Another day debating the IRT Report

[Joly MacFie]

Video of Kathy's speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgUC869bTVM



>>  *Good morning,*
>>
>> *My name is Kathryn Kleiman and I represent a group not even listed on
>> the descriptions of attendees in the ICANN signup for today – I represent
>> registrants.*
>>
>> *In my group, ICANN’s Noncommercial Users Constituency, our 102 members
>> register their domain names on behalf of human rights groups, public
>> interest groups, community and political groups worldwide. Some members risk
>> their lives and livelihoods to post content about corruption, extortion and
>> malfeasance. It is some of the very highest uses of the Internet.*
>>
>> *Yet, our domain names, and those we register in the future, will be at
>> risk under the IRT proposal. I have been asked to share 3 quick points:*
>>
>> *1. The IRT proposal provides for only one type of abuse when there are
>> two. The IRT fears trademark infringement, but not trademark lawyer abuse.
>> Every day, trademark lawyers threaten domain names. Under the guise of
>> trademark infringement, they drive out new competitors, squash those who
>> investigate or criticize them, or simply try to snatch away a good domain
>> name they did not think to register. The next group must dig from the deep
>> expertise on both side of the abuse aisle; the next version must mitigate
>> both abusive experiences.*
>>
>> *2. The IRT proposal goes far beyond the two limits which should be its
>> bounds, that ICANN is a technical body with a limited scope and mission, and
>> that trademark law as it exists under every law is bounded by protections
>> for fair use and freedom of expression and the right to simply use language.
>> *
>> *For example, *
>>
>> *A. The IP Clearinghouse takes ICANN into the job of global rights
>> protection and beyond its mission as a technical manager of domain names.
>> For ICANN to enter this field would require it to become a trademark office,
>> an examiner of the registered and unregistered marks being entered. For
>> ICANN not be such an examiner, would create a gigantic database of
>> unverified intellectual property which will be misused not only again
>> against future domain name registrants but far outside the scope of ICANN as
>> well.*
>>
>> *There may well be a need for this type of service, but the market **has
>> shown that it can and will provide it. This is one need the market should be
>> allowed to meet**.*
>> *B. The Globally Protected marks List brings ICANN into an area even WIPO
>> dares not tread. There is no international consensus on globally famous
>> marks, and no list of such marks prepared by WIPO nor any other
>> international organization. It is beyond the scope and mission of ICANN to
>> be the first down this path.  Further, the GPML proposal goes awry by
>> protecting these trademarks, not as marks for certain goods and services,
>> but as strings of characters protected across all new gTLDs, regardless of
>> use or relevance. This list will remove from the domain name dictionary
>> basic words, including Apple, Sun, Time and People. That ICANN cannot allow.
>> *
>>
>>    1.
>>
>>    *The Uniform Rapid Suspension Service is among the most dangerous
>>    provisions. It will replace the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy with a
>>    faster, cheaper and fundamentally more unfair process. It strips UDRP of
>>    those few aspects that made it fair, including strong requirements for
>>    notice, and a reasonable response time. Domain name registrants will lose
>>    their domain names and website speech before they ever know a challenge has
>>    been filed. As many said in their comments, this is a case of UDRP reform,
>>    but an invalid UDRP replacement.*
>>
>> *We have strong objections to the thick whois and post-delegation dispute
>> mechanism, but time grows short.*
>>
>>
>>
>>  *Overall, the IRT Report includes only one half of trademark law – its
>> rights, but not its limits or fair use protections. The free and fair use of
>> language requires this balance – and the free and fair of domain names too.
>> *
>>
>>
>>
>>  *For Registrants, those at the base of the ICANN Pyramid, those
>> registering domain name for years into the future, we have to get these
>> rules right, and we must make them fair. *
>>
>>
>>
>> *Thank you.*
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------
Joly MacFie  917 442 8665 Skype:punkcast
WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com
http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com
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