[Discussion-igo-rc] External Legal advice on applicable local law for the protection of the legal rights of IGOs

[Phil Corwin]

Thanks for that response, Bruce.

Following up on my previous comments, let me add these thoughts.

There is a threshold issue here. Since its inception, the only alternative to judicial process that ICANN has provided has been in relationship to trademark rights; through the UDRP and, more recently, the URS. If ICANN now sets a precedent of providing such an alternative based upon a different kind of legal right it may open a Pandora's box leading other interests to request similar treatment of their DNS-related legal concerns. So I think we should be very careful in regard to the possibility of a very expanded ICANN remit being created, and that is an issue separate and apart from IGO protections.

Also, if there is a decision to do additional legal research in this area, I believe it should be restricted solely to identifying laws that create a private right of action. That is, if it found that some nation's consumer protection regime arguably establishes protections for IGO names and acronyms separate from trademark law, but the enforcement mechanism is solely regulatory, that should not be the basis for proposing a new IGO-focused CRP. The UDRP and URS exist to provide alternatives to litigation, and ICANN should definitely not be in the business of creating a right to initiate an administrative dispute where there is no corresponding right to initiate litigation.

I hope those thoughts are useful.

Best regards, Philip



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-----Original Message-----
From: discussion-igo-rc-bounces at icann.org [mailto:discussion-igo-rc-bounces at icann.org] On Behalf Of Bruce Tonkin
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 7:39 PM
To: discussion-igo-rc at icann.org
Subject: Re: [Discussion-igo-rc] External Legal advice on applicable local law for the protection of the legal rights of IGOs

Hello Phil,

>>   In that regard, if such an effort is undertaken we would seek a good faith estimate of the projected delivery date of the resulting legal memo.

That is a fair question – I will ask the ICANN organization if they can provide some estimates.   I expect it will depend on when the text of the question can be agreed, a legal advisor selected, and how many legal jurisdictions are involved.

In proposing getting the legal advice it has never been my intention to slow down the community work that is underway.   It was just that during our session in Copenhagen the answer to the general question was not clear.   The assumption is that legal mechanisms exist to take action over the mis-use of IGO names and abbreviations - but the specifics were not available.   It was also clear that different countries may use different approaches.

Regards,
Bruce Tonkin
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