A web property is a

point of presence A point of presence (PoP) is an artificial demarcation point or network interface point between communicating entities. A common example is an ISP point of presence, the local access point that allows users to connect to the Internet with their ...

(e.g. a

website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

account,

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

, etc.) on the web that is an

asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...

of an

entity An entity is something that Existence, exists as itself. It does not need to be of material existence. In particular, abstractions and legal fictions are usually regarded as entities. In general, there is also no presumption that an entity is Lif ...

(e.g. an

individual An individual is one that exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of living as an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) as a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or g ...

corporation A corporation or body corporate is an individual or a group of people, such as an association or company, that has been authorized by the State (polity), state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law as ...

) used for the purpose of representing a

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

person A person (: people or persons, depending on context) is a being who has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations suc ...

or other identity. The property can be considered a communication channel for the entity whose identity is associated with it. Points of presence on the web which contain content about an entity may not be property that can be owned by that entity (e.g. restaurant review pages on sites such as Yelp). Web property is considered

intangible property Intangible property, also known as incorporeal property, is something that a person or corporation can have ownership of and can transfer ownership to another person or corporation, but has no physical substance, for example brand identity or ...

and is analogous to

real property In English common law, real property, real estate, immovable property or, solely in the US and Canada, realty, refers to parcels of land and any associated structures which are the property of a person. For a structure (also called an Land i ...

in that it has ownership which can be recorded and transferred though ascertaining ownership is not always a simple or easy matter to resolve. The issue of ownership can be particularly challenging in relation to the employer-employee situation. Two current legal cases are likely to set precedent in this area, and .

Websites as web property

The ownership of a website usually can be ascertained via the registration of the

domain name In the Internet, a domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services, and more. ...

via the

Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed name service that provides a naming system for computers, services, and other resources on the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information ...

. The Registrant record of the DNS identifies the individual or company who has the right to use, sell or destroy a domain name. Ownership of the domain name does not guarantee ownership of the website to which it points or the content contained there.

Social media as web property

Social media presents a different challenge regarding web property ownership. For individuals, the web

is owned by the individual who created it (e.g. the owner of a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Account could be considered the owner of the

Facebook page Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of ...

which he or she created). However, if the point of presence was created for a business (e.g. a corporation), then the law is not entirely settled though two cases are currently working through the courts:

PhoneDog v. Kravitz

PhoneDog v. Kravitz is a "lawsuit involving a web-based company and a former employee

hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...

has put a spotlight on the ownership and value of a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account begun by an employee under the auspices of his employment, but continued by him, under a different name, after he terminated his employment." On 3 December 2012, "Kravitz announced that he and PhoneDog have reached an agreement under which Kravitz will get to keep his Twitter account -- and his followers."

Eagle v. Morgan

In 2010 Sawbeh Information Services Company (SISCOM) purchased Edcomm from Linda Eagle and her partners. In 2008, Eagle had created a

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

account that she used for business and personal purposes, and utilized the services of another employee, Elizabeth Sweeney, to maintain the account. In 2011, Eagle and her partners were discharged but SISCOM's new executive team acquired the password to Eagle's account and took control of it, locking out Eagle. Eagle is now suing to regain control of her account. SISCOM's claimed that Eagle's LinkedIn connections belonged to the company, that Eagle stole the connections and subsequently reaped the benefit of the time and efforts it put into maintaining her LinkedIn account.

Unresolved questions

There are a couple questions left unresolved with respect to the ownership of web points of presence: # Can the content of a point of presence be owned separately from the presence itself? # Can the community attached to a point of presence (e.g. friends, fans, and followers) be owned separately from the presence itself?

References