Aspects of cybersquatting in the Baltic States

If someone asks us what a domain name is, we can all be fairly certain that we know the answer. We think of something ending with “.com”, and this creates no confusion. The issue, however, is far more elaborate and complex than might seem at first glance. A domain name is a genuinely new product and feature of the modern society, one that is firmly based on information technologies, and the fact is that it is not easy to define. The predominant approach of IT specialists suggests that it’s nothing more than a literal address which directs the user to a single Web site, helping to distinguish it from the wealth of other materials on the Internet. The truth is, however, that when domain names are used in business activities, a more thorough definition is needed, and that is where the law had to step in with a solution. Today it is generally accepted that a domain name is an object of intellectual property, and in this sense, it is compared to trademarks, which have a long history of their own. A domain name creates values in and of itself for its owner, and that means that it requires effective legal protections.