Protect Your Domain Rights - Oppose the Snowe Bill

[Sexyteaser]

Advise Your Senator Now: Oppose The Snowe Bill!

Protecting Your Domain Rights

Snowe Bill Threatens Domain Name Registrants with “Infringement” Enforcement That is More Expansive and Punitive Than the UDRP or Trademark Law

The Snowe bill recently introduced in the United states Sentate aimed to expand the scope of rights associated with a trademark outside the realm of traditional trademark law. the Snowe bill as it is referred to, appears on its face to be directed to fighting the practice of “phishing”, but contains many elements completely unrelated to this purpose, such as creating a cause of action for displaying advertising on a generic or descriptive domain name simply because another company has registered rights to a similar word or phrase.

On the surface it appears that if the bill is passed by Congress and signed by the President, it would immediately arm large businesses and government agencies with the ability to claim countless valuable and legitimate domains from their current owners.

Please look over additional information on the bill located at the Internet Commerce Association http://www.internetcommerce.org/Snowe_Bill_Threatens_Domain_Name_Registrants

This site includes a sample letter you can send to your Representatives to ask that they not support this bill.

[Toby]

Another attempt to do an end run on due process. :(

Trademark owners already prevail in 85% of all UDRP complaints and nearly 100% of all ACPA cases.

You can sign an online petition against this bill here http://www.SnoweBill.com

[TheEnforcer]

Ahh the government at work....

[rabble]

Another attempt to do an end run on due process. :(

Trademark owners already prevail in 85% of all UDRP complaints and nearly 100% of all ACPA cases.

You can sign an online petition against this bill here http://www.SnoweBill.com

after you all do the online petition thing ...
maybe you can give your Rep and Senator a call.
Maybe even send them a letter. Get you friends and relatives to call.

You can find out who they are here: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

Be a don quixote. Fight the wind mill.

peace.

Glad to see we are back on the same side Toby.
It has been lonely in left field. LOL

[Sexyteaser]

I just got this email from the ICA

Opposition to Snowe Bill Mounts

Dear Members:
We now have membership seals available at InternetCommerce.org. Thank you to Tia Wood, who volunteered her time to create them. If you are a member, login and you should see the appropriate membership seal at the bottom of the right sidebar. You can copy that seal and use it on your websites to identify yourself as a responsible member of this industry. Please link the membership seal to http://www.InternetCommerce.org (http://www.internetcommerce.org/).
If you don’t remember your login information, it can be retrieved here (http://www.internetcommerce.org/user/password).
Snowe Bill - Ineffective Anti-phishing Legislation

Much of our opposition of the Snowe bill (S. 2661) has been focused upon section B, the trademark bill contained in the bill. However, in this article at InternetCommerce.org (http://www.internetcommerce.org/Snowe_Bill_Ineffective_Anti_phishing_Legislation), the focus is on whether the bill actually speaks to phishing techniques. Internet Commerce Association would like to see congress start from scratch with an investigation into how phishing attacks are perpetrated and what technologies can effectively prevent them, as well as inquire whether there are gaps in existing law and the start writing a proposal on a clean sheet of paper.
We know that CADNA supports the Snowe bill, but we call on them to join us in asking Congress for a real anti-phishing bill. Phishing is harmful to their members too and we should work together to stop phishing, not be fighting over new rights for trademark owners who already have UDRP and ACPA on their side.
Join ICA (http://www.internetcommerce.org/membership_application) or donate (http://www.internetcommerce.org/donate) to help finance our fight. Our website cart, now accepts PayPal. We need more of you to join in on this one.
ICA Now Accepting Domain Name Donations
Moniker is donating their auction services at TRAFFIC East in Orlando for domains donated to ICA. The full auction price of donated domains goes to ICA. The funds generated from the sale of donated domains help us defend domainers from harmful policy and legislation. From a tax perspective, this may be the best way for some to donate to ICA. For U.S. businesses and individuals, trade association membership dues and donations are tax-deductible except for that percentage devoted to defined lobbying activities – base on current ICA activities, 80% of payments are deductible. The deadline for most submissions is March 21st. Please reply to this email with your donations. Thank you.
Opposition to Snowe - “Anti-Phishing Consumer Protection Act” Mounts
Philip Corwin, Counsel to ICA, has been spending a lot of time since the Snowe bill was introduced on February 25th developing opposition to the bill. He has been instrumental in informing other groups and entities who might have concerns about the bill, whether because of the new trademark rights or the loss of whois privacy provisions, about the dangers of this bill. Some opposition to the bill has even come not because of either trademark or whois privacy issues, but out of concern that if Congress passes this ineffective anti-phishing bill, it will unlikely take-up phishing again anytime soon.
Other groups and individuals have written articles in opposition of the Snowe bill or reported on the bill with news about groups opposing the bill.
Internet Governance Project (http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/3/7/3566502.html)
Electronic Frontier Foundation (http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/03/free-speech-double-whammy-flawed-anti-phishing-bill-would-dilute-trademark-fair-us)
ComputerWorld (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9066610&pageNumber=1)
IP Justice (http://ipjustice.org/wp/2008/03/12/privacy-invasive-domain-name-trademark-bill-before-us-congress/)
Congressional Quarterly (http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002679716)
CNET (http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9879859-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20)
John Levine (http://www.circleid.com/posts/83410_anti_phishing_consumer_protection_act/)
Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080312-eff-antiphishing-bill-may-snag-anonymous-speech-in-driftnet.html)