WIPO plans to wipe out cybersquatters

The UN's World Intellectual Property Organisation has called for a tightening of the rules to prevent cybersquatting.

A WIPO report published yesterday has proposed that top-level internet domain names (TLDs) containing the names of countries, geographical areas, ethnic groups and even pharmaceutical substances should be protected from unauthorised use.

The only concrete proposals for an extension to the law which WIPO did feel able to make concerned two areas: the names of international organisations (such as WIPO) and the non-trademark names of drugs such as sildenafenil (the generic term for Viagra).

These are already covered by international agreements not to register them as trademarks.

However, the report argues that international law is not yet developed enough to allow for a dispute resolution system for many kinds of intellectual property dispute.

The law on who has the right to use the names of places, ethnic groups, or products which share their names with a place such as champagne or cheddar is still not developed enough to apply to cybersquatting disputes.

The 170 member governments of WIPO will discuss its proposals in detail when they meet at the end of the month.

WIPO's existing system allows the holders of registered trademarks to reclaim TLDs which contain their trademark, and names which are very well known but unregistered can also be reclaimed.

So, while individuals such as rock stars and writers who exploit their names commercially come under this protection, others such as politicians and scientists do not.

The names Anne Widdecombe, Robin Cook, Margaret Thatcher, William Hague and Tony Blair have all been used by cybersquatters, and the politicians concerned have no power to reclaim them.