A provision in S. 1948 would authorize a study of abusive domain name registrations involving personal names

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

Ron Riley has put up 2 web sites to provide
information about what Senator Abraham and
Rep. Rohrabacher are doing on patent legislation.
And, he thinks this latest provision in S. 1948
may be related.  Jamie

His contact info: Ron Riley <rjriley@rjrilely.com>

http://www.senatorabraham.org/domain-names/
S.1948

 Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999
                  (Introduced in the Senate)


 SEC. 3006. STUDY ON ABUSIVE DOMAIN NAME
 REGISTRATIONS INVOLVING PERSONAL
 NAMES.

   

    (a) IN GENERAL- Not later than 180 days after the date of the
    enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with
    the Patent and Trademark Office and the Federal Election Commission,
    shall conduct a study and report to Congress with recommendations on
    guidelines and procedures for resolving disputes involving the registration
    or use by a person of a domain name that includes the personal name of
    another person, in whole or in part, or a name confusingly similar thereto,
    including consideration of and recommendations for-- 

     

        (1) protecting personal names from registration by another person
        as a second level domain name for purposes of selling or otherwise
        transferring such domain name to such other person or any third
        party for financial gain; 

   

        (2) protecting individuals from bad faith uses of their personal
        names as second level domain names by others with malicious
        intent to harm the reputation of the individual or the goodwill
        associated with that individual's name; 

   

        (3) protecting consumers from the registration and use of domain
        names that include personal names in the second level domain in
        manners which are intended or are likely to confuse or deceive the
        public as to the affiliation, connection, or association of the domain
        name registrant, or a site accessible under the domain name, with
        such other person, or as to the origin, sponsorship, or approval of
        the goods, services, or commercial activities of the domain name
        registrant; 

   

        (4) protecting the public from registration of domain names that
        include the personal names of government officials, official
        candidates, and potential official candidates for Federal, State, or
        local political office in the United States, and the use of such domain
        names in a manner that disrupts the electoral process or the public's
        ability to access accurate and reliable information regarding such
        individuals; 

   

        (5) existing remedies, whether under State law or otherwise, and the
        extent to which such remedies are sufficient to address the
        considerations described in paragraphs (1) through (4); and 

   

        (6) the guidelines, procedures, and policies of the Internet
        Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and the extent to
        which they address the considerations described in paragraphs (1)
        through (4). 

   

    (b) GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES- The Secretary of Commerce
    shall, under its Memorandum of Understanding with the Internet
    Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, collaborate to develop
    guidelines and procedures for resolving disputes involving the registration
    or use by a person of a domain name that includes the personal name of
    another person, in whole or in part, or a name confusingly similar thereto.

 We Now Know Where Abraham Stands 

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-- 
James Love / Director, Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org / love@cptech.org
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
voice 202.387.8030 / fax 202.234.5176