JULY 10, 18:20 EDT UN Widens
'Anti-Cybersquat' Program
By ALEXANDER G. HIGGINS
Associated Press Writer
GENEVA (AP) — Pleased with initial success against ``cybersquatting,'' a U.N.
agency announced Monday it has agreed to expand its dispute-settlement efforts for
the Internet beyond protecting trademarks and celebrity names.
But stopping bad-faith
registration of terms like ``Bordeaux'' and the antibiotics ``ampicillin'' and ``tetracycline''
in Internet addresses could be more complicated than curbing misuse of trademarks
like Coca-Cola or Microsoft, an official said.
At the request of key governments,
including those of the European Union and the United States, the World Intellectual
Property Organization said it would conduct a worldwide discussion to find agreement
on what can be done.
The results of the consultation — to be conducted over the
Internet — will be disclosed by next July, WIPO officials said.
``This request
marks a new phase in our attempts to establish greater compatibility between identifiers
in the real and virtual world,'' said Francis Gurry, assistant director-general of
WIPO.
But he predicted the process could be complicated — for one thing, establishing
who has the right to make a claim may present problems. Gurry said he expected associations,
such as French winegrowers in the case of Bordeaux, might be recognized.
And the
World Health Organization might be expected to guard against misuse of generic drug
names, he said.
The WIPO study also will include names of United Nations agencies
and other international organizations and corporate use of trade terms in addition
to trademarks.
Anyone can register a Web site for less than $100. This has led
to the practice of ``cybersquatting,'' with people registering famous names and then
selling them for a high fee to their rightful owner.
Since its launch last December,
WIPO's arbitration center has resolved more than 340 cases, giving rights to disputed
Internet addresses to the person, organization or company with the best rights to
the name after a short, inexpensive procedure that can be conducted over the Internet.
Thus last month Julia Roberts was awarded rights to juliaroberts.com, a site set
up by an American dealer in famous names.
Several prominent disputes have involved
professional sports organizations. FIFA, world soccer's governing body, won the rights
to worldcup2002.com and, in the United States, the National Football League got greenbaypackers.com.