Cybersquatting Bill Threatens FREE SPEECH and Small Internet Webmasters

With the stated goal of preventing trademark infringement, the "Trademark Cyberpiracy Prevention Act" the would make domain name holders legally liable in civil actions brought by trademark holders sharing the same name or one that is "confusingly similar."

This bill grants trademark holders new rights greatly in excess of those already granted by existing trademark law. TCPA's provisions would enable certain trademark holders to sue satirists and critics into silence. If you followed the horrific attacks by Ford Motor Company on Blue Oval News, you know the risks website holders already face.

The legislation is an assault on small web masters and mostly private citizens who have set up their own URL on the web. It effectively causes domain name holders to have an increased likelihood of liability.

The bill will have a chilling effect on free expression because it effectively encourages registrars to reject the registration of any domain name that they believe has a remote possibility of being infringing.

The TCPA bill also sets up a system whereby US-based companies would be able to take away domain names - without notice - from foreign companies and individuals who can't afford to travel to the US to defend themselves.

Attacked domain name holders would have to file their own lawsuits to prove their innocence, and do not even have affirmative defenses to assert when sued, only factors for optional court consideration. Domain name holders must not be treated guilty until proven innocent.

the WIZARD hates to see the chipping away of the basic nature of the Internet. Only big corporations have the money and legal muscle to fight these matters out in court.