[pp.int.general] trademarks

[Reinier Bakels]

> The current technical implementation of domain names make them scarce.
> You do not create the scarcity out of a legislative idea in this case.
There is no technical scarcity. The combination of letters is sheer 
endlessly. It is a conceptual (semantic) problem that a name can not point 
to two addresses at the same time.
>
>> enforcement should be based on *private* action
> Did you forgot the "not"?
Sorry, I was unclear. It shuld be based on private (civil) law litigation 
(hope that is correct terminology in English) rather than criminal 
enforcement. Criminal enforcement moves the cost to the taxpayer.

Economics textboosk will explain to you that information has "public goods" 
characteristics. Some of these goods can be turned artificially into private 
goods. But that is only efficient from an economic perspective if the 
appropriation cost does not exceed the benefit. A bad trick to solve this 
problem is to let someone else bear the cost: in this case: the 
police/enforcement authorities. Only if the enforcement cost is borne by the 
beneficiary, he will make decisions that are economically sensible. 
Incidentally, there are public costs that can not be appropriated. here the 
government has a natural monopoly. Like the army (defending a country), and 
water manament that allows me to keep my feet dry even though I live nealr 
four meters below sea level in the west of NL.
>
>> Isn't it nice that the poor people of the tiny republic of Tuvalu have
>> become very rich by selling .tv domain names? Domain name .nu (Niue)
>> is also popular. In Dutch and Swedish it means "now". In French it has
>> a more exciting meaning ...
> It might be nice, but I miss the connection to the overall discussion ;-)

It is a scarcity in a name space that makes these poor people very rich.

reinier