On December 4th the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision that will reverberate for years to come in cybersquatting cases brought under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA). While the Court’s declaration that “the ACPA does not provide a cause of action for contributory cybersquatting” is important in itself, its dicta regarding the history of the ACPA – …
Brazilian Internet Steering Committee sets out Plans for April 2014 “Global Multistakeholder Meeting on Internet Governance”
The Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br) has issued an Announcement (http://www.nic.br/imprensa/releases/2013/rl-2013-62.htm) about planning for the Global Multistakeholder Meeting on Internet Governance that will take place in Sao Paulo on April 23-24, 2014. Extended discussion of the background developments leading up to the request made by ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade to Brazilian President Dilma Roussseff that Brazil host a meeting on …
ICA on the Record at ICANN Buenos Aires
The following remarks were delivered to ICANN’s Board and senior staff by ICA Counsel Philip Corwin during the Public Forum (http://buenosaires48.icann.org/en/schedule/thu-public-forum) held on the afternoon of Thursday, November 21st at the 48th ICANN meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina: Good afternoon. Philip Corwin, speaking on behalf of the Internet Commerce Association, which I am proud to represent on the Business …
ICANN Internet Governance Initiatives Sanctioned by Secret September Board Resolution
ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade told members of its GNSO Council in Buenos Aires this morning that his recent initiatives resulting in the recent Montevideo Statement on Internet governance and the spring 2014 meeting on this subject to be held in Brazil were sanctioned by a September 15th ICANN Board resolution that has been withheld from the public, but will published …
ICANN Needs to Distinguish Exact Matches from Acronyms in IGO/INGO Protections
Did you have any idea that registering idea.gifts might be a prohibited activity because some people think it’s more likely to be acquired by those seeking to mimic the International Development Association than by a new business start-up serving those Internet users searching for birthday gift ideas? Do you believe someone is more likely to register eco.shop as a website …
ICANN Adopts Flawed Trademark Notice
The ICANN Public Comment process can be severely frustrating and unsatisfying, as proven once again by ICANN’s September 30th publication of final Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) for new gTLD registries[1], just twelve days after the September 18th deadline for submitting written comments. The final RPMs include a completely unchanged Trademark Notice that fails to meet ICANN’s stated goal that “The …
Business Constituency Raises Concerns Regarding ICANN’s UDRP Status Report
ICANN’s Business Constituency (BC) has sent a letter[1] to ICANN’s CEO and Board Chairman expressing multiple concerns about the “UDRP Providers and Uniformity of Process – Status Report” issued by ICANN on July 19th, the day after the mid-year meeting in Durban concluded. The Report was issued without advance notice or opportunity for comment, and takes a strong position against …
INTA, It’s An Honor
I generally write these posts in the third person because I am speaking for the ICA’s membership. But today I’m going to depart from that style and speak personally. Yesterday I received word that my application to become a member of the Internet Committee of the International Trademark Association had been approved, and that my two-year term will commence in …
CADNA and BBB Roll Out FUD Campaign to SOPA-Size ACPA
Using the impending launch of new gTLDs as a rationale, The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) has teamed up with the Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB) to launch a month-long “‘Know Your Net’ gTLD public awareness campaign”[1]. Their goal is to enact amendments to the U.S. Anti-Cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) that would expand the law’s coverage …
Trademark Notice for New gTLD Domain Registrants Must be Substantially Amended and Modified in Context of ICANN’s Trademark-Plus-Fifty Adoption
ICA has just submitted its comments (http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-rpm-requirements-06aug13/msg00057.html) to ICANN regarding Rights Protection Mechanism (RPM) Requirements at new gTLDs. Our comments focus on serious shortcomings in the current text of the Trademark Notice (TN) that will be generated by some attempted domain registrations. Once a prospective registrant receives a TN it completes the domain registration at its own risk, with an …