Members,

I am pleased to say that I have just had a peer reviewed academic paper published in the “Australian Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy.”

Title: Geographic names policy in the Domain Name System up to the mid-2000s

Abstract:

The history of the landmark UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) decision in 2006 on <andalucia.com>, related as a memoir by the key protagonist who developed and operated the <andalucia.com> website, shines light on an important legal precedent for the acceptance of non-governmental use of significant geographical names in the Internet Domain Name System. The narrative is supplemented by an overview of the development of geographical names policy in the domain name system from its inception through the development of ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), and how Panelists applied it to geographical name disputes including references to the first and second WIPO reports.

The same editions also publishes a ‘sister’ paper by Heather Forrest of the IPC which follows on and brings the subject to date.

Title: Challenges for the developing Domain Name System

Heather Ann Forrest

Abstract:

Geographic names have posed challenges for Internet domain name policy makers since the earliest days of the Domain Name System (or ‘DNS’, as it is most commonly known). As the DNS develops with the addition of hundreds of new top-level domains and the challenges posed by geographic domains are addressed only on an ad hoc basis, DNS policy on these names reduces coherency, thus reducing confidence in the DNS and its controlling authority, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The broad range of issues currently and foreseeably raised by the use of geographic names in the DNS means that all Internet stakeholders are affected, not simply those claiming rights or interests in such names. This article offers insight into why geographic domain names remain problematic more than two decades after these issues first arose, identifies trends in DNS policy respecting geographic names and highlights the impact on various Internet stakeholders of current policy and decisions.

With best regards,

Chris Chaplow
Managing Director
Andalucia.com S.L.
Avenida del Carmen 9
Ed. Puertosol, Puerto Deportivo
1ª Planta, Oficina 30
Estepona, 29680
Malaga, Spain
Tel: + (34) 952 897 865
Fax: + (34) 952 897 874
E-mail: chris@andalucia.com
Web: www.andalucia.com
Information about Andalucia, Spain.