|
Domain names are hostnames that provide more memorable names to stand in for numeric IP addresses. They allow for any service to move to a different location in the topology of the Internet, which would then have a different IP address. IP’s in Disguise
Technically speaking a domain name is an alias for a numeric code. The numeric code is called an IP address. The format of an IP address is written as four numbers separated by periods, where each number can be from zero to 255. For example, 22.170.12.250 could be an IP address. The IP address is how a domain name is recognized by the domain name server. However, a long number like that is difficult for people to remember, so domain names were created to give an alias to IP addresses that would be easier for people to communicate and remember. Remembering Points in Domain Name: Each string of letters, digits and hyphens between the dots is called a label in the parlance of the domain name system (DNS).
|
Valid labels are subject to certain rules, which have relaxed over the course of time. The original rules state that labels must start with a letter, and end with a letter or digit; any intervening characters may be letters, digits, or hyphens.
Labels must be between 1 and 63 characters long (inclusive). Letters are ASCII A–Z and a–z; domain names are compared case-insensitively. Later it became permissible for labels to commence with a digit (but not for domain names to be entirely numeric), and for labels to contain internal underscores, but support for such domain names is uneven.
These are the rules imposed by the way names are looked up by DNS.
Some top level domains impose more rules, such as a longer minimum length, on some labels. Fully qualified domain names (FQDNs) are sometimes written with a final dot.
Today domain names are all around. Almost everywhere you look these days, on billboards, television, ads, you see a domain name. If you have used the internet or sent an email you have used a domain name. When using the internet, you use a domain name when you type a web address, or URL.
Domain name protection in India: With the increase of commercial activity on the Internet, a domain name is also used as a business identifier. Therefore, the domain name not only serves as an address for Internet communication but also identifies the specific Internet site.
In India, the Trademarks Act, 1999 (Act) provide protection to trademarks and service marks respectively. The protection available under the Act is stronger than internationally required and provided. Rule 2 of the UDNDR Policy requires the applicant to determine that the domain name, for which registration is sought, does not infringes or violates someone else's rights. Thus, if the domain name, proposed to be registered, is in violation of another person’s “trademark rights”, it will violate Rule 2 of the Policy. In such an eventuality, the Registrar is within his right to refuse to register the domain name. The protection of domain name under the Indian legal system is standing on a higher footing as compared to a simple recognition of right under the UDNDR Policy. The ramification of the Trademarks Act, 1999 are much wider and capable of conferring the strongest protection to the domain names in the world. The need of the present time is to harmoniously apply the principles of the trademark law and the provisions concerning the domain names.
|
Domain Names
