8 - Domain names

Summary

Mapping cyberspace

Cyberspace is chaos. More than a billion users trawl unreal space for the gold, titbits and junk released by a multitude of undisciplined hosts. Cyberspace contains a massive amount of valuable and useless information. There are several billion web pages at users' disposal. Some are freely available and easy to locate. Others are hidden and security protected. The domain name system forms a map in cyberspace, indexing and listing material. Domain names have unwittingly become significant business identifiers and valuable assets. This chapter examines the nature of domain names, property rights, structure and regulations. Chapters 9 and 10 deal with domain name disputes and their resolution through the courts and through the use of domain name dispute resolution policies.

Information in cyberspace is so vast it cannot be properly catalogued. It is metamorphic in nature, growing, twisting and changing continuously. A semblance of order emerges in part by using meaningful identifiers for human interaction. Domain names permit millions of possibilities for cataloguing, indexing and searching. Their value in terms of both knowledge and commercial interests is unprecedented. The internet recognises no boundaries, yet existing laws are territorially based. The use and misuse of domain names have raised conflicts previously unknown in law. Existing legal remedies have proven inadequate, expensive and inconvenient, and often they have been unenforceable. Compulsory arbitration clauses have been placed into domain name licence agreements in an attempt to address these deficiencies. But new problems continue to arise, resulting in inconsistent determinations.