Seizing Domain Names to Enforce Judgments: Looking Back to Look to the Future

Abstract

In this article, I analyze the opinion in Network Solutions, Inc. v. Umbro International, Inc., the case that sparked much discussion about whether an internet domain name can be considered "property" of the registrant. I argue that for the purposes of creditors' rights laws, the characterization of a domain name as property or not is essentially irrelevant because under the laws governing creditors' rights, almost any right with monetary value can be made available to creditors. The thesis of this article is that judges can rework existing laws governing creditors' remedies to account for new technologies. Courts have been adapting such remedies to novel assets for more than a century, and there is nothing inherent in domain names to suggest that courts cannot do the same with respect to them.

Keywords: domain name, Newtwork Solutions, Inc. v. Umbro International, Inc., remedies