Dear Councilors,
Please see the message below that was sent by the Red Cross representatives yesterday. On behalf of the Council and the chairs, staff have acknowledged receipt of the note.
Thanks and cheers
Mary
Mary Wong
Senior Policy Director
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
Email: mary.wong@icann.org
Telephone: +1-603-5744889
From:
Salah Mathlouthi <smathlouthi@icrc.org>
Date: Monday, May 23, 2016 at 23:59
To: Mary Wong <mary.wong@icann.org>
Cc: Nigel Hickson <nigel.hickson@icann.org>, Charlotte Lindsey Curtet <clindsey@icrc.org>, Stephane Hankins <shankins@icrc.org>
Subject: Draft GNSO Communication to the Board - Red Cross and Red Crescent protections
Dear Mary,
We hope this message finds you well.
(1) We have received a copy of the GNSO Council’s intended letter to ICANN’s Board seeking an update from the Board on next steps in regard to the dual issues of the protections of “Red Cross and Red Crescent identifiers” and
“International Government organizations acronyms”, and suggesting that both sets of issues be addressed “in tandem”. We also note that the draft letter refers to the issues of the protections of the Red Cross and Red Crescent designations and names and to
IGO acronyms in the singular (“as one”), and thus, in disregard of the distinct legal regimes and policy issues at stake.
We would like herewith to express our deep concern in this regard and to request, in line with the consistent positions and representations made by the Red Cross and Red Crescent organizations to the Board and to ICANN constituencies
in the last years, including the GNSO, that the protections that are due to the red cross and red crescent designations and names require to be considered
in their own right and distinctiveness.
(2) As you will no doubt recall, and as reminded by the ICRC during its meeting with the
GNSO’s leadership members in Marrakesh and in its oral intervention during the GNSO
Council session held on 14 April 2016, the protections due to the red cross and red crescent
designations and names find their source in
- universally agreed and compulsory norms of international humanitarian law and in the domestic laws in force in multiple national jurisdictions; as well as in
- the distinct global public interest in ensuring respect and protection for these designations and names from improper or unauthorised use (including in situations of
humanitarian emergencies in which the Red Cross and Red Crescent identifiers are at particular risk of fraudulent use on the Internet).
This makes up a unique and sui generis case for the permanent and unconditional reservation of these designations and names from registration as top and second domain names.
This has been recognized by the Board and the NGPC in particular in its past determinations which have confirmed that the Red Cross and Red Crescent protections as distinct. This also conforms to the GAC’s consistent advice on
this matter as outlined in recent GAC Communiqués and that address the Red Cross and Red Crescent protections in stand-alone and separate paragraphs.
(3) While the initial GNSO recommendations regarding the protections of the Red Cross and Red Crescent designations and names may have indeed been developed in the context of a broader PDP (“On the protection of IGO and INGO
Identifiers in all gTLD’s”), the question of the Red Cross and Red Crescent reservations have since remained separate from the IGO/INGO issues and must continue to merit a distinct treatment and consideration.
We are hence of the view that any suggestion that the Red Cross and Red Crescent protections could or should be
re-coupled, or be addressed “in tandem”, with the protections called for in regard to IGO’s and their acronyms, would represent an undue retreat on ICANN’s most recent determinations, approaches and processes.
We would like to thank the GNSO for its kind attention to the above concerns. We remain available to support and/or to attend any future consultations in this matter to be held, for instance, during ICANN 57 in Helsinki.
Sincerely yours,
Stéphane
Stéphane J. Hankins
Legal adviser
Cooperation and Coordination within the Movement
International Committee of the Red Cross
Direct line: ++0041 22 730 24 19
-----Transféré par Stephane Hankins/DIR_GEN_MOUV_CHF/GVA/ICRC le 23/05/2016 16:31 -----
A : Stephane Hankins/DIR_GEN_MOUV_CHF/GVA/ICRC@ICRC
De : Daiana Barbancho Savage/CIM_DIR/GVA/ICRC
Date : 23/05/2016 14:03
Cc : Charlotte Lindsey Curtet/CIM_DIR/GVA/ICRC@ICRC
Objet : Letter
(See attached file: docxKk10U26N6N.docx)
|
Re: [council] Draft Letter to the Board on Red Cross Names & Identifier
·
To: "council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> ·
Subject: Re: [council] Draft Letter to the Board on Red Cross Names & Identifier
·
From: Mary Wong <mary.wong@xxxxxxxxx> ·
Date: Fri, 20 May 2016 04:22:37 +0000 ·
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List-id: council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ·
Sender: owner-council@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx ·
Thread-index: AQHRsk89sbH/K1NLyEimzyoyZLHunQ== ·
Thread-topic: [council] Draft Letter to the Board on Red Cross Names & Identifier
·
User-agent: Microsoft-MacOutlook/f.16.0.160506
Attachment: Updated Draft letter to ICANN Board on Red Cross protections - 20 May.docx
·
Follow-Ups: ·
Re: [council] Draft Letter to the Board on Red Cross Names & Identifier
·
From: David Cake |
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