Publication: İnternet alan adları ve haksız alan adı tescillerine karşı hukuksal başvuru yolları
Abstract
Bu tezde Internet alan adlarının hukuki niteliği, işlevleri ve yapısı ile bunların diğer benzer kavramlarla karşılaştırılması ve bu konuda yapılan kanuni ve iadri düzenlemeler üzerinde durulmuştur. Alan adları teknik olarak Internet kullanıcısının istediği web sitesine ulaşmasını sağlayan bir telefon numarasının işlevini icra etmekte ise de, elektronik ticaretin ve elektronik reklamların giderek artması ve firmaların markalarını ve ticaret unvanlarını alan adı olarak tescil ettirmeleri üzerine, alan adları ikinci bir anlam kazanmış ayırt edici ad ve işaret özelliği elde etmişlerdir. Bu da üçüncü şahısların ayırt edici ad ve işaretleri ile benzeyen alan adlarını kendi adlarını hak sahiplerinden daha çabuk hareket ederek tescil ettirdikleri siber korsanlığı faaliyetlerinin doğmasına neden olmuştur. Siber korsanlık faaliyetlerinin fikri mülkiyet hakı sahipleri için büyük bir tehdit oluşturmaya başlaması üzerine siber korsanlarla ilgili olarak özel düzenlemeler yapılması ihtiyacı hissedilmiştir. Bunlardan en önemli iki tanesi ABD Kongresi tarafından Kabul edilen Federal Siber Korsanlıkla Mücadele Tüketicilerin Korunması Kanunu ile ICANN tarafından Kabul edilen UDRP'dir. Bunlara gore alan adlarının devredilmesi için davacının alan adı üzerinde hak sahibi olması, davalının alan adı üzerinde hak sahibi olmaması ve alan adının kötü niyetle tescil edilmesi gerekmektedir. Buna ilaveten alan adı tescilinden zarar görenler Türk Mahkemelerinde de sahip oldukları haklara dayanarak talepte bulunabilirler.
In this thesis, the legal nature, functions and structures of the Internet domain names, its comparison with similar concepts and the legal regulations promulgated by legislative and administrative bodies have been studied. Although, domain names technically function like a telephone number, which helps the Internet users to access to the desired web site, due to the increasing volume of e-commerce and e-advertisements, as the companies consistently try to use their trademarks and trade names to access their web sites, domain names have acquired a secondary meaning and have acquired the nature of business identifiers. This has resulted in the cybersquatting activities, through which, the cybersquatters grab domain names which are identical to or confusingly similar to the other business identifiers of third parties by acting more quickly than the owners of rights. As the cybersquaating activities have become a great threat to the intellectual property rights owners, special regulation have been needed to deal with the cybersquatters. The two most significant regulations are Federal Anticybersquattiong Consumer Protection Act enacted by US Congress and UDRP approved by ICANN. The domain name can be cancelled or transferred to the plaintiff provided that the plaintaff has trademark rights on the domain name, the defendant has no rights or legitimate interest in the domain name and that the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. In addition any person aggrieved by a domain name registration may invoke the courts in Turkey based on the claims he may have.
In this thesis, the legal nature, functions and structures of the Internet domain names, its comparison with similar concepts and the legal regulations promulgated by legislative and administrative bodies have been studied. Although, domain names technically function like a telephone number, which helps the Internet users to access to the desired web site, due to the increasing volume of e-commerce and e-advertisements, as the companies consistently try to use their trademarks and trade names to access their web sites, domain names have acquired a secondary meaning and have acquired the nature of business identifiers. This has resulted in the cybersquatting activities, through which, the cybersquatters grab domain names which are identical to or confusingly similar to the other business identifiers of third parties by acting more quickly than the owners of rights. As the cybersquaating activities have become a great threat to the intellectual property rights owners, special regulation have been needed to deal with the cybersquatters. The two most significant regulations are Federal Anticybersquattiong Consumer Protection Act enacted by US Congress and UDRP approved by ICANN. The domain name can be cancelled or transferred to the plaintiff provided that the plaintaff has trademark rights on the domain name, the defendant has no rights or legitimate interest in the domain name and that the domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith. In addition any person aggrieved by a domain name registration may invoke the courts in Turkey based on the claims he may have.