Reserve Your Domain name Now!
Your Piece of Cyber Real Estate
By S. Denise Hoyle
In a landmark case, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals has just
stated that domain names, despite their virtual nature, should
be treated exactly as a "plot of land" would be. This
is a huge victory for all domain name registrants, not just for
Gary Kremen who can now continue his lawsuit against Network Solutions
for allowing the theft of his Sex.com domain name. NSI had argued
that domain names are intangible property and therefore they could
not be held liable for damages. (Kremen vs. Cohen Case #01-15899)
This ruling means that traditional property protections can now
be legally applied to domain names. Further, the ruling firmly
establishes that domain names are valuable properties and shows
that old-fashioned property laws also apply to the registration
of web addresses.
While this ruling may also aid victims of electronic fraud and
identity theft, this article focuses on the impact on domain rights.
Since domain names are now officially looked upon as cyber real
estate, domain holders should be aware of their rights and take
steps to protect them. For instance, a domain name can be extremely
valuable on its own - as examples business.com sold for $7,500,000
and loans.com sold for $3,000,000. Domain names can also have
a "value in use" - an example of this might be google.com,
which doesn't have a defined meaning and probably wouldn't be
worth very much on its own, however it provides a valuable service
and is ranked #5 in traffic on the internet and as such has a
very high value in use.
Just as your home or other property is considered to be an investment,
so are your rights to a domain name. In the event of your death
your domain rights will become part of your estate. If you were
to get a divorce, it may be left up to the courts to decide who
gets to keep the domain name, and whether one party will need
to pay the other party for half of the value of the name.
Since your domain name is your piece of cyber real estate, it
should be valued in the same fashion as your home or other property
would, using the same tried and true principles. Additionally,
you should take any necessary steps to protect your domain as
you would your other properties - such as including your wishes
regarding your domain name in your will. Although registrars are
now legally responsible for safeguarding the rights of domain
name holders, domain registrants should also take all available
steps to protect themselves.
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About the author:
S. Denise Hoyle is President and co-founder of http://getitappraised.com,
the domain name portal offering expert domain name and developed
web site appraisal services from certified appraisers.
(c) Copyright 2003, S. Denise Hoyle. All Rights Reserved.
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