Virginia Judge Gives U.S. Jurisdiction over Entire World

I reported last Friday that United States law, contrary to the beliefs of many U.S. justice and legislative officials, does not apply to the rest of the world when it comes to adjudicating Internet matters. A judge in Virginia, however, disagrees. Through a ruling on a cybersquatting lawsuit, District Court Judge (for the Eastern District of Virginia) Albert Byan has opened a can of worms--worms with very sharp teeth. They better build a few dozen additional courthouses and hire a few hundred new employees in eastern Virginia because the caseload for the Eastern District is about to go through the roof.

On March 5, Judge Bryan ruled, through a decision on a cybersquatting lawsuit (Caesars World, Inc -v- Caesars-Palace .Com and others), that his court would be the arbiter of the property rights relating to all .com, .edu and .org top-level domains registered. (For those keeping score, that's around 7 million domains!)

Two of the defendants in the suit motioned to dismiss an action for lack of jurisdiction. The judge ruled, however, that the Eastern District of Virginia suffices as a jurisdiction for the action because Network Solutions Inc., the company that registers all .com, .edu and .org. domain names, is located in Virginia.

The ruling was made possible by the Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act 1999, which enables courts to exercise in rem jurisdiction (authority over a thing rather than a person) in trademark lawsuits. In short, the decision gives U.S. trademark owners the right to seize worldwide registrations.

"This decision may have the greatest effect ever of any U.S. cyberlaw case to date. Effectively, all those international businesses using Top Level Domains (which is now the norm) may find their domains being challenged by U.S. businesses," said David Flint, partner in MacRoberts Solicitors Glasgow (who advised one of the defendants in this case). "Even if ultimately successful, the cost to business in fighting challenges before the U.S. courts is not insubstantial and the possibility of little or no recovery of expenses may lead to a swing in the balance of power to the powerful U.S. trademark lobby. Developments in this case will be watched with interest by world-wide Internet users."

I'm sure other countries will appreciate the United States reserving the right to strip their companies of rights to domains.

If my memory serves me correctly, I believe the same scenario was played out in an episode of "Pinky and the Brain."