Hi folks, this is you. We *need to get to this hearing, the New York
phase of a rapid series of meetings around the world by ICANN. Please
see the blurb below. You MUST REGISTER by TOMORROW. It's at the
Millennium Hotel this Monday.
(Others in other cities, get ready)
This is the rollout for the new Global Top Level Domains. It's the
supposed public input phase. But it's also about putting in place a
massive, global change in trademark policy.
Get this -- the group that put this plan together (the "Implementation
Recommendation Team" or IRT) has already closed shop before initiating
these meetings -- so what's the point?
Domain names don't match up with trademark law -- DNS is about giving
symbols one universal address. Language is not. You don't trademark
"Apple" -- you reserve the use of that trademark to market a
particular kind of goods or service. Thus we have Apple Computers and
The Beatles' Apple music company. Or Sun Oil in Canada, a completely
separate company from Sun Oil in America -- and certainly not the same
as the Sun computing company. There's also fair use -- and of course
free speech.
The MPAA and International Trademark have had a hand in ICANN from its
inception, when they required the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy.
Now, along with rolling out new global Top Level Domains, trademark
owners are ramming through a new process that goes well beyond that.
They are pulling out the stops to get ICANN to implement what will in
practical terms amount to a huge revision in the nature of trademark,
back by strong practical action. Along with a new "Uniform Rapid
Suspension System" to shut down sites quickly, they are establishing
ICANN as playing the role of policing trademarks -- which by law is
the trademark holders' responsibility.
The thing to remember is that while domain names and trademarks might
be hard to get a hold of politically, this sets a huge precedent that
will change trademark beyond that area. So we call them on their
process.
(Among other things, this will mean no more Yes Men. :-) )
Kathy Kleiman of the ICANN "Noncommercial Users Constituency" will be
able to brief you more fully. She can also explain what went down in
the previous discussions, where they've essentially ignored all the
substantive points she presented. It's up to us to come in in numbers
and say we got their number.
See below blurb from Kathy.
Seth
ICANN Public Consultation: Should New Top Level Domains Include Broad
New Trademark Protections?
On Mon, July 13, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers (ICANN) will hold a public consultation at the Hudson
Theatre, Millennium Hotel, 145 West 44th Street, to discuss the
"rules of the road" for new generic top level domains (gTLDs), future
competitors to .COM, .ORG and .NET.
A group of trademark attorneys, representing large brand owners, in
May wrote a report calling on ICANN to create broad new trademark
protections before opening up new gTLDs.
A. IP Clearinghouse: a massive database of registered and
unregistered trademark rights created by ICANN (IRT
Report, pp. 12-16
B. Globally Protected Marks List: a list of global marks
created and maintained by ICANN (IRT Report, pp. 16-
22)
C. Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS): A ultra-fast
takedown service with little notice or time to respond
by domain name registrants (IRT, pp. 25-37)
These proposals have been criticized as outside the mission and scope
of ICANN, a technical body, and outside the protections and limits
of trademark law. ICANN's Noncommercial Users Constituency writes "We
fear the impact of the IRT Proposals on free speech and fair use
online. Trademark owners don't own strings of letters, they have a
trademark for specific goods and services. Basic words like APPLE,
TIDE, SUN and TIME belong to all of us. Many important domain names
will be lost, or worse, blocked before they can be registered."
Approval of the IRT Report is being rushed through ICANN with minimal
opportunity to comment. It is vital that ICANN hear comment as soon
as possible, and Monday is an opportunity to speak.
ICANN's Noncommercial Users Constituency will be hosting a breakfast
at the Millennium Hotel on Monday morning. Please contact NCUC
Co-Founder Kathy Kleiman, [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>, for more details.
Registration to speak on 7/13 at this link (deadline 7/10):
http://www.registration123.com/ICANN/GTLD/
IRT Report:
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-29may09-en.htm
IP Justice Comments:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/irt-final-report/msg00210.html
EFF Australia Comments:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/irt-final-report/msg00179.html
Noncommercial Users Constituency Website with comments:
http://icann-ncuc.ning.com/
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