Changes to electronic communications law
It is designed to remove overlaps, clarify, update and improve the regulations, and introduces changes to a number of areas, including .fi domain names.
One of the most noteworthy changes is that Finland will now be in line with European standards by shifting from a mixed registration model to a service provider model. Currently, applicants for a .fi domain name in Finland can register it themselves or use an external registrar. Following the act, registrations and changes to the domain name register can be made only by external registrars. The registrars in turn will be under the supervision of the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority.
The current restrictions regarding applicants will be abolished. According to the Domain Name Act (228/2003), a .fi domain name can be granted only to legal persons or private entrepreneurs registered in Finland, Finnish public bodies, diplomatic missions of foreign states, or private persons of at least 15 years of age who have a Finnish social security number and whose place of domicile is Finland. Following the new act, foreign companies and private persons can register .fi domain names as well.
According to the Domain Name Act, an address that consists of a sole word indicating a form of an enterprise, a foundation or an association, an abbreviation, the word ‘trademark’ or a sole top-level domain name that is used globally or as a country code cannot be registered. A domain name cannot be unjustifiably based on a natural person’s name and it cannot include expressions that insult or incite criminal activities.
"Following the new act, foreign companies and private persons can register .fi domain names as well."
These restrictions, as well as the provision that domain names cannot be applied for with the purpose of warehousing them with the intention of selling them at a later date, will be abolished as well.
Typosquatting
The act provides for more effective means to deal with typosquatting, which refers, for example, to situations where a domain name applicant takes advantage of someone else’s protected name or sign by including common spelling mistakes of such names/signs in the domain name. Internet users are, in this way, misled into accessing pages they did not originally intend to.
Following the act, the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority can, upon request of the owner of a protected name or sign, remove such a domain name without consulting the user of it, provided it is clear that the domain name in question is not admissible. The domain name can be removed for a maximum of one year, during which time the right holder can start legal proceedings against the infringer.
Otherwise, the act does not change the protection provided to owners of trademarks and trade names. A domain name cannot be equivalent to someone else’s protected name or sign unless the user of the domain name can provide acceptable justification for the registration. Nor can it be similar to such a name or sign if it is clear that the purpose of the registration is the intention to obtain undue benefits or to cause harm.
The majority of the provisions in the Information Society Code came into force on January 1, 2015. However, the above-mentioned provisions concerning domain names will come into force on September 6, 2016, providing applicants with a transition period to adjust to the new application methods and the fact that applications for .fi domain names are no longer restricted to Finnish companies and private persons.
Hanna Nylund is an associate at Procopé & Hornborg. She can be contacted at: hanna.nylund@procope.fi
Davide Battistelli is an associate at Procopé & Hornborg. He can be contacted at: davide.battistelli@procope.fi
