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<p>Hi Benjamin, <br>
</p>
<p>You raise some interesting questions. First and foremost, this is
an easy problem to avoid. Before launching any new venture,
announcing any new movie, posting the name of any new
organization, people in charge of the venture should register the
domain names they would most like to have. These domain names are
always far cheaper to register before the new venture (movie,
organization) is named publicly.</p>
<p>That said, if this was a gTLD, it would probably be a case of
cybersquatting. The reason we know this is that a famous
"cybersquatter" in the early days (mid to late 1990s), named John
Zuccarini sent shivers through the trademark world by registered
as domain names many famous brands, including
AmericanAirlines.com. He worked within the US, and was one the
inspirations for the US Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act
(ACPA) and, later, the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).
He lost some of his domain names in ACPA lawsuits, and he lost
AmericanAirlines.com in a 2000 UDRP decision by the National
Arbitration Forum,
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.adrforum.com/domaindecisions/95695.htm">http://www.adrforum.com/domaindecisions/95695.htm</a>. The decision
transferred americanairlines.com from Zuccarini to American
Airlines, Inc.</p>
<p>That said, country codes (ccTLDs) do not have policies created by
ICANN. Only generic top level domains (gTLDs) such as .COM, .ORG,
.XYZ and .NINJA, have policies created by consensus through the
multistakeholder community. Country-code TLDs create a few
policies together through ICANN (e.g., they are working on a
global policy for the retirement of ccTLDs, e.g., when the name of
a country changes), but in general, their policies are created
within the country and within the ccTLD.</p>
<p>This would include domain name dispute policies for .NG in
Nigeria. To your questions:</p>
<p>1. Is this a case of cybersquatting -- that would depend on
Nigerian law and dispute resolution policies of .NG -- and
ultimately, decisions of a court or arbitration panel. <br>
</p>
<p>2. Is this a case of protection of geographic names -- I don't
think so because this is the name of a newly organized company -
NigeriaAir. There are many, many organizations and companies which
very legitimately and legally include geographical names in their
own names, or as their own names (e.g., in the US, Budweiser
renamed its beer "America" for the summer, and American Airlines
is a private company which did not ask permission from the US
government before creating its new brand name).</p>
<p>3. If the WHOIS is not open, how will he be identified? Again,
that depends on the rules of .NG. Nigeria's ccTLD makes its own
WHOIS database rules, and they would likely depend on Nigerian
privacy laws. But in the gTLD Whois, even the changes in the WHOIS
database have not stopped the UDRP disputes. When a UDRP is filed,
if it is otherwise complete, but no name for the domain name
registrant is known, WIPO, NAF or other UDRP Provider, will ask
the Registrar for the Registrant information -- to allow the
Registrant to be notified of an action against their domain name.
Generally, the Registrar responds with the Registrant data;
sometimes the Registrar agrees to pass on the notification to the
Registrant and give him/her/it the option to respond and thereby
reveal their identity. <br>
</p>
<p>4. Will the government be violating his rights if they go after
him? According to the article you linked to, "the minister
revealed that the Nigerian government owns only a meagre 5% equity
of Nigeria Air, therefore, it would be run as a private entity."
In that case, this might become an action filed by the new
Nigerian Air company as an arbitration or civil litigation.
However, given the Nigerian law that you shared, it may be
possible for Nigerian prosecutors to pursue a criminal case as
well.</p>
<p>Tx you for sharing this case -- and I would be very interested to
hear what happens next! You wrote that there is an interesting
conversation in Nigeria among IG and DNS Stakeholders -- can you
share a bit about this discussion?<br>
</p>
<p>Best, Kathy<br>
</p>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 7/22/2018 10:14 AM, Benjamin
Akinmoyeje wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:CAJR4JuHqiwGw7gdoN8aDTe05uzDbMyXVsBPvwkyGJucqii_eng@mail.gmail.com">
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<div>Hi All,</div>
<div>There is an interesting domain name discussion or dispute
going on in Nigeria and I just like to get views of members of
this list on this issue.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The Nigerian government announced a new national carrier -
NigeriaAir a few days ago and immediately an individual
registered the domains NigeriaAir.ng and <a
href="http://NigeriaAir.com.ng" moz-do-not-send="true">NigeriaAir.com.ng</a>;
which he is not offering for sale.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Few things are at play here, <br>
</div>
<div>Is this cybersquatting?</div>
<div>Is this a case of protection geographic names, although
this is with the ccTLD?</div>
<div>If the WHOIS was not open or if there was tiered access,
how will he be identified?</div>
<div>Will the government by violating his rights if they go
after him?<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The development of the DNS industry as a profitable</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Full story on this link <a
href="https://techpoint.ng/2018/07/20/nigeria-air-domain-taken/"
moz-do-not-send="true">https://techpoint.ng/2018/07/20/nigeria-air-domain-taken/</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>See attached an excerpt from the provision of the Nigeria
Cybercrime law.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I just like to get some views as this may change the DNS
business landscape in Nigeria,</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>This is an interesting conversation going on in Nigeria
amongst IG and DNS stakeholders since yesterday - I like to
know your thoughts.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Regards,</div>
<div>Benjamin<br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
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