[gnso-rpm-wg] Action Items, Slides and Notes from the Working Group call held earlier today

George Kirikos icann at leap.com
Mon Apr 10 12:43:41 UTC 2017


Hi folks,

On Mon, Apr 10, 2017 at 2:34 AM, Greg Shatan <gregshatanipc at gmail.com> wrote:
> Of course, if we find that these were registered during Sunrise in any
> percentage (high or low) that is absolutely NOT evidence of a problem.
> Rather it's evidence that the Sunrise is working as intended, which is one
> of the key questions this WG has to answer.  So that fact would be good to
> know.

First, we started with the example of "THE", from the EFF letter
(which originated from a blog post on the Mike Berkens blog at
TheDomains.com.

Secondly, we saw the top 10 strings from the report by the Analysis
Group that demonstrated that they were all common dictionary terms
that should be available to anyone to register (without any priority
in sunrise).

Thirdly, I dived deeply into one of those 10 strings, HOTEL, and
demonstrated in detail how it was gamed. See point #6 in my March 12
email at:

http://mm.icann.org/pipermail/gnso-rpm-wg/2017-March/001119.html

which showed the linkages, and even provided screenshots of the domain
names being listed for sale after being harvested during the Sunrise
periods. And, there was a "bonus" --- it demonstrated that the plural
HOTELS was also gamed.

Then, some IPC members took this clear evidence of gaming and
suggested that it was "domain speculators", trying to shift the blame
away from the trademark holders. When domain names are misused, it's
sometimes called cybersquatting and the "domain camp" is held
responsible. In this case, it's *trademarks* that are being misused,
in order to game the domain name process established for new gTLDs.
It's the "trademarks camp" that is responsible, not domain name
registrants (who had little say in designing the system that the
trademark camp used to their advantage in an unbalanced manner).

While Greg and his camp might suggest that this is evidence that the
TMCH is "working as intended", that's obviously not a credible
argument.

I will now provide a fourth example, one that should raise some
eyebrows amongst those who are neutral and are here to improve the
system for everyone. Remember, when we joined this PDP, we were asked
to set aside our personal interests and work to improve the system for
the benefit of all, and not just be obstructionists preserving the
status quo or advocates for a particular position regardless of the
evidence.

Here it is: RICH! Yes, RICH. Was the TMCH designed to "protect" that
string from abuse by the public, and give "priority" sunrise rights to
its "TM owner"?

According to: https://ie.godaddy.com/help/about-casino-domain-names-16213

the sunrise period for the .CASINO TLD opened on 3/24/15 at 16:00 UTC
and closed on 5/23/15 at 16:00 UTC. Landrush didn't begin until May
27, 2015 at 16:00 UTC.

However, the WHOIS for Rich.casino shows it was created
2015-05-26T17:53:28Z (i.e. before the landrush started, and thus
presumably in the sunrise period).

https://whois.domaintools.com/rich.casino

And as a bonus, I'll provide as fifth example, another one that should
boggle the mind --- CREDIT! Take a look at the WHOIS for
credit.casino:

https://whois.domaintools.com/credit.casino

Creation Date: 2015-05-26T17:53:31Z indicating again that this was a
sunrise registration, since it predated the landrush.

Mike Berkens had even more potential examples of gaming of commonly
used dictionary terms on his blog at:

https://www.thedomains.com/2015/05/28/trademark-game-playing-results-in-great-generic-domains-being-registered-in-casino-sunrise/

Since some in this working group suggest that we need to gather more
evidence, I propose that we open up a public comments period *NOW*,
while our work is ongoing, to solicit examples of TMCH gaming
behaviour from the public, and also to ask them directly whether the
TM claims notices had a chilling effect. Since it is the pool of
domain name registrants who were denied the ability to register these
strings because they were already taken during the sunrise periods,
they are in the best position to know exactly which questionable
strings entered into the TMCH database with sunrise privileges.

So, let's do it --- let's get the *public* to CROWDSOURCE the data
that some folks are demanding (but are insisting the TMCH database be
kept secret, thus denying us the very data needed to uncover gaming).
I am sure the public has a lot to say about this important issue, and
it behooves us to gather that data now, and not pretend we can do an
adequate review without that data and input. Crowdsourcing the data
also shifts some of the "work" to the public, and reduces the burden
on PDP working group members.

Sincerely,

George Kirikos
416-588-0269
http://www.leap.com/


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