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THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE REPUBLl 
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OF THE PHILIPPINES 
First Regular Session 
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S. No. 
Introduced by Senator S. R. Osmefia 111 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Internet technology has gone a long way after it was first invented in the 
1960s as part of the United States military tool for research and intelligence 
purposes. 
Four decades later, it evolved from a basic chatting service to 
exchange information and scientific researches to become a giant cybermall 
offering services and products of all shapes and sizes, to and from the ends of 
the earth. 
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The possibilities of internet technology is almost boundless and limitless. 
Yet, with all its infinite possibilities come the limitless problems and conflicts. 
One of the most common and expensive problem is Cyber Squatting. 
Cyber Squatting is the act of acquiring a domain name in the cyberspace 
before the rightful and legitimate owner of trademark or a personaVbusiness 
name can do so. Consequently, the cyber squatter sells the domain back to the 
legitimate owner but with an appalling price that runs into millions of pesos. 
The most celebrated example is the Philippine Long Distance 
Telecommunications (PLDT) Inc. case against a certain Gerry Kaimo who owns 
the pldt.com domain which he uses for political commentaries. 
Kaimo's 
Philippine League for Democratic Telecommunications Inc. (PLDTi) was sued for 
P I  .35 million pesos on the ground of intellectual property infringement but PLDT 
lost the case in the January 29, 2004 ruling stating that "the plaintiff (PLDT) has 
not been able to show its entitlement to the relief prayed for". This is very 
unfortunate as PLDT has been using the acronym for over 70 years. 
To discourage future predicaments such as this one, this measure is 
hereby proposed to ensure the integrity of domain names. It is in every intention 
of this measure to help the legitimate owners stake a rightful claim to their 
domain names. 
In view of the foregoing, passage of this bill is earnestly requested. 
. w-fi 
SERGIO OSMENA 111 
Senator 


THIRTEENTH CONGRESS OF THE PHILIPPI 
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OF THE PHILIPPINE 
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First Regular Session 
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s. No. 
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Introduced by Senator S. R. OsmeAa 111 
AN ACT 
TO PREVENT FRAUDULENT ACQUISITION OF A PHILIPPINE DOMAIN OR 
.PH DOMAIN NAME OVER THE INTERNET AND FOR OTHER PURPOSE 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress Assembled: 
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SECTION 1. Title - This Act shall be known as the “Anti-Cyber 
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Squatting Act of 2004” 
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SEC. 2. Declaration of State Policies - The state recognizes the vital 
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role of communication and information in nation building. 
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SEC. 3. Definition of Terms - For purposes of this Act, the following 
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terms shall mean: 
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Philippine Domain Name or .PH Domain - any alphanumeric designation 
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with a .ph suffix which is registered with or assigned by any Phillipines’ country 
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code top level domain (ccTLD) registrar as part of the electronic address on the 
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Internet. 
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Web Site - shall refer to the electronic address or home page of a person 
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or entity in the Internet. 
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Domain Name Registration - is a service provided by any domain name 
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registrar to obtain a domain name for use of web site. 
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Philippine Domain Name Registrar - is an organization awarded by 
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Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the highest 


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governing body for Internet addresses, to manage and distribute the .PH domain 
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names to local customers. 
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Internet - shall refer to the myriad of computer and telecommunications 
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facilities, including equipment and operating software, which comprise the 
interconnected world-wide network of networks that employ the Transmission 
Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCPIIP), or any predecessor or successor 
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protocols to such protocol, to communicate information of all kinds. 
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SEC. 4. Cyber Piracy Prevention - it shall be unlawful for any person or 
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entity to acquire a domain name over the Internet if there is a bad faith intent to 
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profit, mislead, destroy reputation, and deprive others from registering, if such 
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domain name is: 
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a,) similar, identical, or confusingly similar to an existing trademark 
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registered with the appropriate government agency at the time of the 
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domain name registration; 
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b.) identical or in any way similar with the name of a person other than 
the registrant, in case of a personal name; and 
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c.) acquired with no rights or intellectual property interests in it. 
SEC. 5. Liability of a Philippine Domain Name Registrar - Any Domain 
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Name Registrar or any of its authorized domain name distributor, shall be civilly 
liable for accepting the registration of a fraudulent domain name. 
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SEC. 6. Penalties - Any person who violates any provision of this Act 
shall, upon conviction, will be penalized by imprisonment of prision correcional 
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in its maximum period up to prision mayor in its minimum period, or a fine of not 
less than P2,000,000 nor more than P50,000,000; or both such fine and 
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imprisonment at the discretion of the court. 
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The remedies of an in rem action under this Act shall be limited to a court 
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order for the forfeiture or cancellation of the domain name or the transfer of the 
domain name to the legitimate owner 
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SEC. 7. Repealing Clause - The provision of any law, Issuance, 
Executive Order, Letter of 
Instruction, Rules or Regulations which are 
inconsistent with the provision of this Act are hereby repealed, amende'd, 'pr 
modified accordingly. 
SEC. 8. Separability Clause - If for any reason, any provision of this Act 
is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act shall not be 
affected. 
SEC. 9. Effectivity- This Act shall take effect immediately upon 
publication in a newspaper of general circulation. 
Approved , 
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