From news.spc.edu!news.new-york.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.news.gtei.net!news.idt.net!chippy.visi.com!news-out.visi.com!tor-nx1.netcom.ca!ns3.vrx.net!not-for-mail Fri Oct 23 04:47:24 1998 Xref: news.spc.edu comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains:21953 misc.legal:287366 misc.legal.computing:35031 Path: news.spc.edu!news.new-york.net!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.news.gtei.net!news.idt.net!chippy.visi.com!news-out.visi.com!tor-nx1.netcom.ca!ns3.vrx.net!not-for-mail From: richard@ns1.vrx.net (Richard J. Sexton) Newsgroups: misc.legal,misc.legal.computing,comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains Subject: Re: .TV (Tuvalu) ccTLD - IMPORTANT WARNING!!! Date: 23 Oct 1998 01:54:31 -0400 Organization: none Lines: 127 Message-ID: <70p5mn$gkc$1@ns1.vrx.net> References: <706km6$pll$2@news1.epix.net> <70m922$f88$1@ns1.vrx.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: ns1.vrx.net . . . . . . . . . . . A long time ago in a net far, far away... . . A terrible civil war burns throughout the . . net: a rag-tag group of freedom fighters . . . . has risen from beneath the dark shadow of the . . . evil monster the IANA and ISOC have become. . . IANA forces have instituted a reign of . . terror, and every weopon in its arsenal has . been turned upon the Rebels and their allies: tyranny, . . . oppression, press releases, overwhelming hype, and greed. . . . . Greed keeps the individual systems in line, and is the . prime motivator of the New Order. . . Outnumbered and outgunned, the Rebellion burns across the . . . vast fibres of the net and a thousand-thousand hosts, with only . . their great courage - and the mystical power known as the cabal - flaming a fire of hope. . This is a galaxy of wondrous aliens, bizarre monsters, strange . . people, powerful weapons, great heroes, and terrible villains. It is a galaxy of fantastic servers, magical devices, vast noise, awesome machi- . nery, terrible conflict, and unending hope. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . T h i s i s t h e h o r r o r o f . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ____ ___ __ __________ . / \ | \ | | / | . . / _ \ | \ | | / ______| . . / | \ | | |\ \ | | \ \ . . . / | | | | | \ \| | \ \ . . . . / |__/ | | | \ | ______ _> | . /. / | | \ | | / . . . . /___________/ |__| \___| |___________/ . ____ __ . _____ ____ . __________ . _________ \ \ / \ / / / \ | \ / | . \ \/ \/ / / \ | ___ | / ______| . \ / / /\ \ . | |___> | \ \ . \ / / /__\ \ | _/. \ \ \ /\ / / \ | |\ \______> | . \ / \ / / ______ \ | | \ / . . . \/ \/ /____/ \____\ |___| \____________/ . In article , wrote: Camera pans left, heavy, subdued breathing is heard, the voice of James Earl Jones rings out: >We meet again Mr. Sexton. Darth! The sound of a light sabre zaps the air and the voice from the dark side proclaims: >first, in the law there is a dictum we talk about the likely, not the >metaphysically possible. so if we are talking in general about the .tv >TLD, policy and regulation should focus instead on the most likely use of >the .tv domain name, and not the metaphysical possibility that there is a >fred and wilma disney living in tuvalu (no doubt ripping off hanna-barbera >as well). A vision of Obi Wan Kenobi appears, and he speaks "But there are others there in Tuvalu that habe family names that moght coincide with famous marks considered by 140 signatories to the Paris convention" >incidentally, i don't get my "trademark tunnel-vision" thorugh >indoctrination at work - if you go the home page of the people selling the >names at internet.tv, you will see that they are marketing the thing for >use as a brand - they have a bullet point that says "domain names as >brands" or something like that (didn't you read my post on that?). No Darth, they can market it however they feel like, you'll not get me over to the dark side. Again the light sabre cuts the air with a crackle: >but let's assume that there are people out who (1) have the same surname >as famous media marks and (2) have a crying need to get a .tv domain name, >ike Mr. and Mrs. Viacom, Mr and Mrs HBO, Mr and Mrs Weather Channel and >little Siegfried bbc. It is the law in many jurisdictions (like every >one that the likely purchaser of the .tv name cares about) that you cannot >use your own surname if such use causes confusion (in the us see the >taylor wine, gallo cheese and edward sullivan cases). Yoda speaks: "Domain registration not defined in a geopolitical area or given for a specific product or service like trademark is. Hmmph. Phill Gallos Bait Shoppe won't be confused with the California wine producer of the same name if he gets gallo.tv. >so fred and wilma disney would be unable to use that domain name as a >trademark in most jurisdictions. they probably would not be able to use >it in Tuvalu as Tuvalu is a common law jurisdiction and would follow the >One In A Million case. But who knows if they'll observe the law there now >that they are on the TLD payroll. If Fred and Wilma Disney are the hottest thing on TV you'd have a problem Darth. >As for famous pseudo marks, the PAris Convention is observed by 140 >countries. I don't know how many ccTLDs that encompases but it is a big >chunk. Is Tuvalu one of them ? >as for the net being a jurisdiction that doesn't observe intellectyal >property treaties, i don't think thats such a great idea. Well just see about that. There were some papers at Georgetown a couple of years ago where lawyers took kindly to the prospect of jurisdiction incybespace. I wouldnt expect you legal training in the 1920s to have rpepared you well for this but it will happen eventually. Darth fades away. Only to return. -- Richard Sexton 280se@mbz.org Bannockburn, Ontario, Canada 1970 280SE, 1972 280SE http://www.mbz.org