There is the ICANN Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy.

If you had squatted danniminogue.com, and it could be proved that:

(i) your domain name is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark
or service mark in which the complainant has rights; and

(ii) you have no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain
name; and

(iii) your domain name has been registered and is being used in bad
faith.

then it is likely that the domain name would be transferred to its
legitimate owner.  Must prove all three elements.

As far as bad faith is concerned, the following four grounds (without
limitation) are evidence of registration and use in bad faith:

(i) circumstances indicating that you have registered or you have
acquired the domain name primarily for the purpose of selling, renting,
or otherwise transferring the domain name registration to the
complainant who is the owner of the trademark or service mark or to a
competitor of that complainant, for valuable consideration in excess of
your documented out-of-pocket costs directly related to the domain name;
or

(ii) you have registered the domain name in order to prevent the owner
of the trademark or service mark from reflecting the mark in a
corresponding domain name, provided that you have engaged in a pattern
of such conduct; or

(iii) you have registered the domain name primarily for the purpose of
disrupting the business of a competitor; or

(iv) by using the domain name, you have intentionally attempted to
attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to your web site or other
on-line location, by creating a likelihood of confusion with the
complainant's mark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation, or
endorsement of your web site or location or of a product or service on
your web site or location.

jeanettewinterson.com and juliaroberts.com are just a couple of examples
where this procedure has been successful for the complainant (cf
sting.com!).

For more info on the UDRP visit wipo.int.

The liability of registrars for contributory infringement in domain name
proceedings was rejected in the US in Lockheed Martin Corp v NSI
I don't know much about audomains.com policy, but they would most likely
have disclaimers in place (whether they have any effect or not is
another question).

Bill Ladas, Lawyer


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	anthony white artwork [SMTP:anthonywhiteartwork§hotmail.com]
> Sent:	Tuesday, 3 October 2000 11:08
> To:	dns§auda.org.au
> Subject:	[DNS] AuDomains.com
> 
> What about the idea of selling names like of the Bardot girls or
> JohnNewcombe.com & DanniMinogue.com
> 
> Shouldn't these people be sueing www.audomains.com  ??
> 
> Anthony
> 
> --
> This article is not to be reproduced or quoted beyond this forum
> without
> express permission of the author.  You don't know who really wrote it.
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> Email "unsubscribe" to dns-request§auda.org.au to be removed.