The biggest legal defence to the legendary ineptitude of VeriSign (nee
NSI) has been this notion that there is no intellectual property in a
domain name. It's a license.
I guess that is a way of saying it is a monopoly and not liable for
damages for incompetence on the part of the license granter. That is an
interesting legal theory.
I have followed this case closely from the ground level. I can't believe
it went to the US Supreme Court.
The implications of the decision would perhaps hurt VeriSign, but, as
someone else noted about Boeing, right now, you can't cripple the
institution because it carries such a load. Slap wrists but don't whack
knee caps. The .com registry is a bit like that.
As to the actual damages Kremen was awarded... I doubt they would be
that large had Cohen actually showed up. Since he didn't, the judge took
whatever accounting hyperbole was at hand to hit back.
Ken.
--
Most men are within a finger's breadth of being mad.
-- Diogenes the Cynic
(perhaps aptly so-called)
--- cut here ---
Sex.com finds owner at last
Sex.com has proved very lucrative for cyber-squatter
BBC News
Friday, 13 June, 2003
The long and steamy legal battle over who owns the internet address
sex.com has finally come to an end.
The US Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from cyber-squatter Stephen
Cohen, who was claiming ownership of the domain name.
The ruling is expected to set a precedent about the ownership of website
addresses.
The court heard that Mr Cohen had obtained the lucrative sex.com
address - thought to be worth over $500,000 a month in advertising space
alone - illegally from Gary Kremen.
Mr Kremen had originally registered the domain name with Verisign, known
at the time as Network Solutions.
But Mr Cohen allegedly sent a forged letter to Verisign, asking the
address to be handed over to him.
Online landlords
Verisign complied without checking the letter or contacting Mr Kremen.
Mr Cohen proceeded to create a multi-million online porn empire using
the name.
The rejection of Mr Cohen's appeal against a $65m damage award puts an
end to six years of legal wrangling.
It is seen by legal experts as a landmark case because it holds the .com
registry Verisign accountable for allowing the erroneous transfer of
ownership to take place.
It is also a test case of whether an internet address can be treated as
property, with domain owners given legal rights in a similar way to
offline landlords.
Huge bill
Now Mr Kremen faces an uphill struggle to recover his costs because Mr
Cohen is a fugitive from justice in Mexico.
Forcing Verisign to accept blame for transferring the domain name in the
first place could prove equally difficult.
Verisign maintains that domain names are not legal property and as such
it cannot be held accountable for giving it away.
If it loses, as legal experts expect, Verisign would face a huge legal
bill and fines of up to £100m.
