Re: registrar charging $30,000 for "platinum" pre-registration

[Kent Crispin <kent@songbird.com>]

On Thu, Nov 13, 1997 at 07:23:56PM +0000, Jeff Williams wrote:
> Kent,
> 
>   I think you missed my jist here.  I was under the understanding that
> you did not consider a Domain Name used by anybody to be associated
> with Intellectual property rights at all.  Mayba I was mistaken.  >;)
> Please advise.

You were mistaken.  I "own" songbird.com; I have a registered
trademark for "songbird"; I like the name, I value the name, I use it
in business, and I want to protect it.  I also want to protect the
domain name.  Furthermore, I think it is transparently clear and
indisputable to anyone who thinks that domain names have value, and
that value intersects the realm of intellectual property law. 

Of course, IP law isn't perfect, domain names do have unique
characteristics, and nobody, including the IAHC, has perfect policies.  
But imperfect compromise is frequently the way things are in the real 
world.  Nothing happens if you let a demand for perfection become a 
total roadblock.

-- 
Kent Crispin				"No reason to get excited",
kent@songbird.com			the thief he kindly spoke...
PGP fingerprint:   B1 8B 72 ED 55 21 5E 44  61 F4 58 0F 72 10 65 55
http://songbird.com/kent/pgp_key.html