[ncdnhc-discuss] Board Positions on .ORG; Answers from V.Cerf -- full text

[KathrynKL at aol.com]

To the NCC:
Here is the full text of the correspondence with Vint.  As you can see, 
messages went back and forth. The only thing I have added is names and 
initials to help identify who is writing the various sections. 

as I mentioned in my summary email, I found the ICANN Board's discussions 
difficult to follow (especially from scribe notes).  I am greatly relieved to 
hear that .ORG will remain unrestricted -- both before and after 
registration.   

regards, kathy kleiman

Vint Cerf (VC):
>>>I think you will see that the directors gave guidance to the president of 
ICANN that no restrictions be placed on registrations in .org >> 
>> 
>> 
Kathy Kleiman (KK)
>>I see the guidance to the president regarding open registrations, and it is 
indeed reassuring and extremely supportive of open communication on the Net.  
 But self-selected, unrestricted registrations in .org is the front end.  If 
I might, I don't understand what restrictions have been placed or guidance 
given to the backend. 
>> 
>>Will .org registrants face a new set of frightening challenges based on the 
nature of their communication online -- the content of their website?  two 
specific questions: 
>> 
>>a) did the Board endorse the recommendation that there be a requirement of 
a noncommercial certification in a future .org registration?  Such a 
certification might create a terrible new set of legal problems online.  Here 
are some problems that might raise.  Would a girl scout troop have to certify 
that their use of .org is noncommercial to get a registration?  Does that 
certification become invalid (or their registrations subject to revocation) 
when the group posts information about upcoming cookie sales, or even a price 
list of cookies?  What about Kennedy Center memberships?  Little League 
raffle tickets? Putting a link from my personal website to the old car I may 
be trying to sell?      
>
VC:
>the board concluded that no certification or even post-registration 
challenge process as regards non-commercial status be introduced. 
>
>
KK:
>>b) challenges after registration.   Did the Board support the use of 
challenges after the registration in .ORG -- challenges beyond the UDRP?  I 
see Amadeau recommending them; and I see Alejandro warning that such 
challenges involve the content of the website, not the domain name.      
>
VC:
>Amadeo suggested a challenge procedure but the board did not adopt it. 
>
>
>
>
KK:
>>Facing a challenge of whether their bake sale is a commercial or 
noncommercial activity would be  a horrible debate for any noncommercial 
group, family or individual to have to enter into.  It would pit large 
corporations against small organizations, families and individuals --- and 
encourage challenges based on the content of the website, not the activity 
online.  It would be used by companies and others to drive off legitimate 
criticism and concerns from .ORG.  What a terrible thing for a child to have 
to face, or his parent. 
>
VC:
>the board wanted to simplify the operation of .org as much as possible 
>
>
KK:
>>In the real world, companies have no legal right to challenge content 
unless they can show some level of illegality, such as infringement.  If they 
cannot show some threshold level of copyright or trademark infringement, 
their lawsuit will be thrown out of court (we call it not passing the laugh 
test).  If they cannot prove their claims of infringement, then they lose.  
These checks keep out harassment by companies. 
>> 
>>ACM-IGP just completed a study of international trademark laws, and I did 
not find a single country that extends trademark past goods and services.  I 
was amazed at the consistency from Brazil  and the Czech Republic (both with 
especially strong protection  for noncommercial activity), to Spain, the UK, 
Canada, and even China (and many others). 
>> 
>>This is a long way of saying that law gives the commercial community fewer 
rights to challenge use in the noncommercial sphere, .org, not more. 
>> 
>>Mr. Cerf and other Board members on this email: 
>>If you could help me, what is the guidance for the President on the ex-post 
challenges and certifications?  thanks so much, kathy kleiman/acm-igp 
>

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