The internet can be a ridiculous place
Managing IP is part of the Delinian Group, Delinian Limited, 4 Bouverie Street, London, EC4Y 8AX, Registered in England & Wales, Company number 00954730
Copyright © Delinian Limited and its affiliated companies 2024

Accessibility | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Modern Slavery Statement

The internet can be a ridiculous place

The Wild West nature of the Web is its greatest strength, and brand owners should accept the messiness, including dot-sucks

The 2014 INTA Annual Meeting has come and gone, and now is a good time to think over all the meetings with colleagues and things learned over the past week. Several particularly interesting discussions have been about the new gTLDs. Though most have centred on protection strategies in this new environment, one tidbit that stuck out was a list of some of the most amusing domain names that have actually been registered under the new gTLDs. Some samples from this list, compiled by MarkMonitor:

cat20picture.jpg

Like cat pictures, complaints and rants about companies from disgruntled users are part of the internet's background noise

1. leadershipandhorses.guru;

2. nationalguildofhypnotistscertification.training;

3. howdoiset[stuff]onfire.academy;

4. where-on-hell-in-this-cab-is-your-[effing]-gps.berlin

Why is this list so interesting? In part because it’s a reminder that the internet still has a bit of the Wild West character that characterised it in the early 90s. The new gTLDs have emphasised this frontier quality, going so far as referring to parts of the programme as a land rush.

You can’t catch them all

Rights holders have largely been pessimistic about this expansion of the domain namespace. The attitude is understandable; the new gTLD programme adds some 800 open top-level domains to the Internet, where there were previously just 22.

In this expanded universe, brand owners have to adopt new strategies for brand protection. Picking your battles is key, such as figuring out which gTLDs are likely to gain traction or will be confusing to consumers. As J Scott Evans of Adobe Systems told Managing IP: "You can't own everything. Not everything is going to be important.”

Misplaced priorities

It is somewhat surprising then, that brand owners (as well as US Senator John Rockefeller) are so concerned about the dot-sucks gTLD. While companies rightfully worry that squatters can use new gTLDs to create convincing fake sites that can fool consumers, it’s hard to see how anyone would think that a company, for example Sony, would host its official website at Sony.sucks. In a world where rights owners need to be strategic in their online brand protection, brands such as Sony and Canon should probably worry more about .photo or .camera rather than .sucks.

Claims by critics like Rockefeller that .sucks amounts to shakedown of brand owners seems to imply that companies have a right to be immune from criticism, or are at least overly sensitive. While Sony or Canon may not like that someone chooses to register sites at Sony.sucks or Canon.sucks, this is more of a brand development rather than a trade mark protection issue. Furthermore, this is not a new problem; a simple web search of ‘Sony sucks’ will return several relevant hits.

That’s the way it is

It’s also worth remembering that the chaos of the internet is also the driving force behind many of its biggest developments. While that can manifest itself in the form of annoyed taxi passengers registering silly URLs, it can also result in developments such as social media, eBay and YouTube, which succeed by harnessing the energies and creativity of internet users.

Thus the chaos caused by gTLDs like dot-sucks is, for better or worse, a part of the internet’s core identity. Internet users are savvy enough to understand this; dissatisfied customers expressing their anger online is part of the norm, and in many ways, just internet white noise in the background, like animated cat GIFs and silly quizzes.

Dot-sucks may be an annoyance and can give your brands’ critics a (marginally) louder voice, but it does not pose a uniquely serious challenge to trade mark protection.

more from across site and ros bottom lb

More from across our site

A 36-member team from Zhong Lun Law Firm, including six partners, will join the newly formed East IP Group
The Delhi High Court sided with Ericsson against Indian smartphone maker Lava, bringing the companies' nine-year dispute to a close
We provide a rundown of Managing IP’s news and analysis from the week, and review what’s been happening elsewhere in IP
Tennessee has passed the ELVIS Act, a law that fights against AI models that mimic the voice and likeness of music artists
Rob Stien, chief communications and public policy officer at InterDigital, says the EU has forgotten innovators while trying to solve an issue that doesn’t exist
As Australia’s Qantm IP leans towards being acquired by a private equity company, sources discuss what it could mean for IP firms
Law firms that are conscious of their role in society are more likely to win work, according to a survey of over 23,000 in-house professionals
Nghiem Xuan Bac Pham, managing partner of Vision & Associates, discusses opportunities created by the US-China rift as well as profitability issues facing IP practices
Douglas Leite and two of his colleagues were intrigued by Bhering Advogados’s mission to grow its patent litigation practice
Each week Managing IP speaks to a different IP practitioner about their life and career
Gift this article