

Provider:

The company or organisation that administers a domain name dispute resolution service. Some systems of domain name dispute resolution, such as the UDRP system, have more than one provider; others, such as the .eu system, have only one provider.

Registrar:

A company or organisation that is accredited by a registry to register domain names.

Registrant:

The person that “owns” (i.e. has the contractual right to use) the domain name. The registrant of a domain name can be found using a WHOIS service.

Registration agreement:

The agreement entered into between a registrar and a registrant upon the registration or acquisition of a domain name. The registration agreement stipulates the manner of dispute resolution, and therefore underpins the whole domain name dispute resolution system.

Registration authority:

See Registry.

Registry:

The organisation administering the domain name extension in question. For example, Nominet it the .uk registry and EURid is the .eu registry. Sometimes called the registration authority.

Regulation:

In the context of .eu domains, this means Commission Regulation (EC) No 874/2004 of 28 April 2004 laying down public policy rules concerning the implementation and functions of the .eu top level domain and the principles governing registration.

Reply:

The document in Nominet proceedings containing the complainant’s arguments in response to the respondent’s arguments in the response. It should not in general contain new arguments unrelated to points raised in the response. There is no equivalent in the UDRP or .eu procedures.

Response:

The document containing the respondent’s arguments in response to the complaint.

Respondent:

A person responding to a formal complaint about his or her domain name registration (analogous to a defendant in legal proceedings).

Reverse domain name hijacking:

The improper use of domain name arbitration proceedings to dispossess a registrant of his or her domain name.

Revocation:

See cancellation.

Rights:

In Nominet proceedings, a complainant must show that he or she has rights in respect of a name or mark which is identical or similar to the domain name at issue. The Nominet Policy provides that rights “includes, but is not limited to, rights enforceable under English law. However, a complainant will be unable to rely on rights in a name or term which is wholly descriptive of the complainant's business”. The most important rights are registered trade marks and, in English law, the right to bring proceedings for the tort of passing off.

Rules:

The Rules for UDRP supplement the UDRP itself. The Czech Arbitration Court also has a set of rules for .eu disputes.

Supplemental Rules:

Under the UDRP, both NAF and the WIPO Mediation and Arbitration Center issue their own supplemental rules, which supplement the UDRP and the Rules for UDRP, and include for example provisions about the costs of arbitration. The Czech Arbitration Court also has a set of supplemental rules for .eu disputes.

Trade Marks Act 1994:

The centrepiece of the UK trade mark law regime, the 1994 Act has been frequently amended, usually to reflect developments in European law.

Transfer:

The most important remedy in domain name arbitration proceedings. If the panel determines that a complaint has been made out, the domain name will usually be transferred from the respondent to the complainant.

Typosquatting:

The practice of improperly registering domain names which are very similar to names in which others have rights. A form of cybersquatting.

UDRP:

The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy promulgated by ICANN governing most disputes about generic top level domains, and many disputes about country code top level domains. The UDRP must be read in conjunction with the Rules for Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy.

WHOIS:

Directory service for looking up names and other details of domain name registrants.

Domain Transfers without Tears

One of the most common errors I come across week after week concerns domain transfers. That is when a request is made to transfer a domain name from one registrar to another.

Many domain owners wait until just a few days before their domain expires before requesting transfer, because they mistakenly think the remaining time on their domain name will be lost if they transfer earlier.

The result is that the transfer often fails because the procedure can take a few days to complete. And during that time the domain expires. The 'losing' registrar will then refuse the transfer altogether because of the universal rule that expired domains can't be transferred.

I guess one reason domain owners are badly informed about this is because many registrars consider it's not in their interests to tell their customers about this. After all, the more failed transfers there are, the more the registrar can rake in for another year's fees. As a domain reseller, I think that's a short-sighted attitude because it makes customers only more determined to leave your service as soon as possible!

What you need to remember is this....

When you transfer your domain name, one year's validity is added to the domain's EXISTING expiry date. So no time is ever lost when you transfer your domain!

For example if your domain still has 6 months to go before expiry and you transfer it now, it will have 18 months after the transfer completes.

The 10 Best Ways To Pick A Domain Name That Stinks

We've all registered 'duff' domain names in the past. It's part of the learning process in the domain name market. This guide should help you perfect the art of picking stinkers in no time at all!

1) If the name looks and sounds like a winner to you - it probably is! Never ask for else's opinion on the matter. Once you've thought of the name - don't read it back to yourself. It'll never sound as good the second time around anyway!

2) Who needs keyword research tools like Google Sandbox and Overture Suggestion Tool! Always trust your own intuition. If you've typed in the domain phrase countless times into Google then it MUST be popular.

3) Use as many senseless rhymes in your name as possible. Abuse Rhyme Zone to your hearts content. Looking to register a PHP development domain? Try phptoanadequatedegree.com or phpspanishtree.com!

4) Write a half baked program that throws together phrases and automatically registers the domains for you. Make sure you use Digg.com's RSS feed to help generate the names. Pull keywords from as many articles as you can!

5) Jump on the three letter .net bandwagon without thinking! XGT.net may not be an acronym just yet but there's surely a company around the corner who will be willing to pay top dollar for it.

6) Milk the domain cow as far as it will go. A recent example can be seen in the rush for Zune related names. Keep plugging away until you've exhausted every possible opportunity. Someone out there will want zunetunesandgoonsfaq.com. Remain completely oblivious to new trends! The real money lies in old fads.

7) Ignore end users. Concentrate on conjuring-up insults for those who appraise your domain as reg-fee on communities like Namepros.

8) Sick and tired of all of the popular generic TLD's? Find as many obscure extensions as you can and register the name "templates" in each of them! Templates.com sold for half a million bucks, as will Templates.cdsd with a bit of promotion!

9) Remember those who berate your recent domain name choices on forums are just being mean for the sake of it! Never take their advice on board. And whatever you do, don't think about it! Never change your approach even if it's lead to you registering 5000 stinkers in succession. Evolution stopped with the dinosaurs.

10) Make sure the TLD throws the domain name completely out of context. Populationofbolivia.biz is a great example.

.Mobi - The Birth Of A Mobile Internet Revolution?

The recent announcement that .mobi domain names had been released for general sale caused very little stirring on the Internet. It has been heralded as the dawn of a new era for the mobile Internet but many believe that once the initial land rush for domains has passed, it will become just another top-level domain like all others. .Mobi domains have already been purchased by a lot of companies. Initially, from May of this year, trademark holders from within the mobile communication world were given the opportunity to secure the domain associated with that trademark. Then in June, all remaining trademark holders were given the opportunity until finally this month, September, domain names go on general sale.

Why Has The Mobi Domain Been Introduced?

The principle behind the mobi domain name is that it will make finding websites designed for use on mobile or cell phones easier. It is also hoped that the release will herald a new age of mobile Internet with the inclusion of industry standards. Above all else, though, the hope is that mobile Internet browsing and surfing will become as commonplace as the cell phone itself.

Guidelines And Suggestions

As well as having to apply and adhere to guidelines before you can register a domain name, the .mobi domain raises certain questions in terms of accessibility, design, coding, and optimization. Style guides have been released by mTLD that contain a combination of enforced guidelines and advised best practices. Again, though, this only accounts for a portion of the user experience.

The Rise Of The Mobile Internet

Running a .mobi website could potentially be very profitable. So far the mobile Internet simply hasn’t grown as many expected. While this has partially been because of the high and difficult to understand tariffs it is also because the mobile Internet offers very little in the way of a valuable user experience. There are very few sites with mobile compatibility and even those that have attempted have struggled because of a lack of well-worked guidelines.

Mobile Search Engines

As you can probably imagine the main focus of all guidelines concentrates on ensuring that websites load quickly and accurately and that the content and site is easy to navigate. The major search engines already have mobile search engines in some cases; probably the most notable expectedly being Google’s own addition.

.Mobi Sites Should Be Short And Succinct While Still Offering Value

From a user perspective, the most important thing is having quick access to relevant data. Humans do not have the capacity to read as quickly off screens as they do off paper. When writing standard website content it is important to reduce the size of pages, the length of paragraphs, and the structure of sentences. When transferring this onto a mobile screen, which is potentially very small, the need becomes even more pronounced.

Some General Guidelines

Among the mTLD guidelines there are several important factors you must look at when creating page content for a .mobi domain. These rules are enforceable and this means that if you are found to break them you could potentially lose the right to use the domain name. A lot is fairly common sense. If you use color elements on your page, ensure there is a non-color equivalent. Limit the amount of content to specific details regarding the user’s requirements. Limit the amount of graphics that a page uses and ensure that the graphics themselves are not too large. These are just some examples.

Specific Text Content Guidelines

There are actually surprisingly few guidelines that look specifically at the actual word content of the .mobi page. Use clear and simple language, use introductory and relevant text before you progress a subject, and keep the number of keystrokes to a minimum. It really is quite basic stuff and more care should be taken to ensure that you really are giving your users the most valuable experience.

Accurate And Informative Page Content

Every page should be tightly channeled towards the topic it is based on. A cell phone screen is not the place to be injecting surplus words or sentiments. Similarly, just because the page will be read on a cell screen doesn’t mean everyone can understand “text talk”. Only very few sentences should be used per page and each must provide value.

Being Part Of The Revolution

The mobile Internet is virtually untapped and even though a land rush to register the most popular domains is predictable it doesn’t look likely to be as popular as similar releases like the .eu domain. However, as the price war wages between mobile Internet providers and the quality of the mobile network increases, there is a very real chance that the majority of the population that owns a cell phone will start to regularly access the Internet through their cell phone browser. You could be one of the first to take advantage.

The Importance of Domain Names

Domain Names are becoming a very important part of our lives. They are increasingly more important in our personal lives, in our work environments and in business circles.

Just how important are they today?

In most work places the employees name has become the main id attached to the company address i.e. colin.thomson@abccompany.co.uk for all correspondence, with the company domain name as the main part of that address.

Business’s the world over, where they have managed to, are obtaining the Domain Names of their companies for obvious reasons. So important has this become that those with incredible foresight bought Domain Names of companies the world over, hoping that one day they could sell them to those specific companies at grossly inflated prices.

It worked!! Domain Names are very important.

They are very unique, like your finger prints, there is not one finger print matching mine anywhere on this entire planet. Your own email address or your own ‘’url’’ are completely unique and it is impossible for 2 people to have the same one.

Today we are privileged to be able choose our very own email address and domain name, if they haven’t already been used someone else!!

This is though getting incredibly, but not surprisingly, more difficult to do now that the internet and computers have become such a vital part of our lives. Even in primary schools children as young as 4 and 5 are being taught to use computers, including ‘’spell check’’ which doesn’t exactly help their education?!

Nevertheless, I think we all realise the importance of Domain Names today.

I am very lucky and happy to have found a company where I was able to purchase the exact Domain Name I was after and at a very reasonable price.

Have you tried to get a Domain Name today?

To actually get your own, through the general means we have today, can be quite tedious and time consuming. You need to have your request checked by the hosting company then registered and even then you can only buy rights to it for a few years. You will then need to reregister etc.

Global Domains International is revolutionising the Domain Name industry today in that they are producing ‘’.ws’’ names as opposed to ‘’.com, .net, .org, .co.uk’’ etc.

The ws stands for ‘’website’’ and as the company is relatively new in the internet world many people are again able to get the Domain Name that they choose and so eagerly desire.

GDI as they are known also provide hosting for the website that you buy and you get up to 10 email addresses for a small monthly fee.

Domain Names are incredibly important today for not only business but in our private worlds too. With the way society has gone a lot of people need to move homes to get closer to employment opportunities. Sometimes families move 2 or 3 or even more times until the main income earner finds a job that will allow them to make ends meet.

The inconvenience of having to change your ISP and lose your email address and quite often the Domain Name that goes with your account, is proving to be as inconvenient as having to change your postal address.

Today many people are using very good services provided by Yahoo and Hotmail to keep the same email address forever but as good as they are, they are not exactly personal.

A better way in my opinion is to have your email address linked to a provider who will give you your very own Domain Name and include the email address of the same. For example colin@abccompany.ws which you could have forever, no matter where you chose to live in the world and no matter how many times you chose to move.

Domain Names and Search Engine Optimization

There are a lot of factors involved if you are considering building out a site with search engine optimization in mind. Your domain name is just one, but an important one.

Search engine optimization is simply an effort to get pages on your site to rank high in the natural or organic listings on various search engines with Google, Yahoo and MSN being the most important. Taking this approach to online marketing requires a lot of planning, patience and work. Unfortunately, many people get off on the wrong foot when the pick their domain name.

Selecting a domain name is often viewed as a simple process. Most businesses will simply use their offline business name or something off the top of their head. Others will try to pick something that is catchy, so visitors will hopefully remember the name and come back to buy more. If you are planning on pursuing search engine optimization, the approaches will not kill you. That being said, there is a better way to pick your domain.

One of the interesting things about most search engines is they put a significant amount of value on the words in the root of a domain name. By root, I mean the words between www and the dot com, net or whatever you are using. Simply put, even a moderate optimization effort will usually lead to the site appearing high under the phrase in the domain name. Given this fact, it is important to think long and hard about the domain you use.

One approach used by many people doing search engine optimization is to match keyword phrases and domains. The idea is to research keyword phrases being used by people in your particular field and then buy domains matching those phrases. For a simple example, consider the fact that many people search for “puppy names”. If you want to build a site about puppies, you would ideally want to buy the domain puppynamesdotcom. Such a site could be optimized and obtain fairly high rankings with a moderate amount of effort.