NSI's official position is that it will not act as arbiter of trademark disputes arising from the registration and use of domain names. A settlement agreement is essentially a domain name purchase agreement. The Georgia legislature recently enacted a statute that prohibits a Web site owner from using another's trademarks on its Web site. This could be read to prohibit linking Web sites without the owner's consent. Under the settlement, Total News will receive a license to link to the plaintiffs' sites.
Similar cases are pending.
There are many legal issues involved in the linking to other Web sites. Until these issues are resolved, it is advisable to obtain a Web site owner's permission prior to any linking or displaying of the owner's content. Additionally, the plan proposes the creation of new competing domain name registries throughout the world. Lastly, domain name disputes will be resolved by an international panel of experts administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration and Mediation Center, located in Geneva. All rights reserved.