Protocol for domain rights of individuals and companies

Protocol for domain rights of individuals and companies

Domain names consist of a top-level domain name (TLD) and a second-level domain name (SLD). The name that appears after the dot (.) is the TLD while the name prior it is the SLD. For example in www.peta.org, org is the TLD and peta is the SLD. In most cases, assigning TLD names is not a problem but disputes usually concern SLDs especially when two or more parties want the same SLD because it directly relates to their company name or organization.

Network Solutions Inc (NSI) used to have the sole responsibility of assigning or approving SLD names but they opted to adopt the “first come, first serve” policy to avoid meddling in between parties who want to register the same domain names. In this case, they will not hold the registrant from using a particular SLD as long as it is available.

However, a person or company can file an appeal to the court of laws if they want to take control of a domain name that is already owned by someone else though this process may take sometime. For example, Michael Doughney registered People Eating Tasty Animals first as peta.org but the right to peta.org was transferred to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals after the case was heard in court.

Protocol for domain rights of individuals and companies

That is actually right. Before an individual or company can start a website, you need to think first of a name unique to other websites which means a name that is not owned by another website or doesn’t have a matching name.

Before you register your domain name, the registrar or the website where you will register your domain name will perform a query to make sure your domain name is unique with no matching names. If a match is found, the registrar will suggest other names closer to the name you want to register.

You can pick one of them and proceed with the registration or think of another unique name and try again. Once the registrar verified that there is no matching name, you may now proceed with the registration. When registering a domain name, you are registering it for a specific amount of time normally one or two years and maybe longer.

When you register a domain name, it doesn’t mean you own the name forever. The ownership of the domain name has expiration period. When you reach the end of the registration period and you no longer wish to continue, you have an option to sell it or put it on sale. If you don’t want to sell it, the registrar will terminate it.