You might have missed the news that Nominet, the domain name registry for the United Kingdom, is considering a ban on offensive terms. This comes on the heels of the U.K.'s plan to filter out sites the government deems objectionable, such as those featuring pornography, discussion of suicide or (my favorite) instructions on how to circumvent parental Internet controls.

In the United States, Internet domain names are largely unpoliced, except to avoid infringement of intellectual property. For some site owners, choosing an offensive name seems to have a peculiar appeal. Many others are selected by accident. And in the libertarian ethos of the technology world, both groups are generally left to their choices. The offended can always avoid the troubling sites.

But the possibility that the U.K. might decide to restrict offensive domain names mirrors a hoary and outdated provision of U.S. law — to wit, the power of the Patent and Trademark Office to deny registration to marks because they are deemed "immoral" or "scandalous."