WHOIS SYSTEM - GNSO Council should adopt Motion 2 and reject Motions 1 and 3 concerning the WHOIS vital and informative data

["Jukka Kivitie" <jukka.kivitie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Sirs of ICANN GNSO Council, 
 
It is good to evaluate current domain name system once in a while. I
have been dealing as a trademark agent and attorney of law for trademark
owners and every size enterprises about ten years time with domain
names, and for trademarks and IPR since 1989 in Finland and Europe. I
plead for public WHOIS.
 
WHOIS information has been a VERY valuable - and only real and practical
source - of information, vital to tangle trademark and brand
infringements that are very common in the internet. Furthermore, we have
not encountered any disadvantages of the public nature of the WHOIS
information. On the contrary, the information has been VITAL in many
cases in assessing and protecting immaterial rights, notably trademark
rights. Without WHOIS information, our clients could not have make any
reasonable action in many cases, involving loosing their domain to
cybersquatter, reacting to internet violations of their trademarks and
in evaluating their legal standpoint in the conflicts of "internet
rights". To our experience we believe to this fact: Without WHOIS
information internet goes blind! Without public WHOIS internet society
looses its relation and belonging to the good transparent practises of
enhancing good governance and harmonious development of the society !
 
Therefore, I wish to point out that I do sincerely plea for the WHOIS
data remaining public and informative thus preserving itself as a vital
and valuable source of the fundamental internet information for the
international and national community, for the practitioners and for the
public, in the future too. 
 
I wish heartily, and by the facts I have faced as a practised lawyer for
client matters, that GNSO Council will vote for the:
 
Motion 2, advanced and supported by INTA's Internet Committee, that
ICANN conducts an objective and comprehensive study on the legitimate
abuses and uses of Whois data - before making policy changes that may
permanently alter the structure of the domain name and Whois system.
 
Yours sincerely,
LEITZINGER OY (Patent and Trademark Agency since 1935)
 
Jukka Kivitie
IPR-attorney since 1996, trademark lawyers since 1989, professional
representative before OHIM since 1997
 
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LEITZINGER OY
Tammasaarenkatu 1, FIN-00180 HELSINKI, FINLAND
 
Tel:  +358 (0)9 685 99 233
Fax: +358 (0)9 685 99 210
e-mail: jukka.kivitie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:jukka.kivitie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

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