[bc-gnso] prior BC position on geo names at second level

[Steve DelBianco]

During today's closed CSG meeting, we discussed whether to object to GAC's Advice against .amazon and .patagonia, and the potential for precedent in GAC obtaining new IP rights, particularly at the second level.

I researched prior BC statements on geo names. In Mar-2013 we advocated against strict second-level restrictions for single-registrant TLDs, as part of our Registry Agreement comments, building on comments we made in 2011. (link here<http://www.bizconst.org/Positions-Statements/BC%20Comment%20on%20final%202013%20RAA%20[FINAL].pdf> and excerpt below). :

Specification 5: Reserving Country and Territory Names at the Second Level

The BC continues believes that the proposed new gTLD Registry Agreement should include an exception or a centralized mechanism for single-registrant TLDs to request release of reserved country and territory names.

Specification 5 of the proposed registry Agreement continues to require default reservation of country and territory names, only to be released by express agreement of each applicable government:

The country and territory names contained in the following internationally recognized lists shall be initially reserved at the second level and at all other levels within the TLD at which the Registry Operator provides for registrations  …  provided, that the reservation of specific country and territory names may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the applicable government(s), provided, further, that Registry Operator may also propose release of these reservations, subject to review by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee and approval by ICANN.

In the BC’s May-2011 comments, we proposed that single-registrant TLDs be exempt from the requirement to obtain express authorization from governments for each country and territory name.

Single-registrant TLDs will reasonably want to create second level domains for their operatingunits or chapters in each country or region. (e.g., Canada.Canon or Haiti.RedCross).

Now that there are several hundred single-registrant TLDs in this new gTLD round, the BC reiterates our request for an exception that allows single-registrant TLDs to register domains for their markets and operations based in countries and territories. (e.g. Canada.canon; Haiti.redcross, etc.)

If not an exception for single-registrant TLDs, ICANN should propose a centralized mechanism where single- registrant TLDs can request authorization from all governments in a consolidated request.

--
Steve DelBianco
Executive Director
NetChoice
http://www.NetChoice.org and http://blog.netchoice.org
+1.202.420.7482

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