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[bc-gnso] RE: [bc-gnso] FW: Politico: ICANN’s debating what’s in a domain name
- To: "Phil Corwin" <psc@xxxxxxxxxxx>, "bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx" <bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx>
- Subject: [bc-gnso] RE: [bc-gnso] FW: Politico: ICANN’s debating what’s in a domain name
- From: john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2013 14:13:02 -0700
<div>Phil,</div><div><br></div><div>Thanks for this. PoliticoPro is not a
subscription I keep current!</div><div><br></div><div>From a communications
point-of-view, ICANN has a real problem. There are too many
people/organizations/institutions that can claim a legitimate voice on this
matter but are without complicity in the history of the subject. There
has been a discussion on the NTAG list about noise in DC (I have to figure it
is WAY down the list of things to-do), but media attention is another
matter. </div><div><br></div><div>Recall the media session in
Toronto. Based on the discussion, the Politico story is exactly the kind
of she-said, he-said back-and-forth that even the mainstream media can get
their arms around.</div><div><br></div><div>I thought the news of China's
hacking activities on the eve of the meeting in Beijing was going to be the
story, but, if enough brand-name companies can be drawn into this one, it will
take off.</div><div><br></div><div>Watch that
space.</div><div><br></div><div>Berard<br></div><div><br></div><blockquote
class="threadBlockQuote" style="border-left: 2px solid
#C2C2C2;padding-left:3px;margin-left: 4px;" data-mce-style="border-left: 2px
solid #C2C2C2; padding-left: 3px; margin-left: 4px;">--------- Original Message
---------<div>Subject: [bc-gnso] FW: Politico: ICANN’s debating what’s in a
domain name<br>From: Phil Corwin <psc@xxxxxxxxxxx><br>Date: 2/20/13 7:54
am<br>To: "bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx" <bc-gnso@xxxxxxxxx><br><br> <!--[if
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--><div class="WordSection1"><p
class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D" data-mce-style="color:
#1f497d;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"
data-mce-style="color: #1f497d;">FYI---</span></p><p
class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal">This Politico story on “closed
generics”, which was behind a paywall at Politico Pro yesterday, is the lead
story in Politico’s Technology section today…</p><p
class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><a
href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/icanns-debating-whats-in-a-domain-name-87816.html"
data-mce-href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/icanns-debating-whats-in-a-domain-name-87816.html">http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/icanns-debating-whats-in-a-domain-name-87816.html</a><br
data-mce-bogus="1"></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><table
class="MsoNormalTable mceItemTable" style="width:487.5pt"
data-mce-style="width: 487.5pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"
width="650"><tbody><tr><td style="padding:3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt"
xml="lang" data-mce-style="padding: 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt;"><p
class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.politico.com/"
data-mce-href="http://www.politico.com/"><strong><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#003399;text-decoration:none"
data-mce-style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
#003399; text-decoration: none;"><img id="Picture_x0020_1"
src="cid:51253a22ba665" alt="http://images.politico.com/global/v3/homelogo.gif"
data-mce-src="cid:51253a22ba665" border="0" height="32"
width="143"></span></strong></a><br data-mce-bogus="1"></p></td></tr><tr><td
style="padding:3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt" xml="lang" data-mce-style="padding:
3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt;"><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;"><strong><span
style="font-size:15.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">ICANN’s debating what’s in a domain name</span></strong><span
style="font-size:15.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 15.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;"><br> </span><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:gray"
data-mce-style="font-size: 7.5pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
gray;">By: </span><span
style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:red"
data-mce-style="font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
red;">Michelle Quinn</span><span
style="font-size:7.5pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:gray"
data-mce-style="font-size: 7.5pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
gray;"><br> February 20, 2013 04:41 AM EST </span></p></td></tr><tr><td
style="padding:3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt" xml="lang" data-mce-style="padding:
3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt;" valign="top"><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">Should a company be allowed to run a generic term such as tire,
insurance or book as a domain and wall off its use from
competitors?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">That’s the question the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
Numbers is wrestling with as it prepares to begin awarding firms new top-level
domains — the words to the right of the dot. The nonprofit firm has been
evaluating about 1,900 applications for new domains, many of them common
dictionary terms.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">There had been agreement that companies like Apple could win generic
words such as apple because of its brand.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">But companies such as Amazon, Google, Goodyear, L’Oreal and others also
applied for a wide array of words and indicated that they would like to operate
the registry as “closed” — meaning they may not allow other firms to buy what
are known as second-level domains.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">Clearly, companies want to own and control generic words as domains so
that they can offer their services. But with that comes the possibility of
blocking competitors who want to attach their brand to a term. For example,
Ford might want to buy ford.truck but be blocked from doing so by the owner of
.truck.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">Now ICANN, which has been largely silent on the issue, is soliciting
public comment.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">“The train is leaving the station,” Akram Atallah, ICANN’s chief
operating officer, said to POLITICO in an interview. “There are a few instances
where stakeholders are feeling this is an issue that could limit competition,
and therefore, we should bring it to the forefront.”</span></p><p
class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">When it voted to expand the Internet names in 2010, ICANN leaders said
they were doing so to encourage innovation. The firm did not specify in its
domain name guidebook what terms like generic or closed might
mean.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">In a letter to ICANN’s leaders, Russell Pangborn, assistant general
counsel of trademarks at Microsoft, wrote that the “situation threatens the
openness and freedom of the Internet and could have harmful consequences for
Internet users worldwide. These applications also present a competitive threat
to other companies.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">“Generic words used in a generic way belong to all people,” Michele
Neylon of Blacknight, a European Web-hosting firm, wrote in another letter
signed by others. “It is inherently in the public interest to allow access to …
new [generic top-level domains] to the whole of the Internet Community, e.g.,
.BLOG, .MUSIC, .CLOUD.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;"><strong><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">Philip Corwin, founding principal of Virtualaw, who has one client
competing with Google for some of the terms, said he will begin to lobby
officials in Washington and Europe. “It is emerging as a big issue and one that
is beyond ICANN but the future of e-commerce,” he said.</span></strong></p><p
class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">Steve DelBianco, executive director of NetChoice and policy vice
chairman for the ICANN business constituency, said there are “legitimate
concerns about competition and potential confusion for consumers if a single
competitor has perpetual control of a generic keyword as a top-level
domain.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">Atallah said that having a generic term is not a guaranteed ticket to
success.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"
style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"
data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; color:
black;">The owner has to “do a lot of marketing and business development to be
relevant in the marketplace,” he said. “It is not a given just by having the
name, you have market share. It is not just the name that makes the
name.”</span></p></td></tr><tr><td style="padding:3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt"
xml="lang" data-mce-style="padding: 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt 3.75pt;"><p
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data-mce-style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;"><span
style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; color:
black;">© 2013 POLITICO LLC</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p
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data-mce-style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color:
navy;">Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal</span></strong></p><p
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style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:navy"
data-mce-style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color:
navy;">Virtualaw LLC</span></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"><strong><span
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data-mce-style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color:
navy;">Twitter: @VlawDC</span></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black"
data-mce-style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color:
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data-mce-style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; color:
navy;">"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch
Rickey</span></em></strong></p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><div
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