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Political Cybersquatting, or Is It?
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Friday, August 13 @ 17:47:53 EDT
Contributed by netzar
Governance
netzar writes "

In a recent post on CircleID, Mark Partridge questions the legitimacy of registering domain names as political tactics:

Thinking about the www.kerryedwards.com auction reminds one of the uneasy relationship between personal names, politics and cybersquatting. When reporters learned that the domain name was taken by Kerry Edwards, the Indiana bail bondsman, at least some headlines were quick to brand Mr. Edwards' conduct as cybersquatting. The Chicago Sun-Times, for example, ran the headline "Kerry Edwards is the Name, Cybersquatting is the Game." Mr. Edwards, of course, had registered his own name as a domain name long before Kerry picked Edwards as a running mate. The Indiana Kerry Edwards had a legitimate reason to do so and he is not properly labeled a cybersquatter.

But what about the registration of a politician's name for the purpose of preventing that politician's use of the name? At least one case has found registration of a politician's name to violate the ICANN UDRP. See Anne McLellan v. Smartcanuk.com, eresolution, AF 0303 (2000).

"
 
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Re: Political Cybersquatting, or Is It? (Score: 1)
by dtraversscott on Tuesday, August 17 @ 21:00:00 EDT
(User Info | Send a Message)
The domain AmericaComingTogether.org, the name of a liberal 527 group, redirects to GeorgeWBush.com.

The domain is registered to R.G. Montgomery 4043 Callan Blvd.#A Daly City, CA, 94015 +1.6505551212
Atty_At_Law@hotmail.com


[ Reply to This ]


Political Cybermisspelling? (Score: 0)
by Anonymous on Thursday, August 19 @ 20:27:46 EDT
what about common misspellings of hot political sites?

f.e.

http://buscheney.com
http://buscheney2004.com

redirect to http://ballistichelmet.org which is a site that is very progressive. Any thoughts on the legality of this tactic?


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