Proposition 50K1069

Projet de loi relatif à l'enregistrement abusif des noms de domaine.

General information ¶

Submitted by

Groen Open Vld Vooruit PS | SP Ecolo MR Verhofstadt Ⅰ

Submission date

Jan. 26, 2001

Official page

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Status

Adopted

Requirement

Simple

Subjects

civil procedure industrial property computer systems intellectual property

Voting ¶

Voted to adopt

Groen CD&V Vooruit Ecolo LE PS | SP Open Vld N-VA MR FN VB

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Discussion ¶

Feb. 27, 2003 | Plenary session (Chamber of representatives)

Full source

by Mr. Maurice Dehu, the rapporteur, refers to the written report.

Mr. Speaker, dear colleagues, in principle, with our CD&V group, we have nothing against the design as it now presents, but rather against the way it has been created. Combating the unlawful registration of domain names — the so-called international problem of cybersquatting — is of course a noble thing. However, we regret in particular that, when the authors made this bill, there was no contact with the VZW dns.be, which in Belgium has a lot of expertise in this matter. They have the most extensive alternative dispute settlement system. This is a unique fact, as few countries in Europe have such an alternative dispute resolution or such an extensive ADR scheme.

I am also convinced that in place of complex procedures, in addition to the dispute resolution, in addition to cases that can already be brought before courts, a third circuit is now being created. I therefore rightly believe that through negotiations with dns.be or with cepani the cost of arbitration for individuals could have been seriously pressured.

As for the definition of ‘domain name’, and that is important, I think we have used a too broad definition, ⁇ in the version of the government. Fortunately, there was also an amendment from the colleagues of Agalev and Ecolo, but I would have liked to have interpreted that domain name a little more restrictive. I have submitted an amendment in this regard.

We should be well aware of the scope of this law, as it is only about .be names and unlawful registrations with other extensions, such as .com, are still possible. Even for similar registrations that do not fall within a domain name, but within a directory, this bill offers little solace. The Minister argued that there should not be such a restrictive definition of domain name at the Belgian level. He said that in France, for example, both the domain name.fr and the domain name.asso.fr are used for associations. This does not seem to me to be a valid argument, since we, unlike, for example, Britain and France, do not have such a classification system in Belgium.

This bill gave the Chamber a unique opportunity to valorise electronic mail and electronic signature. However, we see that we have missed a chance in such a draft law — which is a very high-tech matter. People who wish to lodge a complaint can do so — as specified in this draft — through a petition with a registered letter at the office. I thought it would be opportune that we, as legislators, at least in this bill...

Mr. Deseyn, the interpreters tell me that, if someone wants to listen to you in another national language, your colleagues are quite noisy. I would like to ask them to make an effort so that Mr. Deseyn can be heard in his language as well as in the translation.

Mr. Speaker, I have submitted an amendment in this regard, in which I would like to replace the words "a letter registered by post" with "a registered shipment on a freely chosen carrier". It was also clear in the committee that there was quite some uncertainty around the legal framework in which electronic transactions take place. However, the vote 5 — 5, in which the amendment was supported by members of the majority, shows that there is also a certain desire in that direction. I will keep this for the general discussion, I will give some punctual comments in the explanation of the amendments.