Dear all:
I confirm that Ms. Heather Forrest will be pleased to serve as the Co-Chair of the Cross Community Working Group on Country and Territory Names. For your convenience
and consideration, here are her expression of interest and her qualifications.
I am pleased to have this opportunity to send you the following statement of my qualifications in relation to the position of co-chair
of the Working Group on Country and Territory Names.
I am a legal academic, currently serving as Deputy Dean of Law at Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. I am a member
of the IPC and have actively contributed to the constituency since joining at the Seoul meeting in October, 2009. I have attended 10 ICANN meetings; I represented the IPC in the inaugural ICANN Academy Leadership Training in Buenos Aires. When the ICANN Board
voted in June, 2008 to launch a new expansion process, I commenced a doctoral thesis on the protection offered by international law and ICANN DNS policy of geographic names. My project was undertaken at the Institute for International and European Economic
Law of the University of Berne, Switzerland, where I had the opportunity to work closely with WIPO and other international materials and national and international law-making participants. My thesis was awarded highest honours, summa cum laude, in April, 2012
and it was published in 2013 by Wolters Kluwer as a book entitled Protection of Geographic Names in International Law and Domain Name System Policy. Reviews of the book are available online. The book has been nominated, and is currently being assessed, for
a Swiss national research prize in law, the Walther Hug Foundation Prize. I have additionally published articles on various aspects of geographic name protection and ICANN policy-making in refereed academic journals. I have been invited by the International
Trademark Association to chair a panel on the issue of geographic name protection later this year. From August 2011 to August 2012, I was employed as a senior consultant by a well-known technical back-end provider. In this role I advised several geographic
new gTLD applicants; this experience provided me with the unique opportunity to put policy into practice and understand its feasibility in registry operations. I was appointed by the GNSO Council to the ccNSO Study Group on Country and Territory Names. I attended
all meetings and worked collegially with SG members and supporting ICANN staff. My significant comments and contributions to the SG’s Draft and Final Reports are evidenced in transcripts of SG meetings and in my updates to the IPC list. I was invited to advise
on the drafting of the WG charter, which I support. I would be honoured to serve as co-chair of the WG if the GNSO Council approves of my doing so.
I look forward to your feedback, and toward the prompt appointment
of a Co-Chair for this CCWG.
Thank you,
Brian
Brian J. Winterfeldt
Head of Internet Practice
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
2900 K Street NW, North Tower - Suite 200 / Washington, DC 20007-5118
p / (202) 625-3562 f / (202) 339-8244
brian.winterfeldt@kattenlaw.com /
www.kattenlaw.com