Last week we became aware of an ICANN staff document, “Briefing Paper on Defensive Registrations at the Second Level”, prepared just in advance of the Prague meeting (available at http://gnso.icann.org/en/correspondence/defensive-registrations-briefing-paper-04jun12-en.pdf). While not the intended purpose, this document reveals much about what is wrong with ICANN’s internal policymaking processes, as well as the substantial danger to registrant rights posed by any …
WIPO to ICANN: On URS “Summits”, It’s Our Way or the Highway
Overview: Timely implementation of the URS, a required RPM for new gTLDs, is critical to the success of the program as well as to the adequacy of registrant rights – for now just at new gTLDs, but with its possible extension to incumbent gTLDs sure to be a subject of future debate. After noting that ICANN’s draft FY 13 budget …
ICA on the Record in Prague
The last full day of every ICANN meeting includes a Public Forum at which attendees and remote participants have an opportunity to address and question the ICANN Board on a wide variety of agenda items. The Prague Public Forum was held on the afternoon of Thursday, June 28th and the full transcript can be found at http://prague44.icann.org/meetings/prague2012/transcript-public-forum-28jun12-en.pdf. ICA Counsel Philip …
DOC Awards IANA Contract Renewal to ICANN – Signed by Beckstrom in Last Official Act
In a July 2nd press release (below), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it has awarded a renewal of the IANA functions contract to ICANN. According to a Twitter post from outgoing ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom, he signed the agreement on ICANN’s behalf on Sunday, July 1st in Istanbul, Turkey as his last official act as CEO. We note …
ICANN Staff Briefing on RPMs for New gTLDs Provides Few Answers, Raises More Questions
This morning in Prague ICANN senior staff provided a briefing to the GNSO Council on the state of play for the rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) required for new gTLDs. Most of those occupying the packed room appeared to find the information imparted to be incomplete, non-illuminating, and somewhat distressing. First discussing Uniform rapid Suspension (URS), staff again recited the position …
ICA Files DIDP Request for ICANN Background Documents on URS “Summits”
As part of its avowed commitment to transparency – a key element in the Affirmation of Commitments signed at the conclusion of direct U.S. oversight — ICANN maintains a document disclosure procedure similar to the U.S. Freedom of Information Act. This Documentary Information Disclosure Policy (DIDP) “is intended to ensure that information contained in documents concerning ICANN’s operational activities, and …
ICA Urges That $175,000 URS Summits “Slush Fund” Be Struck from ICANN’s FY 2013 Budget
Domain registrant fees are the source of the vast majority of ICANN operating funds, so in a sense registrants are the taxpayers of the ICANN system. To the extent that ICA members own or manage a significant percentage of existing domains we want to make sure that our “tax dollars” are spent wisely, that registrants’ viewpoints are reflected in ICANN …
SOPA, .Com, and URS – Beware “Bait and Switch” Domain Censorship
It was only four months ago that the SOPA legislation (and its U.S. Senate companion, PIPA) crashed and burned in rather spectacular, unanticipated, and embarrassing fashion following a White House policy statement that distanced the Obama Administration from those proposals to give copyright and trademark owners new means to shutter domains claimed to be infringing, as well as after …
2011 UDRP Filings Up at WIPO, Down at NAF – And Still Infinitesimal
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) recently issued a detailed press release regarding Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) cases for which it provided arbitration services in 2011 (http://www.wipo.int/pressroom/en/articles/2012/article_0002.html ) and, once again, the number of WIPO filings was up. According to WIPO: “In 2011, trademark holders filed a record 2,764 cybersquatting cases covering 4,781 domain names with the WIPO Arbitration …
ICANN Staff: URS Summits Budget Item is a Placeholder for “Community Discussion” – But Where Was the Community Discussion of Whether URS Should be Reconfigured?
Last week we noted that the draft ICANN FY 2013 Budget contained $175,000 in funding for two “Summits” to be devoted to reconfiguring the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) rights protection mechanism for new gTLDs in order to achieve a “lower cost model” (http://internetcommerce.org/URS-Summits). Further inquiries made to members of the ICANN community — including a member of the Board, several …