Expert: Jeff M. Fischbach - 8/5/2004

Question
Good Day to you,

I am in the process of purchasing several French domain names.
I will be using a company called eurodns.com to registered these foreign domain names on our behalf.

Due to current legislation in France EuroDNS will have to purchase these domains on my behalf and then will provide me with a “certificate of ownership”.

I would just want to check if this “certificate of ownership” is valid and if I will at the end be the sole responsible of the domains I want to purchase. To you think this certificate of ownership is legally binding?

To see a copy of the “certificate of ownership” go to www.namic-marketing.com/coo.htm

Thank you in advance,

Vincent Cassar  

Answer
Vincent: Good day to you as well.

Admittedly, I'm a little out of my element on this. Although I have dealt with foreign domain name holders, my experience has always been with U.S. registrars. However, I will tell you that even here in the U.S. the concept of domain name ownership is still in flux. My experience with domain name legislation in the States leads me to advise registering a domain name (and a legally-binding trademark registration, or the local equivalent) in a region where you have the capacity to enforce it. In reality, domain names are loaned--not sold. If you read the fine print on any registration there are typically a number of ways that one can loose control of a domain name.

My assumption is that there is a financial and/or legal motive, other than the cost of the registration, that necessitates registering in France. Keep in mind that if you host your site in your homeland, and/or you conduct business, banking, or transactions in your homeland, then you are likely subject to the laws of your homeland, regardless of where you register the name. In particular, if you engage in transactions with U.S. residents, the authorities here can hold you accountable to the laws of every jurisdiction where you have conducted trade, and--if they see fit--could seize your funds on this side of the ocean. It may not seem fair, but it happens.

If you still have a good reason to register a foreign name--for instance, in preparation to open a foreign subsidiary--and you do not reside or have a legal presence in France, you have to accept the possibility that you may end up requiring the services of a French lawyer to defend your name. "Validity" is a term subject to local interpretation. Even if the "certificate of ownership" is valid, you still may have to argue the legitimacy of the name or its use. My suggestion would be to hire a law firm in France to represent you there prior to your purchase, if you anticipate turning your names into valuable assets.

If you need a referral, I can ask around for you.

Best of luck,

Jeff Michael Fischbach, ABFE
Board Certified Forensic Forensic Technologist (ABFE #12891)
SecondWave Information Systems
Web:   http://www.secondwave.com
sMail: 9909 Topanga Canyon Blvd., Suite 205, Chatsworth, California 91311, USA
Phone: 818.773.0400 x34