Domain names

An internet primer: the Domain Name System

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical, decentralised naming system for computers, services and other resources connected to the internet. It translates domain names (like yourfirm.com) to the numerical IP addresses needed for locating and identifying computer services and devices with the underlying network protocols (like 95.232.149.44). The DNS provides a worldwide, distributed directory […]

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Legal Web Watch July/August 2014

Legal Web Watch is a free monthly email service which complements the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers. To receive Legal Web Watch regularly sign up here. Follow Nick Holmes on Twitter @nickholmes. Dot rollout – hundreds of new domains hit the streets It's sobering to reflect that 20 years ago most businesses, even big businesses, didn't […]

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Managing domain names – top ten legal tips

Domain names are the basis of all websites and therefore much of ecommerce. Here are ten legal tips to keep in mind. 1. Due diligence If you are looking to register new names, carry out domain name, trade mark and internet searches to make sure that you do not commit to a name which could […]

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Domain name disputes

In a typical domain dispute, there will be two entities involved both of which think that they should be entitled to a particular domain name. Often there is a conflict between Domain Rights and Trademark Rights. If one party has a particular domain name but another party owns trademark rights in that name, there is […]

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A website as a marketing tool

Whilst many organisations are setting up multiple domain names and specialised websites to improve placement in the search engines, my firm, Wilson Nesbitt in Belfast, is deliberately going in the opposite direction and concentrating solely on the firm’s name as branding. Our online web presence has been growing significantly over the past 9 years in […]

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Domaining is big business

There is a tendency to label anyone who is in the business of making money out of domain names a cybersquatter, and in the process to regard them as guilty of fast practice verging on the fraudulent. But is it appropriate to regard the growing body of entrepreneurs, known as “domainers”, whose livelihood turns on […]

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A brochure by another name

Long before the internet was invented, all important legal practices had a brochure. No one knew how much business it generated but if you did not have one you were not important and had no chance of ever acquiring a decent new client in the commercial sector. Often it seemed as if the brochure was […]

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Domain names – where we are now

Originally invented in 1983, the domain name system (DNS) has come a long way in the last quarter of a century. From humble beginnings as a loosely controlled system regulated by universities and dedicated individuals who maintained simple text files of the data relating to a domain space, the DNS has developed into a massive […]

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