Book Review: Domain Name Law and Practice

In glorious, ministerial red linen with delicate gold embossing and navy accents, the traditional cover of this book belies the very modern topic it covers: Domain Names.  Edited by Torsten Bettinger and Allegra Waddell, and published by Oxford University Press, this it the second edition of, "Domain Name Law and Practice: An International Handbook."

This book covers domain law, with considerations of the domain name system and Internet governance. If you've got a domain law question, this book likely has the answer.  The first section sets out international regulations and structures related to top-level domains and The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN). The second section covers 31 national law systems from Australia through the United States.  A third section looks at rights protection mechanisms.

The final section provides the history of WIPO's "Joint Recommendation Concerning Provisions on the Protection of Marks, and Other Industrial Property Rights in Signs, On the Internet," (a title clearly designed for Search Engine Optimisation.)  The author of the chapter, Bettinger, suggests that the Joint Recommendation could now include the possibility of using 'geolocation technology' as a cheap and effective tool to control access by location of the internet user.   He goes as far as saying, "Today there is no apparent, reasonable or objective ground why the use of geolocation technology should not be taken into account as a measure to prevent the commercial effect of a website where international trademark conflicts are concerned."  I think EU debates on geoblocking and censorship concerns might suggest some grounds...

According to the publisher, new to this edition are:
- Analysis of the trends and driving forces within the domain name industry in a new chapter including consideration of market structure and the evolution of a 'Domain Name Aftermarket
- New chapters on Corporate Domain Name Management, the Trademark Clearing House, Sunrise Procedures and the Trademark Claims Service; the Uniform Rapid Suspension System; and Trademark Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure
- New chapters on Colombia, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Brazil, Egypt, Portugal, and South Africa

Happy reading!

Bibliographic notes: BETTINGER, T., & WADDELL, A. (2015). Domain name law and practice: an international handbook. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1,696 pp., 246x171mm, ISBN: 9780199663163 Hardcopy: £275. E-book: N/A at present.