[gnso-rpm-wg] WIPO retaliation -- danger for RPM PDP participants?

[George Kirikos]

Hi folks,

I draw folks' attention to the page at:

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/challenged/

which had been a topic of discussion on this mailing list before. I
was shocked to see that it has recently been edited to remove one
additional case, namely the court case involving my own company (Leap
of Faith Financial Services Inc.), defending the Pupa.com domain name.
Attached are 2 PDFs, one generated today (June 7, 2018) and one
generated a month ago (May 4, 2018). The Pupa.com case is the 2nd case
in the May 4, 2018 PDF, but has been erased from the version from
today.

No other changes were made.

I perceive this as direct retaliation by WIPO for my lack of support
of Brian Beckham's candidacy for co-chair in this PDP. There can be no
other reasonable explanation, given the timing of this removal.

This retaliation by WIPO also says to members of this PDP that if they
disagree with a position taken by WIPO, that there could be
consequences, just as has happened here to my company. That is very
dangerous.

This petty action by WIPO reinforces my previously-stated opposition
to Brian Beckham's candidacy as co-chair of this PDP, where I raised
the issue of non-neutrality. It calls into question the entire
legitimacy of future policy choices by this working group, if members
of this PDP perceive that they could face retaliation too. The
chilling effect of this action by WIPO is obvious.

Sincerely,

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