DIY Domain Name Disputes

Cybersquatting and other domain name disputes are becoming more and more of a problem, so it helps to have some form of recourse when it comes to taking back what you believe is yours. In domain name disputes, there are often many ambiguities, which you will have to overcome if you are to win in the dispute. Here are some DIY guidelines for domain name disputes when using panelists of a dispute resolution service:

DIY Domain Name Disputes: Send a Letter

Sometimes (not often, but sometimes) you can resolve a domain name dispute by simply sending a letter. Before you bring your dispute to a group of lawyers, try communicating with the disputants. Explain why you believe that your rights to your domain name have been violated, and ask whether or not you can handle the matter without involving an arbitrator. If not, then at least you tried, and you can prove that you make a good faith effort to resolve the dispute amicably.

DIY Domain Name Disputes: Tell the Story

When you are writing out your complaint for review, try not to be as boring as the work allows. Instead, tell the story of your domain name dispute in an organized, logical fashion that is easy to understand and free of errors. Panelists responsible for settling these disputes read hundreds of complaints each day; don't bore them further with a banal, tedious account.

DIY Domain Name Disputes: Act Like a Third Party

When summarizing your complaint, remain as dispassionate and objective as possible. Getting angry and injecting that rage into your complaint will only earn the disrespect of those who will make the decision, so leave the anger at home. If necessary, have your spouse or friend write the complaint for you so that it remains objective.

DIY Domain Name Disputes: Be Succinct

Evidence is important to your complaint, but don't weigh down the panelists or arbitrators with endless footnotes and addendums to your account. Instead, present the facts that are most pertinent to the case, and allow them to request further evidence as needed. The same goes for responding to someone else's complaint; don't try to give away too much.

DIY Domain Name Disputes: Establish Precedent

Now that we are several years into the Age of the Internet, there are books full of case law that pertains to this very issue. You can locate cases similar to yours by talking with a dispute resolution service. Not only will quoting another case help your own, but it will help the arbitrators know that they are heading in the right direction.

DIY Domain Name Disputes: Sound Educated

Most panelists of dispute resolution services are educated attorneys or legal clerks who know the law and who respect proper use of the English language. Your complaint should be as error-free as possible and, although five-dollar words aren't necessary, you won't garner much respect from a complaint written at a 2nd grade reading level.

DIY Domain Name Disputes: Stay On-Topic

You have to understand that these panelists spend hours each day wading through hundreds of complaints that look exactly the same, and if you go on one too many tangents in your complaint, they will toss it aside and go on to the next.

Visit www.icann.org for more information about domain name dispute resolution.