Whether you own one name or a hundred there is some legislation that has been proposed in the United States Senate that you should be seriously concerned about. The legislation is labelled as the “Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act of 2008″ (APCPA). Sounds good right? After all - who could possibly object either “anti-phishing” or “consumer protection”. A read of the proposed legislation reveals its about a lot more. It could allow major corporations to legally steal your domain names. Here’s how it could work:
- you own a website and domain name;
- someone who wants your name sends you a letter telling you that you now have two options - give up your domain name and business for free or they will sue you. Since the maximum penalty of $6 million is so onerous and cost of the legal defence is so high many domain name owners will no choice but to give up their domain names without a fight.
The Internet Commerce Association and CircleID.com have done a more indepth review of the legislation.