'Freedom Of Speech' Domain Names Acceptable - WIPO

Geneva, Switzerland (AHN) - "Freedom of speech" domain names are acceptable, says the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), citing a person's right to register a company's name as a domain name to voice negative opinions about that company.

Companies will increasingly lose domain disputes against individuals or groups that use them as a platform for critical speech against a business, said Erik Wilbers, acting director of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.

Freedom of speech domain names are controversial, because the company's branding - and intellectual property - is often used when choosing the domain name, ZDNet reported.

WIPO handles disputes about ownership of domain names. Companies win over 80 percent of of cybersquatting cases where a company's domain name is registered for profit.

It is different with freedom-of-speech domain names, Wilbers said, citing a dispute over a Web site, chelwest.com, operated by Frank Redmond. It expressed negative opinions about Chelsea and Westminster Hospital's treatment of his daughter.

The hospital claimed that the site's name is too similar to its own Web site, chelwest.nhs.uk. The WIPO ruled in favor of Redmond because he was not using the site for profit and it was immediately apparent it was not the hospital Web site.