No matter what is done in the industry it seems its tough to shake perception. Groups like CADNA, The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse, has been effectively working government to get what they want.
Marketplaces like SEDO, Namejet and Snapnames need to stop allowing TM names to be bought and sold on their platform. Besides allowing it, they profit from it. Its 2011 approaching not 1999, these marketplaces should be able to effectively stop this.
This practice is not unnoticed and many companies are getting more and more frustrated by it. Here is a quote from the Counsel of Dell Computer, who supports the efforts of CADNA.
"Cybersquatters clearly have an informal network among themselves to share "best practices" about how best to trade off the goodwill of large brand owners' marks. CADNA aims to accomplish as a group what individual trademark owners may find difficult to do on their own – band together to consolidate information, knowledge, and resources to put an end to the most abusive domain name practices, through a variety of means. Cybersquatters shouldn't be the only ones sharing information."
Allison McDade, Counsel, Trademarks & Copyrights, Dell Inc.
So maybe when everyone is having a shrimp cocktail and a martini at DomainFest or Traffic, someone can ask why these companies are not stopping this ? Basically CADNA is labelling domainers who engage in TM domains as criminal entities.
This is how they look for members, the pitch is simple
"If you own trademarks, it is likely that your brand equity and legal rights are continually being infringed upon by criminal entities known as cybersquatters, who trade on your brand’s goodwill for their own bad-faith enterprises."
There are plenty of bad decisions on generic names we all know that. But these marketplaces all benefit from names a fifth grader would know are infringing.
We need a change to combat those who criticize this industry.
Why would they change they make money and domainers lose domains. So they need to reg new ones. Win/Win