New gtlds, New Challenges Ellen Shankman, Ellen Shankman & Associates Mike Silber, Liquid Telecom Mar@n SuAon, HSBC Nick Wood, Com Laude/Valideus Kris@na RoseAe, Covington & Burling LLP
Context Issue emerged in 2003 and have come and gone in waves Globaliza(on of the cri(cal Internet Infrastructure resources Code for (mainly) globalizing of the DNS root (where different actors have different ideas about what globalizing means) Important but not the only component of the Internet Governance debates that are currently taken place in various venues
Internet Infrastructure: Guiding Principles Stewardship I- ins@tu@ons (I*) and interrela@on Consistency / Stability / Security Inclusiveness Public / private Operators / developers Civil society / users Con@nuous improvement
Other IG Issues Mul@ple other issues are currently not addressed, such as: Spam Crime Privacy Because these issues do not have owners, they keep intruding where they may not be appropriate There is some cross over, for example: Counterfeit goods sold from a website using a squa`ng domain However, ICANN cannot arrest or seize goods Do we force exis@ng structures to take on these issues OR do we find/create an owner/s for these issues? 1net is a possible space for that to happen.
ICANN IS ENGAGED TO CONTRIBUTE AND TO CONTINUE THE ABILITY TO ADHERE TO ITS MISSION AND SCOPE
Public Trust 9 versions of Drah Applicant Guidebook over 5 years Fit & Proper Person Test Limited prohibi@ons: ISO 3166 lists More than 300 Public Comment periods IP organisa@ons call for Public Interest Test Reveal Day 13 June 2012 899 applica@ons (47%) from investors 637 applica@ons (33%) from brand owners for brands 255 applica@ons (13%) from brands for Keywords Scale of brand interest not an@cipated
Issues of Public Trust Open vs Closed /Industry players applying for industry terms Debate s@mulated by registrars Dot Cruise, Dot Grocery, Dot Search Restric@ng common generic strings for the exclusive use of a single en@ty could have unintended consequences, including a nega@ve impact on compe@@on Concept of the Natural Applicant Regulated industries Debate s@mulated by GAC Dot Abogado, Dot Charity, Dot Pharma Registrant possesses any necessary authorisa@ons, charters, licenses and/or other related creden@als for par@cipa@on in the sector associated with the Registry TLD Secondary market in TLDs no debate yet.trust (from Deutsche Post to Artemis)
Can ICANN deliver predictability? Government desire for safeguards led to Post Hoc changes to programme, overturning community- agreed Guidebook Snowdonia: individual governments holding veto Arbiters of morality & public order Diminishes digital economies in favour of political interests Allows individual governments to overturn global IP rights Will all applica@ons be reviewed against undefined, ever- changing lists of cultural, geographic, linguis@c terms? Was mul@- stakeholder model of internet governance a short- term experiment?
RPMs: Pre- launch Formal objections procedures Legal Rights String Confusion Limited Public Interest Community Objection Plus: Governmental Advisory Committee Early Warnings/ Advice Independent Objector
Overview of Objec@ons Current mid- Feb- 2014 Cases filed Objector Prevailed Applicant Prevailed No Decision Pending Legal Rights (WIPO) 69 4 (3 with dissent) 59 5 terminated 1 late response rejected 0 String Confusion (ICDR) Community (ICC) 104 13 67 12 46 4 default (1 dissent in 3 member panel) 3 withdrawn 2 seiled 48 23 objecmon withdrawn 7 applicamon withdrawn Public Interest (ICC) 23 1 9 1 objecmon withdrawn 1 applicamon withdrawn 0 13 11 Totals 263 30 162 47 24
A Tapestry of Protec@ons Trademark Clearinghouse (data registry) Sunrise registrations IP Claims notifications Uniform Rapid Suspension system (Trademark) Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (Community) Registry Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)
+3 Rights Protection Mechanisms! are now in place to support trademark holders before anything happens, and in case something does in the future Trademark Clearinghouse! Uniform Rapid Suspension! System! TM Post-delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure! 01 02 03
Trademark Clearinghouse The Trademark Clearinghouse is a one-stop solution to help protect a trademark across every new gtld that comes online BEFORE THE NEW DOMAINS GO LIVE! Sunrise Services! Priority access to request domain names associated with your trademark(s) Trademark Claims Services! Notification to a Rights Holder after registration, allowing for immediate action if the domain registered is infringing rights Submit Your Trademark! http://trademark-clearinghouse.com
Registry- Specific RPMs Donuts (307 applica@ons): DPML (Domain Protected Marks List): ability to block mark(s) and variants not just exact match across all Donuts TLDs, also includes Whois valida@on & periodic data accuracy audits Google (44 tradi@onal/volume registra@on applica@ons (98 total)): 60- day Sunrise (instead of ICANN's 30- day mandate) on- going TM Claims Service Uniregistry (54 applica@ons): cost- recovery block in each Uniregistry TLD once and for all unified mul@- TLD Sunrise registra@on applica@on process (covers all future Uniregistry TLDs) certain (as yet undefined) typo varia@ons allowed in Sunrise ICM (3 applica@ons): automa@c block in approved TLDs (.sex,.porn,.adult) of any second- level domain name already registered in.xxx, including the Sunrise B defensive registra@ons, for a nominal ac@va@on fee
Finding a home in ICANN 18 PUBLIC
What is a.brand?.brands are registry operators that: will operate a TLD that represents their trademark; whose main operational area is outside the domain industry; who do not intend to sell domains to the general public; will limit use of the TLD to itself, authorised affiliates and trademark licensees; use the TLD for the furtherance of a pre- TLD operations interest. 19 PUBLIC
Where does a.brand fit?? 20 PUBLIC
Where does a.brand fit?.brands can move into contracted party territory but this is not a straightforward move: May dilute voting rights within noncontracted party house Vote-weighting in the registry group favours traditional commercial gtlds Interests of.brands differ to traditional gtlds Interests of.brands extend beyond or may differ with BC/IPC concerns 21 PUBLIC
Brand Registry Group Trade Association for.brands Mission Represent common interests of its members Recognised as an essential stakeholder by ICANN Champion policies that enhance security, stability and trust for Internet users To provide services of advocacy, representation, networking and best practice within and outside of ICANN To create Internet environments built on trust 22 PUBLIC
.brand hurdles beware of (objectionable) holes in your plans! 23 PUBLIC