Internet Law

Rapid advances in Internet technology continue to transform the way we live and conduct business. By helping our clients embrace the opportunities created by the Internet, McAfee & Taft has been actively involved in this ever-evolving area of the law and has gained valuable expertise in the many unique issues the Internet presents, including:

Domain Name Disputes
In addition to assisting clients in registering domain names, we are also there to help when trouble arises. Our knowledge of ICANN’s Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy and the federal Anti-Cybersquatting Protection Act, as well as traditional trademark and copyright law, allows us to quickly and efficiently resolve disputes when they arise.

Trademark Infringement & Unfair Competition
As the Internet has grown, so has the way in which competitors have tried to gain an advantage in the marketplace. Whether through the use of competitors’ trademarks in their websites’ keywords or metatags (terms used by website designers in the computer code to describe the websites and by search engines in compiling and ranking search results), paying search engines to rank their site first when a competitor’s trademark is entered, “framing” a competitor’s website or “deep linking,” competitors are constantly pushing the envelope of traditional trademark infringement and unfair competition. At McAfee & Taft, we stay abreast of new developments in this rapidly developing area of Internet law and not only counsel our clients in understanding what can, and cannot, be done but also use this same knowledge to assist our clients when they have been the victim of unfair competition or trademark infringement.

Website Development
It has been said that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” We have found that the best way to avoid problems with conducting business on the Internet is to address problems before they arise. To that end, we assist our clients in creating websites and Internet business practices that comply with the various state and federal laws associated with the Internet. Specifically, we assist clients by reviewing marketing campaigns and online “contests” for compliance with state and federal spam laws, privacy laws such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. In addition, we assist clients in drafting Terms of Use and Privacy Policies to be used on websites and in negotiating a wide variety of Internet-related business transactions.