December 2009 - ALAC - lists.icann.org

Fwd: At-Large minority positions to the GNSO STI report
by Alan Greenberg Dec. 10, 2009

Dec. 10, 2009

FYI - discussion if any should be on the At-large list. >To: name-issues(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org >From: Alan Greenberg <alan.greenberg(a)mcgill.ca> >Subject: At-Large minority positions to the GNSO STI report > >Olivier and I are suggesting that we issue minority issues on four >issues. We both agree on the first three, and are divided on the >last. We seek advice of the name-issues group (and particularly the >At-Large members) on what to recommend to the ALAC. > >Forgive any typos, as there was a great rush to get this out. > >Alan and Olivier > >-------------------- > >1. Additional Marks in the Clearinghouse > >The proposal calls for the Clearinghouse at a minimum to included >just nationally or multi-nationally registered trademarks as well as >common-law trademarks that have been validated by a court decision. >Other TM can be included by the TC at registry and/or TM holder >expense) but their use by a registry is not mandatory. > >The Business Constituency has proposed that a limited class of other >marks be included, and we are proposing that the following types of >marks be included for the purposes of sunrise processes. The types >of marks would include a registered TM used in conjunction with: >- a dictionary word that is associated with the class of services >trademarked (example: a chemical company XYZ could deposit in the TC >the name "XYZ-Chemicals". This was allowed in the .asia sunrise. >- a dictionary word that is regularly used in clear association with >the TM (example: Yahoo-Finance - see http://finance.yahoo.com/) >There would need to be careful language, objection processes and >penalties for depositing names in the TC that do not meet the >criteria (example: Yahoo-sucks, unless Yahoo starts to manufacture >vacuum cleaners) > >Brand owners want to be able to have clear right-of-first-refusal to >reduce opportunities for cyber-squatting and to reduce the need for >URS and UDRP proceedings. We believe that At-Large benefits from >such legitimate registrations to reduce the opportunity for user >confusion which results from cyber-squatters obtaining such names. > From the perspective of a non-sophisticated user, if they enter a >name that CLEARLY maps to a known brand, it should not resolve to a >pay-per-click page or someone offering a competing product or service. > >The formulation of this proposal eliminates some of the previous >objections to this type of proposal (the trademark "enom" preventing >someone from registering "venom"). It also excludes allowing entry >into the TC of "confusingly similar" typo-squatting type names. > >-------------------- > >2. Transfer of a domain name after a successful URS > >This was included in the original At-Large input into the STI process. > >Under the STI proposal, the only remedies following a successful >URS is that the domain be suspended (not usable) for the remainder >of the registration period. It also allows the successful URS >claimant to extend the registration for one year. It does not allow >the claimant to take over the registration and therefore at the end >of the registration period, it will be available again (possibly to >be used for similar cyber-squatting). > >The rationale is: > >a) The URS was not originally envisioned by the IRT as a transfer >mechanism - if the TM holder wants to take custody of the name, they >should use the more expensive and slower UDRP either following a >successful URS, or instead of the URS. > >b) We need to differentiate the URS from the UDRP > >c) It may be complex for the registry and/or registrar to implement >if not carefully designed > >d) It may take a generic word domain name (which might have >legitimate uses over and above those used by the current registrant >(which resulted in a successful URS). > >We believe that the merits of allowing such a transfer are larger >than the negatives. Specifically: > >a) should not be relevant. We have already changed MUCH in the >original IRT proposal, and rightfully so. And it seems mean-spirited >to force a TM holder to go through the UDRP just because of how the >URS was originally envisioned. >b) Why? There is a good probability that over the next few years, >the two procedures will be reviewed and merged into a single >procedure with multiple paths. >c) This can be overcome with careful design. >d) Chances are that either through successive URS proceedings or a >UDRP, the name will go out of circulation anyway. > >We recommend that a transfer at end-of registration be allowed. >Since the domain is explicitly flagged as being the subject of a >successful URS, the process should not be onerous if requested at >URS-time by the claimant. > >Barring that being accepted, we suggest that a transfer be allowed >after a second successful URS. The main argument against that was >that it would be difficult to implement with respect to record >keeping. However, since claimant could indicate that this is a >second URS when filing the URS (and give a case number), indicating >that if successful, they want a transfer, there is virtually no >record keeping needed, other than by the TM holder. > >-------------------- > >3. Post-Launch TM Claims > >The TC will allow (at the decision of the registry) pre-launch TM >Claims. The process is that if a registrant tries to register a name >that *might* conflict with an existing TM in the TC, they will be >notified of the possible conflict and will need to declare that >there is no infringement if they decide to go ahead with the >registration. The rationale may by the jurisdiction where the TM is >registered, the types of goods or services, or fair use and >freedom-of-speech reasons. > >There is no such provision after launch, so that a domain that would >require such a declaration pre-launch can be registered without any >issue after launch. This allows for those inadvertently registering >an infringing name to do so without being informed ahead of time >that they may have a problem. In the case of cyber-squatting, a >post-launch TM Claims service would require that declare that they >will use the name for non-infringing purposes, and such a >declaration could be used against them in a later URS or UDRP. On >the negative side, post-launch TM Claims could have a significant >"chilling effect" in that someone registering a name for completely >legitimate uses might decide not to because of the notice. > >We suggest that At-Large recommend further investigation with >respect to efficient and effecting implementation of post-launch IP >claims and on the potential chilling effect on non-IP-professional registrants. > >-------------------- > >4. Number of Trademark Clearinghouse (TC) providers > >Olivier and I are divided on this issue. > >Olivier's position > >Whilst the original IRT report does not specify whether the >Validation of the trademarks included in the TC and the database >maintenance element of the TC should be separated or not, the staff >proposals recommends two providers, in order to introduce additional >safeguards in the process. > >Given that the two functions are separate and distinct functions, >that they each call upon a different skillset, that a concentration >of responsibility resulting from control of both functions by a >single provider might ease the possibility of process capture and >that the performing of these functions by one provider weakens the >commitment by the STI Team to separate these functions, we also >recommend that these functions shall be performed by entirely >different providers. A validation service provider shall not be able >to maintain the database. Similarly, the provider maintaining the >database shall not be able to also offer a validation service. This >separation of functions shall extend to affiliates of the respective providers. > >Alan's position > >It is unclear what the exact harms would be from integrating the two >functions. Moreover, despite significant discussion, it is not quite >clear if the input from the TM holders (which must be handled in a >number of languages) is best handled by the validator or the >data-base provider. The former will already have the ability to >interface with registries, the URS providers, and registrants who >need to obtain information related to URS proceedings. The validator >must have expertise in validating TM in all jurisdictions of the >world, but may not be an expert on the technical issues related to >providing round-the-clock computer systems, help desks, >multi-lingual support and other aspects that the database provider >will have to posses. Given that, the STI-RT chose to leave it up to >staff to balance the desire for separation against the ability to >find competent provider(s) to implement the overall TM.

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UNESCO & ICANN
by Sébastien Bachollet Dec. 10, 2009

Dec. 10, 2009

http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29372 <http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=29372&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECT ION=201.html> &URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html For your information. I am sorry that the ICANners (like you ALAC VC) leaving in Paris were not invited. I have a question: who is ICANN? All the best Sébastien Bachollet Président d'honneur - Isoc France <mailto:sebastien.bachollet@isoc.fr> sebastien.bachollet(a)isoc.fr <http://www.egeni.org/> www.egeni.org <http://www.isoc.fr/> www.isoc.fr

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Fwd: GNSO Selected Trademark Issues Review Team draft report
by Alan Greenberg Dec. 10, 2009

Dec. 10, 2009

Please note that this message is also being forwarded to the At-Large list. Alan >To: name-issues(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org >From: Alan Greenberg <alan.greenberg(a)mcgill.ca> >Subject: GNSO Selected Trademark Issues Review Team draft report > >I am attaching a copy of the GNSO STI draft report. It is still >undergoing revision. A final version is expected sometime today and >I will forward it when available. > >PLEASE NOTE THAT ACCORDING TO THE CURRENT PLAN WE ONLY HAVE 1.5 DAYS >TO DECIDE ON THE WAY FORWARD - SEE MESSAGE AT END. > >For background and references to previous documents, I refer you to >my e-mail of 28Nov09 - >http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/pipermail/name-issues_atlarge-lists.icann.or…. > >The discussions which led to this draft involved something well over >20 hours of teleconferences and innumerable e-mails, side >discussions and sub-group work. So I will not try to describe it all >here. But it is important to note a few things: > >- this is a compromise proposal - no one has come out of this with >their "perfect" result >- it has been discussed negotiated and crafted with an immense >amount of effort and cooperation and goof faith. Some of the more >contentious parts were crafted by small teams often involving the >Intellectual Property Constituency and NCSG and the results are >models for how people with quite different perspectives and >end-points can reach consensus. >- all of that being said, there will be "minority statements" >submitted by a number of groups (perhaps most) allow them to >emphasize for the Board issues that they feel are important but on >which a unanimous consensus could not be reached. Olivier and I will >be suggesting that At-Large submit a minority position on the following issues: > > + Whether the Trademark Clearing house should be operated by a > single provider, or should the two functional parts of the > Clearinghouse be divided into two arms-length providers > > + To what extent should trademarks that are not formally > registered be allowed in the Clearinghouse > > + Whether there should be a TM Claims process for all > registrations post-launch (TM claims allows a registrant to be > "warned" if there is potential overlap between their requested name > and some mark in the Clearinghouse > > + Whether a transfer of the domain to the trademark holder > should be allowed following a successful URS. > >I will be sending out a more detailed description of these four >minority positions soon, but did not want to delay getting the core >document out first. > >Timing is critical. The GNSO meets to decide whether to forward this >document to the Board on Thursday, 17 December at 16:00 UTC. We >decided that the ALAC should conduct a vote to complete prior to >that time to decide on: >- whether to endorse the report >- What, if any, minority positions to take. > >If this is to be a standard 5-day "short" vote, it needs to start by >late Friday. That means we need a recommendation from the >name-issues group prior to that time - in short, in the next 1.5 days at most. > >This message will also be forwarded to the ALAC and At-Large lists. >I would suggest that to the extent possible, the discussion be >carried out on the At-Large list to involve the largest number of people. > >Alan

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Voting for At-Large Director
by Alan Greenberg Dec. 7, 2009

Dec. 7, 2009

One of the issues that we must address in determining the overall process governing the selection of the At-Large Board Director is the adoption of a voting mechanism. It has been suggested that we use the Instant-Runoff voting as called for in our Rules of Procedure for other elections. I disagree (in fact I disagree that we should use it in the other elections, but that is not the subject of this discussion). I will present several separate arguments. First, I believe that the process is difficult for many people to get their mind around, unless they are VERY used to this process. With an Instant Runoff ballot, you need to rank the candidates in your order of preference. That sounds easy, but understanding HOW the votes will be ranked makes it a lot more difficult. Here is what you need to do: 1. To fill the first ballot position, put in the candidate that you want to win. That is easy. 2. To fill the second candidate position, assume that the candidate that you put in above actually comes in dead last - who would you want to win in that case. 3. To fill the third slot, assume that the after your first candidate came in dead last and was eliminated, your next choice above also came in dead last in the next round. and so forth. I believe that the above process is very hard for people to actually think through. It is difficult to select the 2nd and 3rd candidate, having to accept that the candidate(s) that you REALLY want to win will come in at the bottom of the poll each time. Second, if you look at the current Bylaws for the election of the GNSO and ccNSO Directors, you will find: GNSO: ... any such selection must have affirmative votes compromising sixty percent (60%) of all the respective voting House members. ccNSO: ... any such selection must have affirmative votes of a majority of all the members of the ccNSO Council then in office. Aside from the nicety of having a process which is in line with these two very visible ICANN bodies, I think that it is CRUCIALLY important that everyone and especially the other Board members know that the person put on the Board by At-Large was consciously and actively voted for by at least a majority of those eligible to vote. I do not believe that an Instant Runoff meets these criteria. Third, the Instant Runoff voting method is convenient, but to quote Robert's Rules of Order, one of the authorities on such procedural matters: "...especially useful and fair in an election by mail if it is impractical to take more than one ballot. . . . In such cases it makes possible a more representative result than that under a rule that a plurality shall elect. . . . Preferential voting has many variations. [Instant runoff voting is the example given.] ...Although this type of preferential ballot is preferable to an election by plurality, it affords less freedom of choice than repeated balloting [the exhaustive ballot system], because it denies voters the opportunity of basing their second or lesser choices on the results of earlier ballots, and because the candidate in last place is automatically eliminated and may thus be prevented from becoming a compromise choice." In the case of the vote for At-Large Director, we are NOT under a particularly tight time constraint and we could allow for runoff ballots. Such runoffs not only allow a person to make an enlightened choice in the sure knowledge that their original choice has been disqualified, but ensures that the final choice was THE candidate selected by the majority (or more if we wish) of the voters in the final round. ============================= There will be a presentation and discussion of this at our teleconference - https://st.icann.org/alac-docs/index.cgi?7_december_2009_community_call_at_…. You can find more information on Instant Runoffs at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_runoff. Note that the link within our Rules of Procedure is incorrect. Alan

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IDNs: Final Report on Three-Character Requirement and Variant Management Now Available for Public Comment
by James Seng Dec. 7, 2009

Dec. 7, 2009

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-03dec09-en.htm The WG for 3 character and variants for IDN is now ready for public comment as above. I will prepare an ALAC statement (over this weekend) but I would like to get some discussion going so I know what would be our position. Please note the deadline for the comment is 8th Jan 2010, which sound like a lot of time but in reality, with christmas and new year holidays and a 5 days voting ratification, we don't really have a lot of time. -James Seng

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Re: [ALAC] Reminder: Teleconference on the At-Large Director Appointment Process scheduled for 7 Dec at 08:00 UTC
by Wolf Ludwig Dec. 7, 2009

Dec. 7, 2009

Dear Heidi and Cheryl, sorry - I am still booked on Monday and Thursday evenings for the moment and cannot make it for the call tomorrow. Please accept my apologises. Thanks and kind regards, Wolf Heidi Ullrich wrote Sun, 6 Dec 2009 12:50: >Dear All, > >This is a reminder that you are invited to a teleconference on the At-Large Director Appointment Process on Monday, 7 December 2009 at 0800 UTC. Please find the agenda, participation instructions and background information on the At-Large Director appointment process under: > >https://st.icann.org/alac-docs/index.cgi?7_december_2009_community_call_at_…. > >ALAC Chair Cheryl Langdon-Orr highlighted the importance of broad input from all five At-Large regions to the At-Large Director Appointment Process and would like to request regions to submit their input either > > * via the regional representatives confirmed as attending the meeting > > * via the Comments section on the meeting page > > * via an e-mail to the At-Large list (cc'ing Cheryl Langdon-Orr and Staff to make sure their comments are recorded > > > >The members of the Board Structural Improvements Committee and Tricia Drakes are also invited to join this discussion. > >Kind regards, >Heidi > >Heidi Ullrich >Manager, At-Large Regional Affairs >Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) >Telephone: + 1 (310) 578 - 8647 >Fax: +1 (310) 823 - 8649 >Cell/Mobile: +1 (310) 437 - 3956 > > comunica-ch phone +41 79 204 83 87 Skype: Wolf-Ludwig www.comunica-ch.net Digitale Allmend http://blog.allmend.ch - EURALO - ICANN's Regional At-Large Organisation http://euralo.org

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Re: [ALAC] ALAC Statement on Draft Topic Paper for Policy on the Introduction of IDN ccTLD
by James Seng Dec. 4, 2009

Dec. 4, 2009

I spoken to Cheryl earlier today. Procedure-wise, we need to put this into an ALAC vote which is usually about 5 days. But given the deadline, she recommended that I can send the statement with a clear notice that it is currently under ratification by ALAC Vote, and that a final copy will be send again after the voting. Attached is the Statement again with the Ratification notice. -James Seng On Fri, Dec 4, 2009 at 7:51 PM, Sébastien Bachollet <sebastien.bachollet(a)isoc.fr> wrote: > Well done James. > > Thanks. > > > > Sébastien Bachollet > > Président d'honneur - Isoc France > > sebastien.bachollet(a)isoc.fr > > www.egeni.org > > www.isoc.fr > > > > > > De : james.seng(a)gmail.com [mailto:james.seng@gmail.com] De la part de James > Seng > Envoyé : jeudi 3 décembre 2009 18:04 > À : Vanda UOL > Cc : sebastien.bachollet; At-Large Worldwide > Objet : Re: [ALAC] ALAC Statement on Draft Topic Paper for Policy on the > Introduction of IDN ccTLD > > > > Dear all, > > We have our single topic conference call 2 hours ago. As it is a short > notice, we have only Sebastien and myself on the call, and Xue Hong left a > note on the wiki. > > In anycase, Sebastien and myself went through the draft statement and made > another revision of the document. > > https://st.icann.org/idn-policy/index.cgi?alac_statement_on_draft_topic_pap… > > The attached is the clean version of wiki. > > As we are running close to the deadline (5th Dec), I would advise any > members who has further comments please do so within the next 24 hours. > > Thank you. > > -James Seng

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Re: [ALAC] ALAC Statement on Draft Topic Paper for Policy on the Introduction of IDN ccTLD
by Vanda UOL Dec. 4, 2009

Dec. 4, 2009

I have a question related to the number of ccTLDs: For a country with more than one script, shouldn't it be allowed at least one country name for each script? The issue here is the international recognition of those scripts (I don't know if there is any), but I could see in India and China different kind of script in advertizes, traffic orientation , stores etc. nay idea how to deal with this in a formal way? I agree that country which have sold its cc for any reason, can not be allowed to have a IDN cc for such name. Vanda Scartezini NEXTi_v1.jpg tel: + 55 11 3266.6253 mob:+ 55 11 8181.1464 -----Original Message----- From: alac-bounces(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org [mailto:alac-bounces@atlarge-lists.icann.org] On Behalf Of Sébastien Bachollet Sent: Friday, November 27, 2009 7:37 AM To: 'James Seng'; 'At-Large Worldwide' Subject: Re: [ALAC] ALAC Statement on Draft Topic Paper for Policy on the Introduction of IDN ccTLD Hello James, Thanks for starting this discussion with your draft paper. I would like to comment on one issue: 2) Additional to Topic 2: Should the IDN ccTLD string be related to the territory name? Rationale: ccTLD should be use related to country code. For example, and no offense intended by the example, .tv should not have IDN .Television via IDN PDP process. A/ Your example is a very good one if you write television in another script like French "télévision" or Chinese (from Google - unfortunately I don't know Chinese) "电视" B/ Anyway I guess we want to say here via ccNSO IDN PDP process. Because .tv registry can apply for .television using the gTLD (future) process. All the best Sébastien Bachollet Président d'honneur - Isoc France sebastien.bachollet(a)isoc.fr www.egeni.org www.isoc.fr > -----Message d'origine----- > De : alac-bounces(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org [mailto:alac-bounces@atlarge- > lists.icann.org] De la part de James Seng > Envoyé : mercredi 25 novembre 2009 14:39 > À : At-Large Worldwide > Objet : [ALAC] ALAC Statement on Draft Topic Paper for Policy on the > Introduction of IDN ccTLD > > As IDN Liaison on the behalf of ALAC, I was asked to prepare an ALAC > statement to the ccNSO IDN PDP WG1 Public Comments Requested on Draft > Topic Paper for Policy on the Introduction of IDN ccTLDs. > > http://ccnso.icann.org/announcements/announcement-20oct09.htm > > Attached is the first cut of the statement I have drafted. > > I welcome any inputs or comments. > > -James Seng _______________________________________________ ALAC mailing list ALAC(a)atlarge-lists.icann.org http://atlarge-lists.icann.org/mailman/listinfo/alac_atlarge-lists.icann.org At-Large Online: http://www.atlarge.icann.org ALAC Working Wiki: http://st.icann.org/alac

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