I agree with Paul.

David

 

David W. Maher

Public Interest Registry

Senior Vice-President – Law & Policy

+1 312 375 4849

 

From: gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org [mailto:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org] On Behalf Of J. Scott Evans
Sent: Monday, September 26, 2016 2:26 PM
To: Paul Keating <Paul@law.es>; Phil Corwin <psc@vlaw-dc.com>; Rebecca Tushnet <rlt26@law.georgetown.edu>; Silver, Bradley <Bradley.Silver@timewarner.com>; gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org
Subject: Re: [gnso-rpm-wg] TMCH review objectives

 

Paul:

 

Respectfully, I think you are missing some of the point here. I agree the market should operate as a free market. However, using the data in the TMCH to create lists of “premium” domains in the hope of having trademark owners pay exorbitant prices to acquire their marks is a bad faith practice that should be halted.

 

J Scott

 

J. Scott Evans | Associate General Counsel - Trademarks, Copyright, Domains & Marketing |

Adobe 

345 Park Avenue

San Jose, CA 95110
408.536.5336 (tel), 408.709.6162 (cell)
jsevans@adobe.com

www.adobe.com

 

 

 

From: <gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org> on behalf of Paul Keating <Paul@law.es>
Date: Friday, September 23, 2016 at 9:04 AM
To: Phil Corwin <psc@vlaw-dc.com>, Rebecca Tushnet <rlt26@law.georgetown.edu>, "Silver, Bradley" <Bradley.Silver@timewarner.com>, "gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org" <gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org>
Subject: Re: [gnso-rpm-wg] TMCH review objectives

 

Phil,

 

In furtherance to my last email responding to Mr. Levy, even an unreasonably priced domain is not infringing.  It is important that we not mix up the concepts at issue.  We are discussing both “preventative rights: and “curative rights”.  The preventative rights mechanism should be severely limited because it acts as a restraint of market tendencies in the absence of actual infringement.  Imposing preventative measures is akin to imposing a “prior restraint” which (certainly in the area of speech)  is disfavored as a matter of public policy.  The curative rights mechanism is the 2nd tool which permits rights holders to rectify an infringement that has actually occurred.

 

Rights holders already have the ability to pursue legal claims against a registry who is intentionally targeting them by restricting access to domains other than by way of exorbitant pricing.  The hurdles that the rights holders must overcome to succeed on such claims are understandably high – just as they are with any other claimant faced with a similar situation in a non-domain-related situation.  However, such is life.  It is not our place to alter the legal environment and create contractually-based claims that do not already exist in the law.

 

I believe this was the import of the comment made during the last call asking to differentiate economic costs from “rights”.

 

Sincerely,

Paul Raynor Keating, Esq.

Tel. +34 93 368 0247 (Spain)

Tel. +44.7531.400.177 (UK)

Tel. +1.415.937.0846 (US)

Fax. (Europe) +34 93 396 0810

Fax. (US)(415) 358.4450

Skype: Prk-Spain

email:  Paul@law.es

 

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From: <gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org> on behalf of Phil Corwin <psc@vlaw-dc.com>
Date: Friday, September 23, 2016 at 5:39 PM
To: Rebecca Tushnet <rlt26@law.georgetown.edu>, "Silver, Bradley" <Bradley.Silver@timewarner.com>, "gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org" <gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org>
Subject: Re: [gnso-rpm-wg] TMCH review objectives

 

I believe I just addressed that question in the email I posted – if unreasonably high sunrise pricing deters a rights holder from registering a  domain corresponding to a verified TM registered in the TMCH then it may be registered in the general availability period by an infringer, which in turn imposes a variety of costs on the TM owner (including those of bringing a subsequent URS, UDRP, or judicial action) and also creates the possibility of confusion and harm for the general public.

 

This is not to say that all Premium pricing is unreasonable, as it is generally recognized that certain words and terms have inherent additional value in the DNS context – it really requires a case by case analysis.

 

Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal

Virtualaw LLC

1155 F Street, NW

Suite 1050

Washington, DC 20004

202-559-8597/Direct

202-559-8750/Fax

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Twitter: @VlawDC

 

"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey

 

From:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org [mailto:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org] On Behalf Of Rebecca Tushnet
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 11:10 AM
To: Silver, Bradley; gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org
Subject: Re: [gnso-rpm-wg] TMCH review objectives

 

TMCH’s goal of “protection” against what, though?  How does high pricing contribute to trademark infringement?  High pricing may deter purchases of domain names, no doubt, but with what result for the system overall?

 

Rebecca Tushnet

Georgetown Law

703 593 6759

 

From: Silver, Bradley [mailto:Bradley.Silver@timewarner.com]
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 11:00 AM
To: Rebecca Tushnet; gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org
Subject: RE: TMCH review objectives

 

I would add that the question of pricing feeds into the concept of effectiveness, because if the TMCH is serving as a database for registries to target brand owners for higher pricing based on the value of their brands, then this is antithetical to the TMCH’s primary goal to provide protection for verified right holders.   

 

From:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org [mailto:gnso-rpm-wg-bounces@icann.org] On Behalf Of Rebecca Tushnet
Sent: Friday, September 23, 2016 10:26 AM
To: gnso-rpm-wg@icann.org
Subject: [gnso-rpm-wg] TMCH review objectives

 

Hello, all.  On the last WG call, concerns about pricing of domain names during the Sunrise Period arose. This led to a question of whether pricing is within the remit of this WG – and the broader question of what the purpose of our TMCH review is.  There seemed to be a desire to focus on the TMCH’s effectiveness. The predicate question, then, is: effectiveness at what?  Here are some suggestions for discussion: (1) minimizing the cost of operating the system for all concerned; (2) minimizing the number of actions that ultimately need to be brought against infringing registrants; (3) minimizing the number of noninfringing registrants whose legitimate uses are blocked or deterred.  If the system is reasonably balancing those objectives, I suggest, then it is effective; potential changes should be directly related to improving performance on one or more of these metrics without unduly hampering the others.

 

Yours,

Rebecca Tushnet

 

Rebecca Tushnet

Georgetown Law

703 593 6759

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