Category: Internet Law
Domain-Name Rights: Pursue Them or Lose Them, Arbitrator Rules
Domain-name registrants who sit on their rights rather than go after trademark infringers do so at their peril. In a case decided last July, an arbitrator for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) held that a foreign registrant’s bad-faith registration and continued use of an infringing domain name, at some point, transformed into legitimate use…. Read More
Domain Names and the First Amendment: The Latest Word
The intersection of domain names and the First Amendment is not new. Indeed, in the early days of the domain name system, courts considered the issue of whether a domain name registrar could prohibit the registration of domain names on the basis of content – for instance, domain names containing profanities. See Nat’l A-1 Advertising,… Read More
Judge’s Ruling on Antitrust Complaint Has Implications Far Beyond the .xxx Domain
A recent decision by a federal judge in California has brought ICANN’s broad authority over the domain name system once again into question. Manwin Licensing International – perhaps the most lucrative provider of online adult-oriented content – brought an antitrust action against ICANN arising from the establishment of the .xxx top-level domain and the award… Read More
Report From an Energized WIPO Conference in Geneva
Each October, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency, hosts at its Geneva, Switzerland, headquarters about 50 participants from around the world for a two-day conclave to discuss recent developments and issues surrounding domain name trademark disputes. This conference brings together, in one place (as an added bonus, scenically overlooking Lake Geneva… Read More
Libya Loses Court Battle Over Its Own ‘Libyan Embassy’ Trademark
In an interesting recent opinion, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rebuffed the Libyan Government’s bid to obtain a transfer to it of the domain name registration for libyanembassy.com from a “legalization expeditor” – a company that certifies documents as one step in the process of international legalization of documents (such as… Read More
Founding Partner Jeff Ifrah: Why the DOJ Settlement With Poker Stars is a Win-Win
When online gaming is successful, Ifrah says, players participate in all aspects of the industry – including in the casinos. This is a great development for the gaming industry and great for business and for the nation’s economy
Ifrah Law Partner Michelle Cohen: Don’t Consider Yourself Immune to Data Breaches
Michelle Cohen recently joined Ifrah Law as a partner. Here is an edited transcript of a recent interview with Ms. Cohen. Question: What are some of your legal experiences and strengths that you’d like to highlight? Answer: I have many years of experience representing clients engaged in various industry sectors before state attorney generals, the… Read More
Domain Names Go Creative: Will We Soon See Dot-Poker?
Domain names on the Internet are about to get much more varied and creative. Soon websites will not just end in the few familiar suffixes like “com” or “edu,” but could end in things like “.movie” or ”.lawyer” or “.lol.” On Wednesday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the organization tasked with… Read More
Second Circuit YouTube Ruling Will Have Major Impact for Online-Piracy Debate
What had been touted as a great victory for Google in particular and for “Internet freedom” in general was just dealt a major blow when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision in Viacom’s lawsuit against Google and Google-owned YouTube. Viacom, along with the English… Read More
Better Anti-Piracy Bill Introduced in Wake of SOPA, PIPA
We previously wrote about the broad protests over two bills in Congress targeting online copyright infringement – the House’s Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and the Senate’s Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). We were pleased that the protests and other activities were effective in ending efforts to pass those versions of the legislation. The protests… Read More
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