ICA has been informed by ICANN Staff that the Working Group (WG) on the Locking of a Domain Name Subject to UDRP Proceedings appears to have settled on a recommendation that domain name registrants who are Respondents in a UDRP proceeding be granted an automatic right to request and be granted a four day extension of the deadline for filing …
ICA Seconds Call for Strengthened Registrant Rights Statement
The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) has endorsed and suggested additional improvements to the alternate statement of Registrants’ Rights and Responsibilities (RRR) proposed by ICANN’s Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG). ICA’s comment was filed in regard to the “Proposed Final 2013 RAA” (Registrar Accreditation Agreement); the RRR is one component of the RAA and all ICANN-accredited registrars will be required to link …
ICANN’s Approval of ACDR as UDRP Provider Leaves Standard Contracts Issue Unresolved
The Arab Center for Dispute Resolution (ACDR) has been approved as a UDRP provider by ICANN’s Board of Directors. However, the language of the Board resolution of approval leaves unresolved the critically important issue of whether all UDRP providers will be placed under a standard and enforceable contractual agreement. The Board action took place during its meeting of May 18th, …
ICANN Response to ICA: URS Providers will become Contracted Parties
Responding to questions posed by ICA Counsel Philip Corwin at the Public Forum in Beijing, ICANN is now on the record that it is developing a standard contract for all providers of the new Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) rights protection mechanism (RPM) for new gTLDs, and that more URS providers will be selected. This action sets a strong precedent for …
NCSG Cites ICA in Request for ICANN Board Reconsideration of TMC Claims “Trademark + Fifty” Decision
On April 19, 2013 ICANN’s Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group (NCSG) filed a formal Request for Reconsideration with ICANN’s Board Governance Committee to review a unilateral staff decision to expand the scope of the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMC) claims service for new gTLDs. That decision would allow trademark owners to include up to 50 additional typographical variations of each accepted trademark in the …
ICA Opposes ICANN Proposal to Slash UDRP Response Time
ICA just told ICANN that we strongly oppose an Initial Report that proposes to effectively reduce the time that a registrant has to respond to a UDRP by up to one-third. The current UDRP requires a complainant to provide the registrant of the allegedly infringing domain with a copy of the complaint at the same time it is submitted to …
ICANN to GAC: Agreement in Principle Reached on New RAA
On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 9th, during ICANN’s 46th Public Meeting currently taking place in Beijing, China, ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade announced that, following 20 months of negotiations, “agreement in principle” had been reached on a new version of the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) to be put into effect immediately for all new and incumbent registrars that wish to …
ICA Comments on ACDR’s Revised Application to Provide UDRP Services
Several weeks ago, ICA intervened with ICANN’s Board to request that the revised application of the Arab Center for Dispute Resolution (ACDR) be withdrawn from its Consent Agenda and put out for public comment. (see http://internetcommerce.org/ACDR_UDRP). The Board complied, which we appreciate, in light of the fact that the application had lain dormant for two and a half years. (see …
ICANN Amnesia – Expansion of Trademark Clearinghouse Data Contradicts Very Recent Statements
ICANN’s institutional memory seems to be slipping, and that concerns us. On March 20th, ICANN announced that trademark owners would not only be able to register their marks meeting certain validation criteria in the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMC) but also up to fifty variations of each mark that had been found to be the subject of abusive registrations in a UDRP …
ICANN Board Follows ICA Suggestion, Defers Action on ACDR’s UDRP Proposal
Domain registrants won’t be receiving UDRP notices from Amman, Jordan for at least a while. Last week ICA sent a letter to ICANN’s Board asking that it defer action on the pending proposal of the Arab Center for Dispute Resolution (ACDR) to be accredited as a UDRP arbitration provider and put its revised proposal out for public comment. On Thursday, …