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I am honoured to agree with the US Congressional judicial
committee that ICANN is sitting on the top of a major screw up.
Those - and I am surprised that most civil society members here
are rather unconcerned - who dont yet see that this is going to be
a major screw up will soon know better...<br>
<br>
I especially agree that ICANN has done practically nothing to get
*informed* comments from outside the largely compliant ICANN
community on an issue that implicates just everyone, who deals
with language and ideas that is. <br>
<br>
However, while the US gov has come on the side of ensuring 'a
secure stable marketplace' basically to defend the rights of
trademark owner which we know are rich people, I do hope some
governments - since the involved </font><font face="Verdana">civil
society</font><font face="Verdana"> seems not willing - comes on
the side of ensuring 'a secure stable public-place'. By it I mean
a public-place from where our commonly owned words (with all the
cultural significances they hold) like love, kid, book, school
etc cannot be plucked out and handed over to some business houses
as private property. <br>
<br>
When 'trademarks' allow exclusive rights over some words to some
private parties in very clearly limited contexts, and with so many
pre-conditions, caveats etc, how can a private body simply hand
over the *globally* exclusive use of generic words, with no
trademark claim to them either, to private parties just on the
highest bid !!? Interestingly, while no legal basis for such
exclusivity is employed, a very privileged exclusivity is provided
through control over the architecture that ICANN has. A very good
instantiation of the maxim 'in the digital space, architecture if
policy'. Such control was given to ICANN on public trusteeship. It
has violated that trusteeship. This is unacceptable. This is loot
of public property, facilitated by the employed trustee. <br>
<br>
Just think of the scenario when Amazon owns .book, and mind you,
it is to be fully private. Unlike existing registries like .com
etc amazon will not even be obliged to sell second level domain
names under .book in the public market (protecting the
marketplace, huh!). Quite soon, amazon may change its name, or at
least its book division's name to .book... It will have a right
to, since it owns that particular symbol in a very special
way..... Remember, normal trademark etc law wont allow it to run
its business under the name 'book', because it will be considered
too generic a name, meaning it is pubic property (those good old
times when laws were made to protect the public!). But with an</font><font
face="Verdana"> expedient routed through the</font><font
face="Verdana"> ICANN- that benefactor of the powerful, Amazon can
run its business under .book, the ownership of which is
'established, or would certainly get established over due course
of use as everyone will know, of course .book is amazon (and vice
versa), are you kidding or what! <br>
<br>
I am sure with some proven use and exclusivity, trademark
authorities will also be compliant... As the world, especially in
the use of language, goes mostly digital, we hand over our common
property, the idea and the word, 'book', to a private company....
and then it is the turn of 'kid', 'love', 'cloud', </font>.baby,
.book, .eat, .family, .film, .home, .movie,
.music, .search, .beauty, .school................
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A:link { so-language: zx</style>one never knows were it will end, or
why should it end at all!<br>
<br>
I am completely lost as to what public interest does all this serve?
Isnt ICANN there to serve public interest! Why couldnt we stick to
relatively meaningless three alphabet gtlds like .com, .org and
such, and, being most important, making it incumbent upon the
registries to sell second level domains in the open market on a non
discriminatory basis?? Why has ICANN taken upon itself to further
privatise anything and everything that conceivably can be privatised
and perpetual rents extracted for the benefit of the most powerful,
in the true spirit of the resplendent neoliberal march. <br>
<br>
I really hope those outside the wunderworld of ICANN would take this
issue up in the right earnest.. I suspect, the storm would start
brewing soon. I cant see how ICANN, and its compliant ICANN
community, will be allowed to get away with this absolute loot of
our common cultural heritage. I think this time ICANN has bitten off
too much.....<br>
<br>
<br>
parminder <br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On Wednesday 15 August 2012 02:39 PM,
"Kleinwächter, Wolfgang" wrote:<br>
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cite="mid:2DA93620FC07494C926D60C8E3C2F1A8010CD0E7@server1.medienkomm.uni-halle.de"
type="cite">
<pre wrap="">
FYI
http://www.leahy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/8-7-12%20Letter%20from%20Senate%20and%20House%20Judiciary%20Committees.pdf
wolfgang
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