To: process.mail@wipo.int
From: "Marcia K. Wilbur"
Subject: RFC-3
Date: Fri, 15 Jun 2001 22:47:56 +0200
Name: Marcia K. Wilbur
Organization: linuxnode.com
Position: webmaster
To Whom It May Concern:
My name is Marcia K. Wilbur.
Thank you for this opportunity to share my views and hopefully shed some light on a majority of Internet users opinion of the domain name dispute situation.
Companies or other individuals should negotiate to purchase names they desire from the original owner, if someone else retains ownership .
I also would like to present my argument today as to why domain names should be left to the purchaser. In the case of "Cybersquatting", the intervention is somewhat justified in that those sites are sitting idle which makes life difficult for those with legitimate sites to post.
However, if I purchase a car (a tangible item) and let it sit in my driveway with a for sale sign on it, I am committing no offense, even if someone else wants my car. If they want the car, they can buy it from me.
In the case of intellectual property, trademark owners don't necessarily own the copyright. In some cases copyright lapsed. Another aspect of this is, "How can an individual or corporate entity "own" a word, or the association of a word?" If that is the case, I would like to own the word "money".
I am the author of the book DMCA and the book The Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
I would like to use my books as an example of why domain names should be left to the original party/parties of purchase and should not be disputed.
I am not a lawyer, I have no political science or justice degree. I only have an associate degree in computer science. My books are not the standard works. In the books, I have a tendency to repeat myself, there are great speculations and there is strange usage of carets. I self published these books through iUniverse.com.
I was the first person to write the books, so, I retain the titles DMCA and The Digital Millennium Copyright Act. My books need serious copy editing, or so the "Grammar Police" tell me. I didn t' even spell millennium correctly in some cases in one book. The word amendment is also misspelled. Surely someone with higher credentials and more information, who can spell (or use a spellchecker), could produce a 'better' book.
Better, in reference to, one that the general public would expect on such a topic, i.e., written by an astute lawyer or legal professional with correct spelling. I speculate that such a person is or would be disappointed that they cannot have the title DMCA or the title The Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
ALAS, I the ISBN for DMCA and the The Digital Millennium Copyright Act were assigned to me and I retain 'ownership' of those.
Similarities of books and websites:
Both contain information.
Both are accessible with a little effort.
Both are expressions of speech.
Both can be created by anyone.
Both can enlighten and educate.
Differences between books and websites.
Book titles do not exchange hands.
Book authors/publishers retain the ISBN.
A car:
Can sit idle for sale.
The property of the original owner.
Can be sold by property owner to interested parties.
A domain:
Cannot sit idle for sale.
Can be disputed because of the words in the domain.
Is often taken from original owner without compensation and in some cases, i.e. GM/Ford, the original owner is sued for an obscene amount of money ($100,000).
Domain name disputes are irrational, inhibit the progression of the arts and sciences and, in general, is detrimental to the public.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Marcia "aicra" Wilbur