This is in support of Avri Doria's recent intervention. Although I am in full support of the status quo, I believe that putting our heads in the sand and ignoring dissent (specially if they keep coming back), will not help to bring cloture.
1. To those who are annoyed that a subject that is "settled" somehow keeps coming back, I say, there may be a reason for the issue to come back, and we may want to look into those "reasons" to difuse them before they grow into "issues.".
2. It is no wonder that France was the first G-8 country to question ICANN's jurisdiction after the debate on DOT Vin in one of the British Isles 2012 or 2013.ICANN meetings There were reacting not only to the gTLD allocation itself, seeking a "source of law issue" but to dispute settlement mechanisms which heretofore gave great prominence to the International Chamber of Commerce's dispute resolution body. They may feel displaced by WIPO, which is a UN Organization with all the shortcomings associated with the one country, one vote modus operandum..
3. Under common law, as well as under Customary International Law, it is easy to undertand and accept the present ICANN status. However Civil Law countries have difficulties undertanding and applying what they consider a "de facto" and not "de jure" status.
4. I am mentioning this only for the record, not because I spouse a solution like it, but for the sake of illustration. The discrepancy between Customary International Law and Written Code has been adressed through the United Nations Comission that Codifies International Law. The UN Convention on the law of the seas, for example, was written based on International Law, mandatory under "Erga Omnes".
5. Lawyers from Texas and Louisiana could be best suited to look at this problem from the clash of "Sources of Law" perspective and suggest issues for discussion and resolution in this group before they surface again under Indian, Chinese, Japanese or African legal systems. It will help all of us to be better prepared to defend our clients' interest.
6. I am even more worried, under present arrangements, to see Ms Olga Cavalli presiding over what ammounts to a GAC re-interpretation of international law on Intellectual Property regarding the relationship between Geographic signs and Trademarks (as they relate to Domain Names). The discussion does not belong to the GAC; which should be declared "Forum non conveniens". ie. Not the venue to air those issues..
7. For that reason, I fully support Colin's effort (I call it White Paper) summarizing the role of INTA in support of our clients and the public interest offering our support to explain the role of IP under international law. A spanish translation (not official) has been sent with the original to all the Registrar's in Central America and to the SIECA Secretariat. Copy of the translation will be carried/delivered to the chair of the internet committee in Hollywood.
Regards