|
Monday January 21, 2013 |
American Girl, the well-known doll maker, recently lost a domain name battle over AmericanGirl.ca as panelist Bradley Freedman
ruled that the company failed to meet the basic requirements in the
dot-ca dispute resolution policy. The case should have been a slam dunk
as the company's trademark pre-dates the domain name registration, the
domain was being used for a pay-per-click site, and the domain name
registrant did not even respond to the complaint. Yet American Girl
still lost as it failed meet one of the policy's basic requirements of
providing some evidence that the registrant did not have a legitimate
interest in the domain name. In reading Freedman's decision, it is
readily apparent that there was ample opportunity to do so, yet the
company oddly did not take advantage of a CIRA policy that would have
assisted it in making the case. The left Freedman with little
alternative but to conclude:
Policy paragraph 1.1 provides that the purpose of the Policy is to provide a forum in which cases of bad faith domain name registration can be dealt with relatively inexpensively and quickly. Nevertheless, a proceeding under the Policy affects the respective rights of the parties regarding a disputed domain name, and the Policy and Rules expressly require a panel to consider all of the evidence and argument presented in the proceeding and render its decision in accordance with the Policy, the Rules and applicable law. Accordingly, a panel must determine whether a complainant has met its onus regarding each of the elements specified in Policy paragraph 4.1, and if a complainant has failed to do so the panel must dismiss the complaint.
For the reasons set forth above, the Panel is compelled to conclude that the Complainant has failed to satisfy the onus to provide "some evidence" that the Registrant has no legitimate interest in the Domain Name as described in Policy paragraphs 3.4(e) and (f). Consequently, the Complaint cannot succeed.american girl, cdrp, cira, domain name disputes Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareMonday January 21, 2013 |
|
|
Tuesday October 16, 2012 |
The Internet governance world gathers
in Toronto this week as the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN), the California-based non-profit
corporation charged with the principal responsibility for
maintaining the Internet's domain name system, holds one of its
meetings in Canada for only the third time. My weekly technology law
column (Toronto
Star version, homepage
version) notes the Toronto ICANN meeting comes at a
particularly tumultuous time for the organization with mounting
criticism over its process for creating new domain name extensions
that could reshape the Internet.
After years of debate and discussion, ICANN last year unveiled a
policy that opened the door to hundreds of new domain name
extensions. While most Internet users are accustomed to the current
generic (dot-com, dot-net, and dot-org) and country-code (dot-ca in
Canada) extensions, ICANN's plans will radically change the domain
name landscape by creating hundreds of new extensions linked to
brand names, geographic regions, and even generic words.
cira, gtlds, icann, internet governance, new domains Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareTuesday October 16, 2012 |
|
View
|
|
|
Friday September 28, 2012 |
|
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority released the
results of its board of directors election yesterday and I was
very pleased to be elected to the board with the largest number of
votes of any candidate. I'm grateful to CIRA members for their
support, particularly given the many excellent candidates who were
running for the board. It is notable that this election brings five
new directors to the board, which likely ranks as the largest ever
influx of new perspectives to the CIRA board. I believe this
presents a tremendous opportunity for CIRA to rethink its approach
on a wide range of issues from member engagement (the number of CIRA
members that participate in the election process is still far too
low) to policy development models (an external policy advisory
committee never took off) to how to best serve the public interest
(I've called for the creation of a separate public interest body
funded by CIRA similar to the New Zealand model). CIRA has made
great strides in recent years and I'm very excited to work with new
and existing board members to help the organization meet its public
interest mandate and make an important contribution to Canadian
digital policy.
cira, domain names, internet governance Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareFriday September 28, 2012 |
|
|
Wednesday September 19, 2012 |
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority, which manages the
dot-ca domain, opens its board of
directors election at noon ET today. CIRA members are
eligible to vote from September 19th until September 26th, with five
seats at stake - two member-nominated seats and three
nominating-committee seats. I am on the ballot for a
member-nominated seat and would appreciate your support. While there
are many worthy candidates, those that I will be voting for include: Kevin
McArthur, a strong advocate for consumer and technology
issues, for the other member-nominated position as well as Hank
Intven (an exceptional telecom lawyer) and Bill
Sandiford (the chair of CNOC, the independent ISP association)
in the nominating committee board member category.
I explained why I am
running for the CIRA board in this post during the nomination
process, but wanted to expand my comments as the voting begins. I
believe that the current election represents a critical moment in
CIRA's evolution. The organization spent much of its first five
years setting the ground rules for operating a country-code
top-level domain. It fostered a competitive registrar market that
resulted in sharply lower prices for dot-ca domains, established
governance policies on issues such as domain name dispute
resolution, drafted extensive legal documentation, and grappled with
a governance model that raised conflict concerns.
The past five years were marked by a growing bank account - as
domain name registrations grew the organization became increasingly
flush with cash - and extensive (and expensive) investments in
marketing. Yet efforts to meet its public interest mandate were more
modest. The Canadian Internet
Forum is an interesting and worthwhile endeavour, but policy
reforms such as WHOIS reform struggled with external
pressures. Moreover, the organization remained silent on many
key Internet policy developments, including net neutrality (a policy
submission on the issue was killed by the board at the last minute),
lawful access, and Internet access.
This year marked the start of the third phase of CIRA's evolution
with proposed governance reforms that would have eliminated
member-nominated board candidates (with respect, it is stunning that
board members that supported eliminating member-nominated candidates
are now using that process to run for election). I spoke out
against the reforms, which threatened to decrease public
participation and accountability. With four positions on the board
to be determined by this election, it will set the course for the
future structure and role of CIRA within the Canadian
Internet.
I have argued
that governance reform is essential and that a new model based on
creating an independent, CIRA-funded public policy arm is needed to
allow the organization to fulfill its public interest mandate while
maintaining its core expertise in managing the dot-ca domain. Just
as important is the need for CIRA to reassert the public interest at
the centre of its decision-making process. I hope to bring that view
to the board and believe that Kevin McArthur, Hank Intven, and Bill
Sandiford are likely to do so as well. If you are a CIRA
member, you will be receiving an email notification of the
opportunity to vote. A public interest focused CIRA starts
with a publicly-active membership, so please click on the link in
the election email and take a few moments to cast your vote.
cira, domain names, election, internet governance Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Newsfeeder, Reddit, StumbleUpon, TwitterTagsShareWednesday September 19, 2012 |
|
|
