tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060198.post3045967787987026945..comments2024-02-14T12:37:14.887+00:00Comments on IT Law in Ireland: Domain Name Registrars - The New Points of Control?TJ McIntyrehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16565959875438814437noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060198.post-25573980723168774142008-04-26T19:58:00.000+01:002008-04-26T19:58:00.000+01:00ICANN is basically US controlled. Whether that wil...ICANN is basically US controlled. Whether that will continue to be the case or not remains to be seen.<BR/>Maybe opting for a ccTLD might help avoid some of the issues, but the mountains of paper that solicitors love dumping on people's desks is scary.<BR/>If someone were to offer an insurance policy to cover the legal costs faced by hosts and registrars dealing with a lot of the spurious claims I'd sign up in the morning!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060198.post-31368523842104242062008-03-22T12:10:00.000+00:002008-03-22T12:10:00.000+00:00Dave - that's a very good point. In practice it pr...Dave - that's a very good point. In practice it probably means that domain owners should generally use registrars in their home jurisdiction where they are more likely to be familiar with local law. This is also good advice if the domain name is likely to be contentious - by using a US registrar, you may end up with a situation where the US courts can acquire <I>in rem</I> jurisdiction under the dispute (under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act), even though they would not otherwise have <I>in personam</I> jurisdiction. In practice, this means that by using a US registrar, an Irish domain name owner may end up unable to fight an unmeritorious trademark claim due to the expense of defending an action in the US.TJ McIntyrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16565959875438814437noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060198.post-44898288563848813682008-03-19T15:12:00.000+00:002008-03-19T15:12:00.000+00:00"These cases illustrate that domain owners should ..."These cases illustrate that domain owners should be equally cautious in deciding which registrar to use"<BR/><BR/>Which, unfortunately, won't be necessarily easy if they're not familiar with any applicable law in that registrar's jurisdiction.<BR/><BR/>One could sign-up with either Tucows or Rebel in Canada. However, Canada's criminal code may prevent one from posting online information on a pending prosecution in their domain name's web site.<BR/><BR/>Or, one could use either Gandi.net or Joker.com. But one can't put up a hate site in Europe.<BR/><BR/>Then you've got PublicDomainRegistry/DirectI in India. IIRC, they have a law placing liability on service providers whose servers are used to send out spam.<BR/><BR/>And of course, there is a registrar in China. Don't get started on that. :P<BR/><BR/>Domain registrars, like any business, are obligated to obey any laws within their jurisdiction. Given the examples above, looking for a registrar in particular might be a tall order, sheesh...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9060198.post-36431162309927571552008-03-18T12:34:00.000+00:002008-03-18T12:34:00.000+00:00Interesting article. One thing I wanted to note wa...Interesting article. One thing I wanted to note was that GoDaddy.com also recently suspended the domain ratemycop.com, a Los Angeles based website where users can leave feedback on officers.<BR/><BR/>The story can be found here: <BR/>http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/godaddy-silence.html<BR/><BR/>It seems GoDaddy used the excuse of exceeding bandwidth as the reason behind taking the site offline, though personally I think that's bullocks. I think Godaddy responded to a popular news story in which police officers responded to ratemycop.com. That story can be found here:<BR/>http://cbs13.com/local/rate.a.cop.2.673410.html<BR/><BR/>Also, it seems that ratemycop.com is up and running, but I couldn't find any info as to who is now hosting the site or any further developments on that story.DWyatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02389877325477448227noreply@blogger.com