Cybersquatting Legislation

I am running legislation, to crack down on cybersquatting.

Last year, we stalled on legislation addressing the practice of search engines selling trademarks as search terms. Sen. Liljenquist and I were tasked to work with the combatants over the interim. We realized that we’d never reach a viable conclusion; but, importantly, we realized that all the companies involved in the discussions, and countless other businesses, did have a common appetite to find a solution to cybersquatting. So, we started working on that issue.

Jim Halpert (not that Jim Halpert, but, yes, the Jim “childhood friend” Halpert) expertly led the discussions from Paris. (Negotiations took a hiatus, when Jim went on a buddy trip with Andy Bernard; not that Andy Bernard, but, yes, the Andy “childhood friend” Bernard). Michael Scott had nothing to do with the legislation.

Though one small area of disagreement remains, the legislation has the support of Google, AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, 1-800 Contacts, and many other great national and Utah-based companies. The cybersquatting provisions are patterned after traditional trademark law – addressing brand confusion.

Friday, I'll meet with the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse at Alston & Bird. After, I will hang with my buddy Colin Delany, founder of ePolitics. The circle will be complete, if I can introduce Colin to Meredith Palmer.