[council] Letter from WIPO to ICANN

[Marilyn Cade]

It is good that we have finally received a clarification from WIPO, via this
letter so that we are aware of the views of some governments, as described
by the WIPO letter, as we consider the new gTLD policy process. We have been
waiting to hear what the feedback from WIPO is, and at last, we have
received at least an indication that is very useful input for consideration.


I do want to be very clear that I view this issue as a gNSO policy matter
and thus, I would ask that we add this to our agenda, and invite the
appropriate ICANN staff for a consultation on our Monday meeting. We can
then discuss how best to include this input into the consideration of the
upcoming gTLD policy development process. I am not supportive of trying to
"retrofit" policy onto existing/approved gTLDs, however, but can support the
consideration of this issue on a going forward basis. 

I am not making a statement on any view, one way or the other, on the
outcome of any policy development recommendation, since the issue will be
before the Council. However, it seems clear to me that we must consider this
issue in our PDP process. 

I've just returned from WSIS, and did discuss this issue with a few
countries. In general, I would say that recently, it has become apparent to
some countries that they are vitally interested in the issues of place names
and country names in the new sponsored TLDs. This is useful feedback to the
gNSO Council, who is responsible for policy development, as we look to
develop further policy to govern the introduction of new gTLDs. 


Regards,

Marilyn Cade  



-----Original Message-----
From: owner-council at gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council at gnso.icann.org] On
Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin
Sent: Sunday, November 20, 2005 11:48 AM
To: council at gnso.icann.org
Subject: [council] Letter from WIPO to ICANN

Hello All,
 
Please see the attached letter from WIPO to ICANN dated 15 Nov 2005.
 
See below for plain text version.
 
Regards,
Bruce Tonkin


Dear Dr Cerf, Dr Twomey

I am contacting you to inquire about the status of the recommendations
made by WIPO in the context of the Second WIPO Internet Domain Name
Process (WIPO-2 Recommendations) to extend protection under the Uniform
Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) to country names and the
names and acronyms of International Intergovernmental Organisations
(IGOs).

At the last WIPO General Assembly which took place in Geneva from
September 26 to October 5, 2005, a number of delegations expressed
concern with regard to the apparent lack of progress in the
implementation of the WIPO-2 Recommendations.  These delegations also
requested the WIPO Secretariat to transmit this concern to ICANN.

I would therefore be grateful if you could enable us to inform our
member States as to how ICANN intends to proceed in this matter.   As
you will recall, the WIPO-2 Recommendations were transmitted to ICANN in
February 2003.   They were unanimously supported by ICANN's Governmental
Advisory Committee on a number of occasions.   Unfortunately, the
Working Group which you established to consider implementation issues
focussed on issues other than implementation and, unlike the Working
Group that developed the UDRP on the basis of WIPO's Recommendations
made in the context of the First WIPO Internet Domain Name Process,
failed to produce any agreed recommendations.

At your request, WIPO subsequently submitted a briefing note providing
further information on the issue as well as a draft confirming the (few)
additions that would have to be made to the UDRP in order to implement
the WIPO-2 Recommendations.   The Comment Forum that you established in
December 2004 failed to trigger any substantive comments from the
public.

You will appreciate the concerns of countries with regard to the abuse
of their country's names especially in new generic Top Level Domains.
Please also note the very real concerns of IGOs concerning the
protection of their names and acronyms which are a vital prerequisite
for them to perform their functions.   If anything, the abuse of IGO
names and acronyms has increased over the last years and has caused a
great deal of confusion among, and outright fraud directed at,
consumers.  Regrettably, such abuse also targets IGOs involved in
humanitarian , development and health-related activities.

I hope that you will consider the issue further at your next meeting in
Vancouver.  My colleague Mr Christian Wichard will be attending the
meeting and is available to meet with you should you so require.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Your sincerely,

Francis Gurry
Deputy Director General
World Intellectual Property Organization 
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center