Legal Challenges Related to the Regulation of a Domain Name System

Social Technologies

卷:2

关键词: ICANN;    Internet Governance;    IANA;    TLD;    gTLD;    ccTLD;    sTLD;    Domain Name System;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Purpose—to review and analyse the problematic aspects related to domainname allocation and further usage processes, highlighting legalregulation of a domain name system.
Design/methodology/approach—based on the comparison analysis ofscientific literature, authors discuss problematic issues related to thelegal regulation of domain name allocation and usage processes, analysepractical approaches and collision cases in the context of a domainname system. The authors examine the positive and negative aspects of adomain naming system and conflicting regulatory specifics. This paperdescribes the development of institutional bodies responsible for DNSmanagement, supervision approaches and inner functionality policies.
Findings—the authors examine domain naming system models and disputeresolution mechanisms, their evolution in the context of Internetdevelopment and the structural changes of the Internet governanceinstitutions. The authors analyse tendencies related to DNS regulationand the possible effect of new regulation models in practice, whilereflecting interests of stakeholders in the subject field.
Research limitations/implications—agreements on the registration ofdomain names are based on self-regulation principles. A number ofdifferent interests may collide when speaking about domain nameregistration or usage and this issue becomes a major challenge toscientists and lawyers who are seeking an optimal domain-namingregulatory mechanism. The article does not address trademark conflictswithin domain names in this respect. This should be considered as anobject for separate study, which requires deeper analysis.
Practical implications—the authors review key aspects of the domain namesystem and describe tendencies for the regulatory models.
Value—the article emphasizes potential domain naming conflicts anddisputes concerning the usage of common terms and phrases in order tomanipulate information for illicit purposes. The legal and ethicalaspect related to the limitation of domain name usage is reviewed whenvarious combinations of top level domains and second level domains mayarise due to newly-created generic top-level domain names. The usage ofthese methods may inflict potential threats for the legitimate interestsof institutions, individuals or other legal subjects. The reasonablelimitations of domain naming system could possibly help to protect thelegal interests of individuals and to secure the legitimate expectationsarising from a historical, cultural and legal perspective. The growthand impact of the internet influences global economic, political andbusiness processes. The emerging of internet of things and otheradaptations of the technology determine the necessity to liberalize thegovernance of a domain name system.
Research type—general review, viewpoint.

【 授权许可】

Unknown