The Small Business Legislative Council (SBLC) is a permanent,
independent coalition of nearly 80 trade and professional associations that share
a common commitment to the future of small business. Our members represent
the interests of small businesses in such diverse economic sectors as manufacturing,
retailing, distribution, professional and technical services, construction, transportation,
and agriculture. Our policies are developed through a consensus among our membership.
Individual associations may express their own views.SBLC does not believe the
proposal under consideration of Working Group B on the Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers (ICANN) adequately balances the concerns of small business with
the issue of famous trademark protection. In general, SBLC agrees with the
comments espoused by the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.
The Office of Advocacy's alternatives to the current proposal include:
"The first
alternative is to introduce a large number of new gTLDs. This expansion of the name
space will provide alternative names to businesses and diminish the value of cybersquatting.
With each new gTLD, the ability for any cybersquatter to extort payment from a particular
trademark holder diminishes. Furthermore, as new gTLDs are introduced to the Internet,
consumers will become aware that a .com Web site is different than a .biz Web site,
lessening confusion. This alternative is especially attractive because of the need
for new gTLDs that currently exists and the opportunities such an expansion will
bring to small businesses. The total number of gTLDs ultimately introduced must be
high for this alternative to work effectively. The introduction could be measured
and at a reasonable pace but must be continual and limited only by what the market
will bear."
"The second alternative is to create a chartered gTLDs for use by trademark
holders. This gTLD could be called .fame or .tmk. It’s charter would allow all registered
trademarks to register within it. This insures that trademarks would have the domain
name of their choice, assuming that another trademark holder did not register it
first."
"The third alternative is a variation of the modified sunrise proposal.
Under this alternative, the holder of a registered trademark could register the name
identical to its trademark during the sunrise period for a chartered gTLD whose charter
corresponds to that trademark’s international class of industry and service. This
means that a the sunrise registration would only apply to chartered gTLDs and that
only those trademarks whose class of industry or service corresponds with that charter
could register during the sunshine period. Furthermore, the holder may register the
domain name identical to the trademark – no variations. There would be no sunshine
period for unrestricted gTLDs and gTLDs whose charter does not correspond with a
class of industry."
SBLC asks that the working group does not adopt the modified
sunrise proposal. Rather, we believe the adoption of one of the three alternatives
proposed by the Office of Advocacy would better reflect the interests of small business.
Sincerely,
Matthew
K. Page
Director, Legislative Affairs
Small Business Legislative Council