Registration And Dispute Resolution Policy Under Network Solutions Inc Case Study

3.1 Registration and Dispute Resolution Policy under Network Solutions Inc.:
Initially, the sole registration of domain names were carried out by Network Solutions Inc. (NSI). In the United States, domain names were assigned by Network Solutions Inc., through a contract with the National Science Foundation. NSI assigned domain names which included Top Level Domain (“TLD”) such as “.com”, “.net” and “.org”, along with a Second Level Domain (“SLD”).
There was no dispute resolution policy until 1995. NSI registered domain names on ‘first-come-first-serve’ basis. Domain name holders were to validate that the domain name must not result in infringement of trademark. Domain name conflicts began to increase from 1994 onwards due to commercialization.
As there were huge number of complaints from the trademark owners regarding domain name assignment, NSI thereafter imposed a rule that an applicant could obtain only one domain name. Later, NSI implemented fees for procuring or renewing a domain name which were introduced in order to culminate the practice of cyber-squatting. In 1998 a policy was adopted by NSI which allowed the trademark owners to put a domain name on hold till the dispute is resolved. NSI neither stood favored by trademark owners nor by the domain name registrants. Since the concept of likelihood of confusion was not recognized in infringement of trademark, it deprived the trademark owners by not allowing them to invoke an action when the domain name was confusingly similar to the trademark. In contrast, the domain name registrants were not satisfied since they had to place the domain name on hold until the settlement of dispute even when there was no strong claim and the domain name was not having any resemblance to the goods or services of the trademark
Internet users.
And lastly, there is a group called Technical Liaison Group, which provides assistance for the organizations that develop the basic protocols for Internet technologies.
The Board of Directors of ICANN have the authority to make final decisions. The Board consists of 21 members wherein, 15 of the members have voting rights and six are non-voting members. An independent nominating committee selects majority of the voting members and the remaining members are nominated from the organizations.
ICANN consists of a President and CEO, who also form a part of Board members. They instruct the work of ICANN staffs, and assist them to co-ordinate, manage and finally implement various discussions and decisions taken up by the supporting organizations and advisory committees. An ICANN has an Ombudsman, who independently reviews the work of the ICANN staff and Board.
3.2.2 Uniform domain name dispute resolution policy (UDRP):
The Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Process was implemented by ICANN in the year 1999. ICANN implemented the policy on the basis of proposals made by WIPO in the First WIPO Internet Domain Name Process. The UDRP is restricted only to the cases of bad-faith, use of domain name and abusive