Directnic Coping With Hurricane Katrina Damage

ICANN accredited registrar Directnic is located in downtown New Orleans, and has posted a blog and photos of the damage left by Hurricane Katrina. (Blog here). It is stunning what they've had to go through and it looks like things will get worse there before they get better. The whole city may have to be evacuated.

One way to help is by donating to the American Red Cross. Their site is running slowly, but be patient.

Foxwood.com Case Continues

In 2002, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, owners of the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Connecticut, filed suit in federal court against Raymond Redican Jr. over his registration of the domain names Foxwood.com and Foxwood.org. In March 2004, the US District Court for the District of Connecticut denied Redican's motion to dismiss. The Mashantucket Pequot Tribe v. Raymond Redican Jr. dba CBNO Foxwood.com, 02-CV-1828 (D. Ct. Mar. 18, 2004). According to news reports, U.S. District Court Judge Janet Hall heard arguments yesterday that the domain names are confusingly similar to the tribe's Foxwoods.com domain name.

- Newsday article

Internet Governance Project Statement

From the Internet Governance Project & ICANN's Non-Commercial Users Constituency list, here is the link to an important "Statement Opposing Political Intervention Into the Internet's Core Technical Administrative Functions". After reading the Statement, if you want to sign up in support, click the link here. Read it carefully.

Five Complainants Join Together To Win UDRP Case

In a decision issued yesterday by the National Arbitration Forum, five subsidiaries of GlaxoSmithKline PLC joined together in one UDRP case against Indian registrant Pradeep Dadha over his registration and use of 12 domain names containing the names of GlaxoSmithKline drugs with the words "Buy Generic".

No response was filed by Dadha, and Panelist John J. Upchurch ordered the domain names transferred to the five co-complainants. The decision may be the first UDRP action involving five co-complainants.

Glaxo Group Limited, SmithKline Beecham PLC, SmithKline Beecham Corp., BW USA, Inc. & SB Pharmco Puerto Rico Inc. v. Pradeep Dadha, NAF Case FA514979 (Aug. 24, 2005).

Breaking News - 4th Circuit Rules Against Falwell

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (noted for being one of the most conservative circuits in the country), has reversed a decision issued in favor of televangelist Jerry Falwell and instead granted summary judgment in favor of Christopher Lamparello over the domain name fallwell.com. The Court's decision is available here in Adobe Acrobat format. A news article on the decision is available here.

"After even a quick glance at the content of the website at www.fallwell.com, no one seeking Reverend Falwell's guidance would be misled by the domain name - www.fallwell.com - into believing Reverend Falwell authorized the content of that website."

Compare with the 4th Circuit's PETA.org decision. The Court said there was no likelihood of confusion between Lamparello's website and Falwell.

The Court also found no bad faith intent to profit from using the [www.fallwell.com] domain name. "Lamparello clearly employed www.fallwell.com simply to criticize Reverend Fallwell's views."

Book Your .Travel Now

Pre-authentication for D-U-N-S number holders is now available. Click here to begin: www.authentication.travel/

"You should be aware that you will not be registering any domain name(s) at this time. To register a .travel domain name you must be pre-authenticated and then, beginning in September 2005, you will be able to register your domain name(s) through the .travel Registry approved registrar. Contact Dun & Bradstreet if you have any questions about this process."

Limited Launch for .Travel begins on October 1, 2005.

Objection to the Flag 2

Cedric Manara over at Nom de Domaine caught this first, but I'll expand a little. There are a large number of blogs that are geared toward adults, with clearly adult content. Allowing readers to flag blogs as objectionable opens to door to campaigns by certain groups with their own agenda, campaigns that *may* be used to censor content within the Blogger.com space. Blogger provides a great service, but it should tread carefully if it removes content just because it receives a few targeted complaints. I'll leave my comment at that and wait to see how the service works in practice.

New UDRP Decisions

A roundup of recent UDRP decisions:

The Estate of Marlon Brando v. thewordbank twb, NAF Case FA505502 (Aug. 16, 2005). The domain name MarlonBrando.net was ordered transferred to the Estate.

Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc. aka Whois Agent, NAF Case 506742 (Aug. 17, 2005). The panel ordered the transfer of DisneyChannal.com.

M. Shanken Communications, Inc. v. Cenal.com c/o DNS Manager, NAF Case FA508512 (Aug. 18, 2005). WineSpectatorOnline.com ordered transferred.

.EU Dispute Resolution Information

Via Cedric Manara's Nom de Domaine, here is a link to the Arbitration Center for .EU Disputes and Dispute Resolution Rules. This looks interesting and I will have to go through it thoroughly.

Can someone clarify for me why WIPO is not a dispute resolution provider for .EU domain names?

Update - A reader kindly mentioned that EURID may appoint more dispute resolution providers in the future. WIPO's location in Switzerland (not an EU member) may also have something to do with it not being selected to provide .EU dispute services. My response to that is WIPO currently provides domain name dispute resolution services for several EU member ccTLDs, including .CY (Cyprus), .FR (France), .IE (Ireland), .LI (Liechtenstein), .NL (Netherlands), and .PL (Poland).

WIPO's experience with domain name disputes would certainly be beneficial for a new domain name dispute process, but perhaps the EC wants to expand the arbitration options. WIPO has provided comments and assistance in the drafting of EURID's dispute procedures, so they aren't totally out of the .EU process.

Senator Slams "UN Control Over the Internet"

From the Drudge Report (which I normally do not read): Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) has issued a statement "denouncing a final report issued by the United Nations' Working Group on Internet Governance (WGIG) suggesting that the U.N. assume global governance of the Internet." The full press release is available here.

"Putting the U.N. in charge of one of the world's most important technological wonders and economic engines is out of the question. This proposal would leave the United States with no more say over the future of the Internet than Cuba or China-countries that have little or no commitment to the free flow of information."

The WGIG taskforce report will be discussed at the World Summit on the Information Society Tunisia in November.

"In light of this report, I also plan to consult with experts and stakeholders regarding Internet governance, and will assess whether legislation is needed as a remedy," Coleman continued. "The U.S. is willing to work with other countries that have an interest in the management of their own country code domains but UN control is out of the question. We will continue a dialogue with the rest of the world on these issues as we go forward."

Get Ready For .Jobs

According to this morning's press release, the .jobs domain will conclude its start-up phase on August 15. First come, first served domain name registrations will begin in September 2005.

From the press release: "During the .jobs start-up phase, companies should make sure to secure their legal company names, also known as Service Marks, before the August 15 deadline. If more than one company applies for the same .jobs domain during the start-up phase, then the domain will be awarded to the company that can demonstrate longer commercial use."