Protection of Geographic Names in International Law and Domain Name System provides a comprehensive analysis of the consistency of the ICANN New gTLD Program policy on geographic names with international law. Do governments possess exclusive rights to use geographic names in the Internet domain name system? Since the first edition of this book in 2012 – then and now the only book to report on and critically analyse new generic top-level domain name policy – much has occurred in response to this question, but no clear, predictable policy framework has yet emerged. This thoroughly updated second edition reassesses the need for legal clarity with its comprehensive identification and analysis of potential bases of rights in geographic names under international law, covering a diverse range of options including sovereignty and related State theory principles, intellectual property rights, geographical indications, unfair competition, and human rights.

What’s in this book:

In the course of the analysis, an entirely new field of international economic law emerges, as a number of distinct areas of law intersect and engage with such diverse legal issues.