Procedures for Dispute Resolution or for Commercial Control?: Reinforcing the Status Quo in Internet Governance

Abstract

This study examines how Internaet domain names came to be governed by ICANN, a non-governmental, non-profit private international organization, and investigates how domain name disputes are dealt with by its newly adopted UDRP(Uniform Dispute Resolution System). The analysis examines UDRP policy and rules, and empirically assesses the relationship between decisions of the proceedings and the different factors involved. The findings show that UDRP operates in ways that maximize the commercial interests of existing, large companies at the expense of interests of individuals and small, new companies. The current regime, gives priority to preempting intellectual property-related disputes to protect intellectual property rights, rather than coordinating the use of domain names by individuals and companies. In this process, the commercial status quo of the Internet is reinforced, and the Internet is ironically placed under the most centralized control because the UDRP system is forces upon all gTLD domain names. This paper concludes excluding government and relying on private ordering and self-governance for rule making and the procedures of alternative dispute resolution, may be dangerous to individual interests, especially when the role of government is excluded and individuals' participation remains low.