Like trademarks, Internet names have traditionally been assigned first come, first served. Users of these names must be permitted to use any unassigned name unless they use it in a way that actually infringes on a trademark. If roadrunner.com sells cartoons or Acme Anvils, it is in trouble; if it sells computers, Warner Brothers has no legitimate complaint. Network Solutions Incorporated (NSI) has shown itself poor at adjudicating such complaints. That is a job for the courts, which have procedural protections for the innocent as well as proper punishments for the guilty.
JOHN GILMORE
Washington, Electronic Frontier Foundation