WASHINGTON, December 16, 2009 – The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) strongly urges the Utah state legislature to pass the Utah E-Commerce Integrity Act sponsored by Senator Stephen Urquhart, Chairman of the Transportation and Public Utilities and Technology Committee. Senator Urquhart’s legislative proposal, introduced recently and presented before an interim committee hearing, amends existing state law to more effectively discourage bad actors who are looking to profit from the registration or maintenance of a domain name in bad faith—cybersquatters and their affiliates. If signed into law, Utah will have some of the strongest protections against cybersquatting for businesses and consumers on the Internet.
Josh Bourne, President of CADNA, said, “Utah is leading cybersquatting legislation in the right direction. Businesses and consumers using the Internet have a strong advocate in Senator Urquhart; he should be recognized for his foresight and leadership on this issue.” Bourne continued, “CADNA has sent a letter of support to Senator Urquhart and looks forward to working with him in 2010 when the legislature will take up consideration of his bill.”
By creating a stronger deterrent against the practice of cybersquatting, this legislation has the potential to save businesses millions of dollars and make the Internet safer and less confusing for consumers. The Utah E-Commerce Integrity Act is an excellent example of how smart legislative changes can make the Internet a better marketplace.
CADNA is engaged in an effort to reform the Anti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), which is federal anti-cybersquatting legislation that is similar to Senator Urquhart’s bill. The Utah E-Commerce Integrity Act sets an excellent precedent for similar changes to federal statutes.
“If the Utah E-Commerce Integrity Act becomes law, it will pave the way for serious consideration at the federal level for similar changes,” said Bourne. “Once the United States Congress understands that legislative changes similar to that proposed by Senator Urquhart are good for both businesses and consumers and are especially needed due to our difficult economic times, there should be broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.”
CADNA is specifically encouraged by the text that expands the liability for cybersquatting activity to include the registrant’s authorized licensee, agent, affiliate, representative, domain name registrar, domain name registry, or other domain name registration authority that knowingly and actively assists a violation of this Act by the registrant.
The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the systemic domain name abuses that plague the Internet today. For more information, please visit www.cadna.org.