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?
1 Answer from Attorneys
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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