The ever-sunny skies over San Jose, Costa Rica were darkened by a dark cloud from Washington on the morning of March 10th, the opening day of activities at ICANN’s 43rd Public Meeting. The pall was cast by a notice posted by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) stating that it had canceled the Request for Proposal …
New Survey Says Government Regulation is Top Concern of Domain Investors
Our friend and noted domain industry journalist Andrew Allemann has just released the 2012 Domain Name Wire survey of domain investor concerns (http://domainnamewire.com/2012/02/28/government-regulation-domains/).That statistical portrait, based upon 1,143 respondents, lists Government regulation as the top (21%) concern for the domain investment community. The full list is – 1. Government regulation 21%2. Overall economy 15%3. New TLDs 15%4. ICANN policy decisions …
ICANN Should Investigate NAF’s UDRP Practices
On February 23rd the ICA sent a letter to ICANN requesting that it initiate an immediate investigation of the UDRP arbitration practices of the Minneapolis, Minnesota-based National Arbitration Forum (NAF). NAF is the number two provider of UDRP arbitration services, led only by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – in 2010, WIPO handled 2,696 UDRP filings while NAF’s total …
ICANN Names WIPO as Exclusive Arbitrator of Legal Rights Objections to New gTLDs – But When Will ICANN Begin Work on Implementation Details of the URS?
ICANN has designated the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) as the exclusive provider of arbitration services to resolve disputes when a Legal Rights Objection (LRO) is lodged against a proposed new gTLD. An LRO can be lodged by a trademark owner or intergovernmental organization when an applied-for gTLD would be likely to infringe the objector’s existing trademark, or IGO …
Video of ICA DOMAINfest 2012 Presentation Now Available
A video of the ICA presentation on “Public Policies Impacting Domain Investors” delivered on February 1, 2012 at the DOMAINfest 2012 conference held in Santa Monica, California is now available online at http://domainfest.com/mediaarchive/V9 . In addition, the PowerPoint presentation utilized during the presentation is available at http://www.domainfest.com/files/DOMAINfest_Global_2012_Phil_Corwin_Regulatory_Issues.pdf . The presentation was made by ICA Counsel Phil Corwin. He was accompanied …
White House Indicates It Cannot Support Current Versions of PIPA and SOPA
ICA has strongly opposed the current versions of the PIPA and SOPA anti-piracy bills because of the grave threat they pose to all domain name industry intermediary companies of being alleged to be trafficking in domains constituting “counterfeit marks” under the bill’s overbroad and vague definitions, and to being deprived of essential payment and advertising services as a result. The …
SOPA Could Shutter Registrars and other Domain Name Industry Intermediaries – And Terminate Their Vital Registrant Services
The Internet Commerce Association has just sent a letter to senior members of the House Judiciary Committee regarding the likely unintended but potentially devastating impact of H.R. 3261 (”SOPA”) as introduced upon ICANN-accredited registrars and other participants in the broad domain name industry, as well as upon the domain registrants who use those services. Registrants, for example, might find …
Workshop at ICANN Dakar Reveals That Trademark Clearinghouse Implementation Requires Decisions on Many Complex Questions
On Wednesday, October 26th a Workshop on the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) was held at the ICANN meeting in Dakar. The TMCH is a key global database that will be used for both sunrise services for new gTLDs as well as trademark claims. The workshop revealed that implementation of the TMCH involves the resolution of multiple complex issues within a very …
New House “E-PARASITE” Bill Would Cut Off Website Payment and Ad Services Without Initial Court Review
On Wednesday, October 26th Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, along with eight other cosponsors, introduced HR 3261, the ‘‘Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act of 2011’’, also known as the “E-PARASITE Act”. This House bill appears to be an even more controversial counterpart to the Protect IP legislation …
$300 URS May Be Unrealistic – And Other New gTLD Emerging Realities
On Sunday, October 23rd ICANN senior staffer Kurt Pritz made a lengthy presentation on “New gTLD Program Activities” to the GNSO Council meeting in Dakar. Narrating a slide presentation, and answering questions, Pritz addressed many of the complex implementation details of the program, which kicks off in mid-January (slide presentation available at http://dakar42.icann.org/meetings/dakar2011/presentation-new-gtld-program-activities-23oct11-en.pdf). The presentation brought various aspects of …