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Hillary Clinton wins HillaryClinton.com, just in time for 2008...

Declan McCullagh Former Senior Writer
Declan McCullagh is the chief political correspondent for CNET. You can e-mail him or follow him on Twitter as declanm. Declan previously was a reporter for Time and the Washington bureau chief for Wired and wrote the Taking Liberties section and Other People's Money column for CBS News' Web site.
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Declan McCullagh

Hillary Clinton has won a dispute with an Italian domain name squatter over the rights to HillaryClinton.com. A panel of arbiters ruled on Mar. 18 that because Michele Dinoia of Pineto, Italy did not respond during the dispute proceedings, Dinoia had no "rights and legitimate interests in the domain name."

Clinton, a Democratic senator from New York, claims that she should enjoy trademark rights to her own name. Summarizing her argument, the panel said Clinton's name had "become distinctive through (her) use and exposure of the mark in the marketplace and through use of the mark in connection with (her) political activities, including a successful Senate campaign."

This decision, of course, could clear the way for a presidential campaign Web site in 2008 -- much as John Kerry used JohnKerry.com and President George W. Bush used GeorgeWBush.com.