Senate Passes Bill Banning ‘Cybersquatting’

People who register Internet sites in the names of famous companies, with plans to sell the names back to the firms for big money, may end up paying big fines instead under legislation passed by the Senate. The bill outlaws “cybersquatting” by imposing fines of up to $100,000 per Internet name on a person who registers a name in bad faith by aiming to profit from the association with a trademark owned by someone else. The legislation was substantially changed from a proposal originally introduced in June by Sen. Spencer Abraham (R.-Mich.).

Legal experts had warned that the earlier bill was far too broad. That bill also would have outlawed putting up protest or parody sites using trademark names. The Clinton administration opposed the earlier version and continues to oppose the new version, which was written by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), a White House official said.

“Absent any showing that the legitimate interests of trademark holders are not being protected, it would be better to allow courts to continue to develop a body of case law in this area,” the administration said in an official policy statement sent to lawmakers before the vote.