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June 2001 Volume 2, Issue 6
Editors: Cherie W. Blackburn Robert W. Pearce, Jr. John C. McElwaine
For more
information contact 1-800-237-2000 Nelson Mullins has more
than 250 attorneys firm-wide, with over 25 attorneys having
significant representation of e-commerce clients in areas including
patent, copyright and trademark protection; business planning,
securities and venture capital; and licensing, distribution and
contract preparation. Atlanta
Office Contacts: Neil Grayson Cherie
Blackburn Robert
Pearce John
McElwaine Charlotte
Contact: Jason
Sprenkle Myrtle
Beach Contact: Franklin
Daniels Columbia
Contact: Mark Dukes Greenville
Contact: Marvin
Quattlebaum William
Herlong Munich
Contact: Stefan Lode CyberWatch is an Internet Law Group news digest published as a service to Nelson Mullins’ clients and friends. The articles are summaries of particular developments in the law and are not intended to be a solicitation or to render legal advice. This publication can be considered advertising under applicable laws
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CyberWatch
Alert
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On
May 15, 2001, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
announced that it had reached agreements with the operators of the new
".biz" and ".info" top-level domain (TLD)
registries. If the
agreements are approved by the U.S. Department of Commerce, this will be
the first introduction of new global top-level domains since the
mid-1980s. Afilias
will be the operator of the ".info" registry, which will be an
unrestricted TLD, open to any business or person to register for any
purpose. NeuLevel will be
the operator of the ".biz" registry, which will be a
restricted TLD open only for commercial or business purposes.
What
All of This Really Means to Businesses Companies
should immediately protect their valuable trademarks, service marks and
product names through NeuLevel’s and Afilias’ initial registration
processes described below. This
will enable trademark owners to stake a claim to domain names that are
identical or confusingly similar to their marks.
Both the ".biz" and ".info" registration
processes highlight the growing importance and protection of trademarks
rights on the Internet. Businesses should also inventory their existing product and
service names to ensure that they are protected to the full extent.
As illustrated with the ".info" process, marks that are
officially registered with the United States or another foreign
government, are a crucial, if not sometimes necessary, component of a
company's defense against cybersquatting. NeuLevel
and Afilias will employ different three-step approaches designed to be
more fair and protective of existing trademark rights.
Both processes have an initial step whereby diligent trademark
owners may protect themselves from cybersquatters.
The following is a description of the different registration
processes. NeuLevel
(".biz"): 1.
Trademark Notification Service.
From May 21, 2001 through July 9, 2001, for a fee, businesses may
submit notification claims of their registered and common law trademarks
before the application process is opened.
Under this service, domain-name applicants will be notified of a
trademark owner's claim when they submit an application for an identical
name or trademark. If the applicant decides to continue the registration, the
business submitting the trademark claim will be notified of such
registration and will be given a window of opportunity to challenge the
registration using administrative dispute resolution.
2.
Initial Registration Period.
From July through Sept. 25, 2001, NeuLevel will open the
application process for businesses, which will submit their applications
through registrars. These
applications will be randomly selected in batches and awarded.
Businesses can submit an unlimited number of applications but
there will be a $2 fee for each application for a ".biz" name.
3.
".biz" Begins Operations.
On Oct. 1, 2001, awarded ".biz" names will become
operational addresses. After
this date, ".biz" applications will be processed on a
real-time, first-come, first-served basis.
".biz" will use a Restriction Dispute Resolution
Process (RDRP) similar to ICANN's existing process to resolve challenges
related to the business-only restricted nature of the registry. Afilias (".info"):
1.
Sunrise Period.
From late June through late July, Afilias will offer a 30- day
"sunrise" period during which anyone with a registered
national trademark can apply for a ".info" domain name
corresponding to the trademark. Trademark
data must be provided at the time of application.
To assure fair and equal access during the sunrise period,
registrars will first collect applications and deliver them to Afilias.
Afilias will then implement a multi-round batch processing system
during which it will randomly select applications from each registrar's
batch. The World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO) will
administer a dispute process through which any third party may challenge
the sunrise period registrations. This challenge process, available for
approximately 120 days after Afilias begins accepting applications for
domain names from the general public, will end in November. 2.
Application Start Up Period.
Within 15 days after the conclusion of the sunrise period,
Afilias will begin a "start up period" during which they will
accept applications from the general public. To ensure that ordinary
Internet users have an equal chance to register names during the initial
launch phase, ".info" names will be registered using a
multi-round batch process similar to the one used for sunrise period
applications. Using this
process, Afilias will randomly select applications from batches
submitted by each registrar. This
"start up period" will last approximately three weeks. After the start up period, Afilias will process applications
on a real-time, first-come, firstserved basis.
3.
".info" Begins Operations.
Names awarded during the sunrise period will become operational
one week after the beginning of the general application and registration
process. The remainder of the awarded ".info" names will
become operational after Afilias processes them. If
you have any questions, or if we can assist you in filing for a new
".biz" or ".info" domain name, please do not
hesitate to contact us. Cyber
War A
cyber war raged between Chinese and American hackers from April 30 to
May 9, 2001. The hacking
began after the April 1t confrontation between a U.S. spy
plane and a Chinese fighter jet. After
the collision, tensions escalated between the United States and China
when the United States refused to apologize for the incident.
The Chinese hackers drew first blood, defacing a dozen U.S. Web
sites including the MCI Center in Washington, several Air Force sites,
and Web sites operated by the Departments of Energy, Labor, and Health
and Human Services. American
hackers soon responded, defacing 15 Chinese Web sites with ethnic jokes
and calls for other hackers to join the attacks.
One of the most high-profile attacks occurred on May 4, 2001,
when the White House Web site fell victim to a denial-of-service attack
that apparently originated in China.
On May 9, the Chinese hacking group officially called off its
online battle with American hackers claiming to have reached its goal of
hacking into and, in some cases, defacing more than 1,000 U.S. Web
sites. New
Trademark Bill Introduced The
U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 741, a bill to
implement the Madrid Protocol Treaty.
The Madrid Protocol creates an international system for
registering trademarks. Currently,
companies must file applications in each country in which they wish to
register a trademark. The
Madrid Protocol permits filing an application at the U.S. Patent and
Trademark Office and requesting registration in certain member
countries. The
International Trademark Association, which supports passage of the bill,
says that the Madrid Protocol will greatly reduce application costs on a
global basis and speed up trademark registration internationally.
In some countries, it takes many years to obtain a registration.
Under the Madrid Protocol, the average registration time should
be 18 months. The House
passed a similar bill last year only to see it rejected by the Senate as
a result of a trademark dispute between rum manufacturers Bacardi Ltd.
and Pernod Ricard. H.R. 741
includes language to clarify that it “does not affect substantive
trademark law.” FBI
Nets Russian Hackers Federal
agents in Seattle arrested two Russian computer hackers belonging to a
computer-hacking ring that prosecutors say victimized dozens of
e-commerce businesses in 10 states.
To arrest the hackers, the FBI set up a dummy corporation known
as Invita, which promoted itself as an Internet-security company.
The agents then invited the Russian hackers to attempt to hack
into their system. When the
Russian hackers succeeded, Invita “invited” them to the United
States to discuss job offers. Once
the hackers were in Seattle, they were promptly arrested.
Prosecutors say that these hackers may be linked to hundreds of
crimes, including the theft of 15,700 credit card numbers from Western
Union in Denver last September. A
computer file discovered in an account registered to one of the Russian
hackers allegedly contained another 38,000 credit card numbers gleaned
from an unnamed business. The same hackers stole personal information from thousands of
PayPal customers by creating a bogus “mirror site,” identical to the
legitimate PayPal Web site. Breaking
Down Filters Residents
of Saudi Arabia and China cannot access many Web sites that those
governments consider defamatory, immoral or illegal; however, last fall,
some Saudi citizens found a crack in the government filtering system.
By masking their online destination, Saudi residents were able to
bypass the government filter and view any Web site.
Unfortunately, by mid-November, the Saudi government had cut off
access to this Web site also. Reporters
Without Boarders, a media rights advocacy group based in France,
estimates that at least 20 countries significantly restrict Internet
access. Countering such
government restrictions are Internet Web sites, some of which are free,
that are provided by companies like SafeWeb, Anonamizer, SilentSurf.com
and The Cloak. Many of these privacy protection Web sites work by inserting
themselves as an intermediary and masking the Internet addresses of the
users’ computers. If a
user in a country with Web censorship goes to a privacy-protection site,
that site can be used as an anonymous shell for exploring any site on
the Web. Denmark
to Legalize Music Downloading The
Danish government is considering adoption of a law that will legalize
the downloading of digital music from the Internet.
Elsebeth Nielsen, Danish Minister for Culture, believes that
country’s private copyright laws should be relaxed. Currently, Danish
residents are not allowed to copy digital media such as CDs.
However, her proposed rules will give the Danes the legal right
to copy for personal use. This
proposal has angered some copyright holders who believe that this would
permit the copying of digital material available online.
However, the Danish government assures critics of the proposal
that while Danes will be legally able to download material from the
Internet, sharing their own files would be illegal.
Aimster
Sues RIAA Aimster
filed a lawsuit against the Recording Industry of America Association (RIAA)
seeking a declaratory judgment that the company is not infringing on
copyrights. Aimster is a
Napster-like, file-sharing program that allows people to trade files
using America Online’s “Buddy List” Messaging
Service. Aimster
filed the lawsuit after it received a cease and desist letter from RIAA
alleging that Aimster was identical to Napster and needed to block
users’ file sharing in the same way that Napster has done under court
order. The free
Aimster software has attracted 4.2 million users since the downfall of
Napster. Some experts
believe that Aimster may be insulated from liability because users have
more control over the files, sharing them only with people designated on
instant messaging “Buddy Lists.”
Congress
Clears the Way for Broadband Deregulation Bill A
Congressional panel recently approved a bill that will allow local phone
companies to offer nationwide high-speed “broadband” Internet
services. The House
Telecommunication Sub-Committee approved the controversial bill which
will make it easier for local “Baby Bell” phone companies to offer
high-speed data services. Such
high-speed Internet services comprise a market valued at
$30 billion. Current
law prohibits Baby Bells from offering long-distance data and voice
services in their home areas until they prove that their local networks
are open to competitors. Web
Sites Face Fines Over Children’s Privacy The
U.S. Federal Trade Commission announced that three Web sites have agreed
to pay a total of $100,000 in fines to settle prosecutions under the
Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).
The parent companies of “girlslife.com”, “bigmailbox.com”
and “insidetheweb.com” were charged with illegally collecting
information on their sites from children under age 13. These cases are
the first successful prosecutions under COPPA, which requires Web site
operators to obtain parental permission before collecting private
information from children under age 13.
The prosecutions are important because there has been criticism
that many Web sites collecting information from children have failed to
clearly post their privacy policies or comply with the requirements of
COPPA. V@riSign
to Permit Use of Symbols in Domain Names V@riSign
has announced plans to open its Multilingual Domain Name Test Bed to all
characters in “Unicode”, the standard adopted by industry leaders
which provides a unique number for every character, no matter what the
platform. Unicode permits
the use and display of characters not typically found on U.S. computer
keyboards. The use of
symbols will allow for registration of domain names such as “Coke®.com,”
“$tocks.com” and “v@risign.com.”
Currently, these domain names are very difficult to type.
Some of them require turning on the Num Lock, holding down the
Alt key, and typing in the decimal value of the character using the
numeric keypad. Although it
is too early to tell, should keyboards be designed that can accommodate
a greater number of symbols, these domain names may become more valuable
to individuals and businesses in the near future.
International
Web Site to Fight Online Fraud The
United States and 12 other countries have joined forces to fight
international Internet fraud. The International Marketing Supervision Network, a group of
13 industrialized nations, announced the formation of the
“e-consumer.gov” Web site. The sitewill accept complaints about
Internet fraud that originate outside a victim’s home country and
relay the complaints to appropriate law enforcement officials in
participating countries. The Web site will be hosted by the U.S. Federal Trade
Commission (FTC). The
“econsumer.gov” site is an extension of the FTC’s Consumer
Sentinel Network, a database of consumer complaint data.
The Consumer Sentinel Web site received more than 100,000 fraud
complaints in 2000 but could handle complaints only in English.
The consumer site, available in English, Spanish, French and
German, contains information about consumer protection laws and contact
information for consumer protection agencies in participating countries. In addition to the United States, the following countries are
participating in the project: Australia,
Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hungry, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, South
Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Credit:
Netbytes Wired News; Virtual New York; Law.com;
TheSeattleTimes.com; SiliconValley.com; New York Times;
The ICANN Web site; CNN.com; The E Commerce Times; Internet
World; |
