U.S. House bill clarifies ban on Web names resembling those of U.S. agencies
A 1994 law that bars “any” use of a name of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service and their initials, logos and other symbols to solicit business by for-profit organisations is to be clarified in a House vote by specifying that the prohibition against “any” includes domain names. The law also states that a disclaimer is not a defense against either civil or criminal action. The change follows warnings twice in the last three weeks by the Internal Revenue Service commissioner about confusion over the official Web site of his agency and commercial firms playing off that confusion.This article appears in both the International Herald Tribune and The New York Times.
U.S. House bill clarifies ban on Web names resembling those of U.S. agencies
A 1994 law that bars “any” use of a name of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service and their initials, logos and other symbols to solicit business by for-profit organisations is to be clarified in a House vote by specifying that the prohibition against “any” includes domain names. The law also states that a disclaimer is not a defense against either civil or criminal action. The change follows warnings twice in the last three weeks by the Internal Revenue Service commissioner about confusion over the official Web site of his agency and commercial firms playing off that confusion.