Re: exodus from the wipo list

["Martin B. Schwimmer" <martys@interport.net>]

In response to Prof. Mueller's request regarding tone, I personally pledge
not to use the expressions:

"CORE should be in there, so should INTA, and NSI, and all the other clowns"

and

"we have to kiss the ass of a bunch of powerful but slow crybabies"

in further postings.

We have to build a consensus that recognizes the validity of the
motivations of all the entities involved here.  Registrars, would-be
registrars, domain name owners, trademark owners (and remember, there is a
huge overlap between those two groups), users ranging from the home
researcher (see Ms. Kleiman's postings) to the tele-medicine practitioner
(see Mr. Sondow's postings).

It seems that the DNS is flexible enough that we can design a system where
domain name owners can utilize similar names without causing a likelihood
of confusion (or wrecking the stability of the world's various trademark
systems), where a small businessman can build a brand without having to pay
a toll to a name speculator, where web sites in different countries can
co-exist without harming each other, where wannabe registrars don't build
proprietary empires based on the tax-payer dollar.  I don't know how to
draft technical guidelines for such a system - I look to those who can to
teach the rest of us.

I feel that someone should be humming "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."

Everybody involved in this process is smart, everybody here has a right to
earn a living, everybody here is entitled to due process (even you non-U.S.
people).  No one is a clown, no one is greedy (at least not the people on
these lists).  Everybody can keep on doing what they were doing in the new
DNS if they agree not to trample over everybody else's rights.

Now get back to work.





At 10:46 AM 8/18/98 -0400, you wrote:
>No member of this list can have failed to notice the mass exodus of
>various participants from this list. Perhaps it is due entirely to the
>growing volume of messages, but I suspect that the rancorous tone and
>trivial bickering of many messages is also responsible. My experience
>is that the first people to go are often the ones whose participation
>is most needed to advance discussion and reach a better understanding
>of the issues.
>
>I would ask every participant to elevate the tone of discussion, to
>cease dragging personal disagreements and attacks into the discussion,
>and to avoid unthinking cross-postings.
>
>--MM
>
>
>