ABSTRACT
Domain name ownership must be considered against the background of several legal systems, including the legal micro-systems constituted by the internal dispute resolution schemes established by the domain name administrators themselves. This chapter describes the technical and political structures for allocating domain names and administering related aspects of the Internet. It considers various systems of arbitration for resolving disputes over domain names. The chapter explains how these disputes will fare if brought to the ordinary domestic courts. It discusses the administration of domain names generally, and particularly the role of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The chapter then progresses to the handling of disputes over domain names and, in particular, the Uniform Dispute Resolution Procedure (UDRP) through which most disputes are resolved. It considers cases where these disputes spill over into the ordinary courts. The resolution of disputes over domain names in the major gTLDs is provided for in the UDRP and in its associated rules.
