11.2 Domain Name
Francis Net, a freshman in college and a computer expert, browses websites for hours each day.
One day, she thinks to herself, “I can make money registering domain names and selling them
for a fortune.” She has recently seen an advertisement for Classic Coke, a cola drink produced
and marketed by Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola Company has a famous trademark on the term
Classic Coke and has spent millions of dollars advertising this brand and making the term
famous throughout the United States and the world. Francis goes to the website
www.networksolutions.com, an internet domain name registration service, to see if the internet
domain name classiccoke.com has been taken. She discovers that it is available, so she
immediately registers the internet domain name classiccoke.com for herself and pays the $70
registration fee with her credit card. Coca-Cola Company decides to register the internet domain
name classiccoke.com, but when it checks at Network Solutions, Inc.’s, website, it discovers that
Francis Net has already registered the internet domain name. Coca-Cola Company contacts
Francis, who demands $500,000 for the name. Coca-Cola Company sues Francis to prevent
Francis from using the internet domain name classiccoke.com and to recover it from her under
the federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). Who wins?