[NCUC-DISCUSS] An interesting development

Mon Jul 23 09:31:37 CEST 2018

Dear Benjamin,

I couldn’t be as clear as Kathy was. All details are within. 

FYI and if anybody else is interested, please remember that I (the penholder) and many NCUC/NCSG member including Kathy wrote a couple of public comments one year ago regarding the DNS Abuse report  <https://drive.google.com/open?id=11k9M2J8dm5oNbaqkk2a7aIbkNp8cEMjf>(new gTLDs), which details all types of DNS abuse and made some recommendations to mitigate them. Our 2017 public comments are available here <https://community.icann.org/display/gnsononcomstake/Public+Comments+-+2017> (look for SADAG report and nine safeguards).

@__f_f__

Best Regards
____________________________________
Farell FOLLY
NCUC Rep. to the NCSG Policy Committee
linkedin.com/in/farellf

> On 23 Jul 2018, at 04:55, Kathy Kleiman <kathy at KATHYKLEIMAN.COM> wrote:
> 
> Hi Benjamin, 
> 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.
> 
> 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, http://www.adrforum.com/domaindecisions/95695.htm <http://www.adrforum.com/domaindecisions/95695.htm>. The decision transferred americanairlines.com from Zuccarini to American Airlines, Inc.
> 
> 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.
> 
> This would include domain name dispute policies for .NG in Nigeria. To your questions:
> 
> 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.  
> 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).
> 
> 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. 
> 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.
> 
> 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?
> Best, Kathy
> 
> On 7/22/2018 10:14 AM, Benjamin Akinmoyeje wrote:
>> Hi All,
>> 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.
>> 
>> The Nigerian government announced a new national carrier - NigeriaAir a few days ago and immediately an individual registered the domains NigeriaAir.ng and NigeriaAir.com.ng <http://nigeriaair.com.ng/>; which he is not offering for sale.
>> 
>> Few things are at play here, 
>> Is this cybersquatting?
>> Is this a case of protection geographic names, although this is with the ccTLD?
>> If the WHOIS was not open or if there was tiered access,  how will he be identified?
>> Will the government by violating his rights if they go after him?
>> 
>> The development of the DNS industry as a profitable
>> 
>> Full story on this link https://techpoint.ng/2018/07/20/nigeria-air-domain-taken/ <https://techpoint.ng/2018/07/20/nigeria-air-domain-taken/>
>> 
>> See attached an excerpt from the provision of the Nigeria Cybercrime law.
>> 
>> I just like to get some views as this may change the DNS business landscape in Nigeria,
>> 
>> This is an interesting conversation going on in Nigeria amongst IG and DNS stakeholders since yesterday - I like to know your thoughts.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Benjamin
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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