Hello all -- anybody in New York who wants to call out the ICANN's

"Implementation Recommendation Team" for their attempt to provide

tools for abusing trademark while they roll out the new Global Top

Level Domains, needs to REGISTER BY TOMORROW here:



> http://www.registration123.com/ICANN/GTLD/



And then show up THIS MONDAY (sorry for the shouting, but those are

the key terms in this message) at the Millenium Hotel, 145 West 44th

Street.



See the blurb below my signature from Kathy Kleiman, among those who

have been there from the inception of ICANN and watching out for all

of us.



(Others in other cities, check out the schedule of meetings and get

ready -- they are hitting several cities in a rapid fire fashion this

month.)



The MPAA and International Trademark Association have had a hand in

ICANN from its inception, when they prevailed in establishing the

Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy.  Now, along with rolling out new

global Top Level Domains, trademark holders are ramming through a new

process that goes well beyond that.  They are pulling out the stops to

get ICANN to implement what will in practical terms amount to a huge

revision in the nature of trademark, backed by strong action on the

part of ICANN.  Along with a new "Uniform Rapid Suspension System" to

shut down sites quickly, they are establishing ICANN as playing the

role of policing trademarks -- which by law is the trademark holders'

responsibility.



Domain names don't match up with trademark law -- DNS is about giving

symbols one universal address.  Language is not.  You don't trademark

"Apple" -- you reserve the use of that trademark to market a

particular kind of goods or service.  Thus we have Apple Computers and

The Beatles' Apple music company.  Or Sun Oil in Canada, a completely

separate company from Sun Oil in America -- and certainly not the same

as the Sun computing company.  And trademark is also subject to fair

use and of course free speech.



While of course this becomes a tool for draconian action in the area

of domain names, it also sets the stage for a major revision in the

basic conception of trademark policy, allowing this to extend further.





Seth Johnson

(Random Internet Activist)







ICANN Public Consultation: Should New Top Level Domains Include Broad

New Trademark Protections?





On Mon, July 13, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and

Numbers  (ICANN) will hold a public consultation at the Hudson

Theatre,  Millennium Hotel, 145 West 44th Street, to discuss the

"rules of the  road" for new generic top level domains (gTLDs), future

competitors to  .COM, .ORG and .NET.





A group of trademark attorneys, representing large brand owners, in

May wrote a report calling on ICANN to create broad new trademark

protections before opening up new gTLDs.



    A. IP Clearinghouse: a massive database of registered and

       unregistered trademark rights created by ICANN (IRT

       Report, pp. 12-16



    B. Globally Protected Marks List: a list of global marks

       created and maintained by ICANN (IRT Report, pp. 16-

       22)



    C. Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS): A ultra-fast

       takedown service with little notice or time to respond

       by domain name registrants (IRT, pp. 25-37)





These proposals have been criticized as outside the mission and scope

of  ICANN, a technical body, and outside the protections and limits

of  trademark law. ICANN's Noncommercial Users Constituency writes "We

fear the impact of the IRT Proposals on free speech and fair use

online.  Trademark owners don't own strings of letters, they have a

trademark for  specific goods and services. Basic words like APPLE,

TIDE, SUN and TIME belong to all of us. Many important domain names

will be lost, or worse,  blocked before they can be registered."



Approval of the IRT Report is being rushed through ICANN with minimal

opportunity to comment. It is vital that ICANN hear comment as soon

as  possible, and Monday is an opportunity to speak.



ICANN's Noncommercial Users Constituency will be hosting a breakfast

at the Millennium Hotel on Monday morning. Please contact NCUC

Co-Founder  Kathy Kleiman, kathy@...

<mailto:kathy@...>,  for more details.





Registration to speak on 7/13 at this link (deadline 7/10):

http://www.registration123.com/ICANN/GTLD/





IRT Report:

http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-4-29may09-en.htm



IP Justice Comments:

http://forum.icann.org/lists/irt-final-report/msg00210.html



EFF Australia Comments:

http://forum.icann.org/lists/irt-final-report/msg00179.html



Noncommercial Users Constituency Website with comments:

http://icann-ncuc.ning.com/