On Sat, 3 Jul 1999, Karl Auerbach wrote:
>
> > > You do not own your domain name.
> >
> > There is now case law on the books that says otherwise.
> >
> > You are quite simply wrong.
>
> This is one of those cases where "ownership' is a soft concept.
>
> Maybe one doesn't have absolute, unlimited title to a domain name, but one
> has some collection of rights, contractual and perhaps otherwise, that are
> in and of themselves rights that can be transferred (perhaps for a quid
> pro quo, i.e. sold), used as security for debt, licensed, delegated, etc
> etc.
Sorry, I should have been more specific. You are of course correct Karl.
> My conclusion is that domain names do come with a bundle of rights and
> that those rights do constitute sufficient discretionary power over the
> domain name that they, or at least the rights towards the domain name if
> not the name itself, could be considered a form of property right.
And the judges in the court cases I have heard of on the subject would
seem to agree with that interpretation.
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Patrick Greenwell Telocity http://www.telocity.com
(408) 863-6617 v (tinc) (408) 777-1451 f
"This is our time. It will not come again."
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