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Aviation: Centerline: Newsletter - November 2008

Because of the perception that there are only limited export controls on most civil aircraft, consideration of U.S. export laws often is given scant attention in many international transactions. This is true particularly in the business aviation industry where sellers of used aircraft may not routinely engage in export transactions; it is also critical for foreign owners of U.S. origin aircraft, who may not understand how the U.S. government exerts jurisdic­tion over aircraft even after they are sold abroad. The recent rash of U.S. enforcement actions highlights the need for both U.S. and for­eign companies to understand and comply with U.S. export restrictions.

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Intellectual Property and Technology
Newsletter - July 2004
 
In this Issue...
Department of Commerce to Consider Approving Controversial Domain Name Wait-Listing Service
 
 July 6, 2004
 

Verisign, Inc., one of the largest domain name registrars, is seeking to implement a “waiting list” service for would-be domain name registrants looking to register soon-to-expire .com domain names.

On March 6, 2004, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the entity which oversees the process for administering domain names, passed a board resolution seeking Department of Commerce consideration of Verisign’s planned wait-listing service. ICANN is deferring to the Department of Commerce for consideration of Verisign’s proposed service pursuant to an agreement between ICANN and the Department of Commerce. Under that agreement, any “material change” to the current domain name administration system that ICANN oversees must be approved by the Department of Commerce.

Verisign’s proposed wait-listing service has already been met by opposition from other registrars. On February 27, 2004, eight registrars filed suit against Verisign and ICANN alleging that the wait-listing service would confer an unlawful monopoly to Verisign over used domain names. The complaint also alleges that the wait-listing service could lead to scams where consumers pay to be wait-listed for domain names that may never become available again due to ongoing prior ownership.

If the Department of Commerce approves the domain name waiting list service, it will undoubtedly result in questions by consumers as to the utility of paying fees to be placed on a wait-list for coveted domain names. For a more descriptive domain name such as “carsforsale.com,” the service may be useful in trying to beat others to the registration gate and might be easier than monitoring the status of a domain name registration. However, for domain names which are also registered trademarks of others such as “cocacola.com,” those names will most likely be registered and renewed indefinitely into the future (thus, paying fees to be placed on a wait list for such domain names would likely be a waste of money).

To read more about Verisign’s proposed service, you can visit http://www.verisign.com/nds/naming/wls.html where Verisign has posted various documents describing the wait-listing service it would like to provide. n

For more information, e-mail Elayna Pham at elayna.pham@hklaw.com or call toll free, 1-888-688-8500.