Saturday, March 29, 2014

.WINE & .VIN : SUSPENSE !

700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1, get your new .WINE domain name today.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

.WINE and .VIN new gTLDs, GAC Communiqué - Singapore: SURPRISE v2

The GAC notes the NGPC Resolution 2014.03.22.NG01 concerning .wine and .vin as well as its rationale. In the final deliberation of the Board there appears to be at least one process violation and procedural error, including in relation to ByLaws Article XI-A, Section 1 subsection 6 which states:

“6. Opportunity to Comment. The Governmental Advisory Committee, in addition to the Supporting Organizations and other Advisory Committees, shall have an opportunity to comment upon any external advice received prior to any decision by the Board.”

The GAC therefore advises:

That the Board reconsider the matter before delegating these strings. The GAC needs to consider the above elements more fully. In the meantime concerned GAC members believe the applicants and interested parties should be encouraged to continue their negotiations with a view to reach an agreement on the matter.

Sourcehttps://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/27132037/Final%20Communique%20-%20Singapore%202014.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1395925159241&api=v2

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

.WINE & .VIN new gTLDs: SURPRISE !

Outstanding GAC Advice

Whereas, on 11 September 2013, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) issued advice to the ICANN Board that it had finalized its consideration of the strings .WINE and .VIN.

Whereas, the GAC advised the ICANN Board that there was no GAC consensus advice on additional safeguards for .WINE and .VIN, and the applications for .WINE and .VIN should proceed through the normal evaluation process.

Whereas, in the Buenos Aires Communiqué, the GAC noted that the Board may wish to seek a clear understanding of the legally complex and politically sensitive background on its advice regarding .WINE and .VIN in order to consider the appropriate next steps of delegating the two strings.

Whereas, the NGPC commissioned an analysis [PDF, 772 KB] of the legally complex and politically sensitive background on the GAC's advice regarding .WINE and .VIN, which the NGPC considered as part of its deliberations on the GAC's advice.

Whereas, the Bylaws (Article XI, Section 2.1) require the ICANN Board to address advice put to the Board by the GAC.

Whereas, the NGPC is undertaking this action pursuant to the authority granted to it by the Board on 10 April 2012, to exercise the ICANN Board's authority for any and all issues that may arise relating to the New gTLD Program.

Resolved (2014.03.22.NG01), the NGPC accepts the GAC advice identified in the GAC Register of Advice as 2013-09-09-wine and vin, and directs the President and CEO, or his designee, that the applications for .WINE and .VIN should proceed through the normal evaluation process.
Rationale for Resolution 2014.03.22.NG01

The NGPC's action today, addressing the open item of GAC advice concerning .WINE and .VIN, is part of the ICANN Board's role to address advice put to the Board by the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). Article XI, Section 2.1 of the ICANN Bylaws <http://www.icann.org/en/about/governance/bylaws#XI> permit the GAC to "put issues to the Board directly, either by way of comment or prior advice, or by way of specifically recommending action or new policy development or revision to existing policies." The GAC issued advice to the Board on the New gTLD Program through its Beijing Communiqué dated 11 April 2013, its Durban Communiqué dated 18 July 2013, and its Buenos Aires Communiqué dated 20 November 2013. The GAC also issued advice to the ICANN Board in a letter dated 9 September 2013 concerning .WINE and .VIN. The ICANN Bylaws require the Board to take into account the GAC's advice on public policy matters in the formulation and adoption of the polices. If the Board decides to take an action that is not consistent with the GAC advice, it must inform the GAC and state the reasons why it decided not to follow the advice. The Board and the GAC will then try in good faith to find a mutually acceptable solution. If no solution can be found, the Board will state in its final decision why the GAC advice was not followed.

The action being approved today is to accept the GAC's advice to the ICANN Board that there was no GAC consensus advice on additional safeguards for .WINE and .VIN, and the GAC "has finalized its consideration of the strings .wine and .vin and further advises that the application should proceed through the normal evaluation process." The effect of the NGPC's action concerning the GAC advice on .WINE and .VIN is that the strings will continue to proceed through the normal evaluation process and no additional safeguards will be required for the TLDs.

As part of its consideration of the GAC advice, ICANN posted the GAC advice and officially notified applicants of the advice, triggering the 21-day applicant response period pursuant to the Applicant Guidebook Module 3.1. The complete set of applicant responses are provided at: <http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/gac-advice/>. The NGPC has considered the applicant responses in formulating its response to the item of GAC advice being addressed today.

Additionally, on 28 September 2013, the NGPC noted that it stood ready to hear from GAC members as to the nature of the differences in views expressed in the advice while the NGPC analyzed the GAC's advice. Several governments provided letters to the NGPC expressing the nature of their views on whether the GAC's advice on the .WINE and .VIN TLDs should be imposed, with some individual governments expressing concerns that additional safeguards should be imposed before the strings are delegated, while others recommended that no additional safeguards should be imposed on the strings.

In response to the GAC's suggestion in the Buenos Aires Communiqué, the NGPC commissioned an analysis of the legally complex and politically sensitive background on this matter in the context of the GAC advice in order to consider the appropriate next steps of delegating .WINE and .VIN. The expert analysis concluded that "[a]s regards the applications for the assignment of the new gTLDs '.vin' and '.wine' filed by the Donuts company, there is no rule of the law of geographical indications, nor any general principle which obliges ICANN to reject the applications or accept the applications under certain specific conditions."

As part of its deliberations, the NGPC reviewed the following materials and documents:
GAC Beijing Communiqué:https://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/27132037/Final_GAC_Communique_Durban_20130718.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1375787122000&api=v2 [PDF, 238 KB]
GAC Durban Communiqué:https://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/27132037/Final_GAC_Communique_Durban_20130717.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1374215119858&api=v2 [PDF, 104 KB]
GAC Buenos Aires Communiqué: https://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/27132037/FINAL_Buenos_Aires_GAC_Communique_20131120.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1385055905332&api=v2 [PDF, 97 KB]
Letter from H. Dryden to S. Crocker dated 11 September 2013 re: .vin and wine:
https://gacweb.icann.org/download/attachments/27132037/Letter%20from%20GAC%20Chair%20to%20ICANN%20Board_20130909.pdf?version=1&modificationDate=1379026679000&api=v2[ PDF, 63 KB]
Applicant responses to GAC advice: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/gac-advice/
Applicant Guidebook, Module 3: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb/objection-procedures-04jun12-en.pdf[PDF, 261 KB]

There are no foreseen fiscal impacts associated with the adoption of this resolution. Approval of the resolution will not impact security, stability or resiliency issues relating to the DNS. As part of ICANN's organizational administrative function, ICANN posted the Buenos Aires GAC advice and officially notified applicants of the advice on 11 December 2013. The Durban Communiqué and the Beijing Communiqué were posted on 18 April 2013 and 1 August 2013, respectively. In each case, this triggered the 21-day applicant response period pursuant to the Applicant Guidebook Module 3.1.

Sourcehttp://www.icann.org/en/groups/board/documents/resolutions-new-gtld-22mar14-en.htm#1.a

700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1, get your new .WINE and .VIN domain names today.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

A brief history of gTLDs as we know it

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Dossiers .WINE & .VIN : le Président du Parlement Européen s'adresse à l'ICANN

Le parlement européen à travers son président vient d’adresser à l’ICANN un courrier sur les « .vin » et « .wine ». Le président Schulz réaffirme le plein et entier soutien du PE à la position défendue par la Commission européenne.

La lettre envoyée à l'attention de:
  • Dr Chair, ICANN Board;
  • Mr Padi Chehadé, President and CEO;
  • Mr Cherine Chalaby, New gTLD Programme Committee

Dear Sirs,

As President of the European Parliament, l would like to share the views of the European Parliament on the delegation by ICANN ofthe “.Wine” and “.Vin”.

The European Parliament has been closely following, over the past year, the ongoing discussions on the delegation of the “.wine” and “.vin” in the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC). Commissioner Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for the Digital Agenda, and her have been regularly informing the European Parliament, in particular the Wine lntergroup, on all the initiatives the European Commission and its Member States have been taking to protect European producers and consumers. Furthermore, Commission officials in charge of international trade negotiations have recently updated the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament on this issue.

EU geographical indications (GIs) in the wine sector are protected under Regulation 1308/2013 (which replaced former Regulation 1234/2007 on 1St January 2014). Regulation 1308/2013 has been adopted with a nearly two third majority by the European Parliament on 20 November 2013. The European Parliament therefore asks you to ensure that this regulation is respected if the “.Wine” and “.Vin” domain names are delegated,

The European Parliament has always been a strong supporter of Gls and advocates for an efficient and greater protection of these products in all forums. Our institution firmly believes that GIs are one of Europe’s greatest assets and as such must be safeguarded.

Therefore our Members are extremely concerned with the implications the delegation of the “.vine” and “.vin” may have on European right holders, producers and consumers. In fact, if no clear protection against misuses of our Gls is provided for, domain names such as “champagne.vin”, “rioja.wine”, “chianti.wine” “port.vin”, “mosel.wine”, “rhine.vin” and many others may be registered by firms or individuals having no link with the Gl in question. This Would not only have significant consequences for producers (cybersquatting, GI abuses and misappropriation, unfair competition) but it would also greatly impact consumers whose ability to make an informed choice on the Internet would be seriously jeopardised (product deception, counterfeits, etc).

The European Parliament fully supports the position expressed by the European Commission in the letter addressed to the ICANN Board on 3 February. lf these discussions do not bear fruit, the European Parliament will give its full backing to the European Commission and its Member States in calling for the rejection of .Vin

Yours sincerely,

Martin Schulz
Président du Parlement européen

Copy:
  • Ms Astrid Lulling, Member ofthe European Parliament's Bureau and Quaestors;
  • Ms Amalia Sartori, Chair ofthe Committee on Industry, Research and Energy;
  • Mr Paolo De Castro, Chair ofthe Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development. 

700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1, pre-order your new .WINE and .VIN domain names today.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

How I made it to sit on Blake Irving's shoulders with a .CEO

Do you know who Blake Irving is? Blake is the Chief Executive Officer of Godaddy, one of the largest Registrar in the world. And do you know who Fadi Chehade is? Well...if you read my blog, you probably know this already.

Every morning, I do a press review and I receive A LOT of information. This morning, I received an email from the .CEO Registry who has set up a beautiful iCANN dotCEO Directory page and has sent emails to Registrars CEOs inviting them to preview their very own dotCEO page.

I feel strange sitting in the middle of the page and be surrounded by so impressive CEOs of the ICANN and new gTLDs community.

Question to Antony Van Couvering: how does it feel to sit on my shoulders?

700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1, get your new .CEO domain name today.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Suivi du dossier des Registres du vin : .VIN et .WINE

Les élus du vin mobilisés auprès du Ministre de l’Agriculture pour défendre les Indications Géographiques sur internet

Les deux coprésidents de l’Association Nationale des Elus de la Vigne et du vin (ANEV), Mr François Patriat et Mr Philippe Armand Martin, ont été reçus mardi 18 mars 2014 par le Ministre de l’Agriculture Stéphane Le Foll pour évoquer la question de l’ouverture des nouveaux noms de domaine « .vin » et « .wine » sur internet. Alors que la prochaine session de l’ICANN, l’organisme américain en charge des noms de domaines internet, se déroulera du 23 au 27 mars prochain à Singapour, les deux coprésidents de l’ANEV ont fait part de leurs inquiétudes vis-à-vis d’une éventuelle délégation de ces nouveaux noms de domaine sans aucune protection des Indications Géographiques (IG) viticoles. Ils ont également incité le gouvernement à prendre une position forte concernant la gouvernance de l’internet et le fonctionnement de l’ICANN, qu’ils jugent sous influence américaine. A cette occasion, Mr Le Foll a assuré les élus du vin du soutien du gouvernement sur ce dossier et a rappelé que la France n’acceptera pas que le « .vin » et « .wine » soient délégués si aucun mécanisme de protection des IG n’est assuré. Pour Philippe A. Martin et François Patriat : « Cette prise de position du Ministre va dans le bon sens. Nous espérons maintenant que le soutien des autres pays européens et de la Commission Européenne sera aussi clair que la position du gouvernement français à Singapour. »

Rappel du contexte : Dès avril 2011 à Pékin, les gouvernements, représentés au sein du GAC (comité consultatif gouvernemental) à l’ICANN, soulignent les difficultés posées par les dossiers « .vin » et « .wine ». Ils appellent l’ICANN à ne pas déléguer ces noms de domaine tant que des mesures de protection des appellations d’origine (indications géographiques) n’auront pas été mises en place.

Dans le même temps, les 3 sociétés candidates à l’exploitation des noms de domaine ont annoncé leur intention de vendre aux enchères les noms de domaine de second niveau, sans prévoir aucune protection pour les noms des vins d’appellation (ex "bourgogne.vin"; "champagne.wine"; etc). Face à elles, l’ANEV, alertée par les organisations de la production viticole, dénoncent les risques pour le consommateur (tromperie sur la marchandise) et pour les opérateurs du secteur (risques de détournement de notoriété des appellations d’origine, racket avec rachat de noms de domaine).

Depuis cette date, c’est à un véritable bras de fer qu’on assiste. D’un côté les USA, qui soutiennent leur industrie internet et un internet totalement libre. De l’autre les européens et leurs alliés, qui appellent au respect de la propriété intellectuelle et à une régulation de l’internet.

700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1, pre-order (without obligation) your new .WINE and .VIN domain names today.

Upcoming Asia Pac Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress

With ICANN suggesting that round two applications for new gTLD’s could commence as early as Fall 2015, this event (May 14th and 15th, 2014) will blend sessions for attorneys and corporate representatives who are just becoming aware of the gTLD program, the opportunities that it offers their organizations and who need education, guidance and support as they navigate the complex application and approval process; as well as sessions for international brand managers and marketing specialists keen to learn how they can use a gTLD to their marketing or financial advantage.

The event features a stellar line up of speakers including:
  • Yu-Chuang Kuek – VP and Managing Director, APCA, ICANN
  • Frank Schilling – Founder, Managing Director, Uniregistry Corp.
  • Karen Law – Senior Legal Counsel, Intellectual Property, Ali Baba Group
Attendees of this event will walk away with practical information on how they should be approaching the launch of their new TLD with a specific focus on brand protection, digital marketing, branding and customer engagement strategies.

More detailed information on this program can be found online by visiting:
http://www2.momentumevents.co/gtldhkg

Apart from providing the highest quality content and speaker faculty, Momentum proudly provides many unique benefits that sets us apart from similar conferences including:
  • Advance access to the attendee list for all delegates
  • All-inclusive pricing where workshop attendance is included in the registration fee
  • Access to our proprietary “Match & Meet” service powered by MomentumConnect.
To learn about more about our differences, please visit us online.


700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1, get your new domain name today.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Nouvelles extensions Internet : URS ou UDRP ?

J’ai hésité à plusieurs reprises avant de choisir le titre de cet article. J’hésitais entre celui indiqué ci-dessus (plus Corporate) et les deux ci-après: “Nouveaux gTLDs: si j’étais un cybersquatteur...” et, “Nouveaux gTLDs: l’URS, le nouvel outil des cybersquatteurs”.

Dans la “vraie vie”, j’aurais opté pour le troisième titre car les marques ont vraiment du souci à se faire dans les prochaines années. Entre sa marque qu’il faudra défendre à chaque fois qu’une personne mal intentionnée enregistrera la dite marque en .sucks ou en .wtf (qui veut aussi dire en anglais “what the fuck”) et le budget explosif associé à l’enregistrement défensif de nouveaux noms de domaine, le temps perdu à tenter de trouver “qui” intente à votre marque et quelles sont les démarches à entreprendre pour faire face, il est une méthode - jusqu’à aujourd’hui déjà très bien utilisée par les cybersquatteurs - qui devrait causer beaucoup plus de tort aux marques. Quel responsable des noms de domaine pour le compte de son Entreprise n’a pas déjà reçu d’e-mails pour racheter un nom de domaine curieusement proche de sa marque ?
Lire la suite sur le Journal Du Net:
http://www.journaldunet.com/ebusiness/expert/56824/nouvelles-extensions-internet---urs-ou-udrp.shtml

700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1, Get Your New Domain Name Today!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

New Opportunities With New Domains - Webinar by 1&1 Internet


700 new gTLDs are launching with accredited Registrar 1&1,
Get Your New Domain Extensions Today!

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Frank Schilling, Daniel Negari & ICANN's Kuek Yu-Chuang to present at Momentumevents.asia

Join industry experts, round one/potential round two applicants, brand holders and ICANN leadership at the Asia-Pac Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress this May 14-15 in Hong Kong.

Please download the brand new & updated brochure at http://bit.ly/OdkROu and make your plans to attend.

This event is presented In partnership with DotAsia, the ADNDRC and the Internet Society of Hong Kong and features support from Afilias, DomainDiction, PeopleBrowsr, The Brand Registry Group, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China, The Licensing Executives Society, BrandChannel, Domain Incite, The Domains, CircleID, Domain Name News, Domain name Wire, World IP review and many more.

We look forward to seeing you there.

Matt Godson | Co-CEO
Momentum Events & Consulting
A Knowledge@Wharton Partner
A Conference Board Partner
An ALM Legal Intelligence Partner

o (917) 579-8945
t  @momentumeventco
l  in/mattgodson
s  mattgodson

Friday, March 7, 2014

Who Are the Major New gTLD Applicants : part 5: Rightside Registry

Rightside is a name you may only have heard of very recently. It is a relative newcomer in the new gTLD industry. It is important to note that there is a difference between "Rightside" and "Rightside Registry". One is the Trademark and also the name of this new group to which eNom (a Registrar), Namejet (a platform to buy/sell domain names and Premium domains) and Name.com (another Registrar) belong. As for "Rightside Registry", it is the new name of the platform to operate new gTLD applications such as .attorney .pub .ninja. .democrat .rehab .social, etc… United TLD Holdco Ltd is the previous name of the company; the name under which it used to apply for 26 applications.

Read the entire article on CircleId.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Registry for .BID just launched

What is the .BID registry?

Online auctions are now a part of everyday life for hundreds of millions of people and it’s not surprising: they are far more convenient than attending a frenzied auction house bidding process (there’s no need to feel self-conscious about your bidding etiquette, or lack of; the timing of the online auction is precise; you don’t have to sit through several auctions for items you’re not interested in while you wait for the one you are; and so on), and nowadays online markets exist for trading just about anything.

The new .BID Top Level Domain name creates an online environment where buyers and sellers can rapidly locate the auction in which they wish to participate. Those wishing to sell their products are no longer tied to the large auction websites to tap into a ready customer base but can create their own, safe in the knowledge that their auctions are easy to find through the familiar .BID domain extension. A .BID domain name provides a convenient, trusted name anchor that stands out on the web, and prospective bidders will be drawn to it by its clear message and the fact that they can trade with confidence in a dedicated namespace.

The use of .BID domain name improves online searches dramatically as global buyers and sellers are more easily able to identify the content of relevance to them, which in turn drives website traffic increasing trade and enhancing the auction process.
Visit the .BID registry at : http://nic.bid/

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Patrick Hauss is named European Regional Director at CSC Digital Brand Services

Patrick Hauss:

"This is an exciting and important time in digital brand management and trademark protection, with ICANN's new gTLDs coming on stream," Mr. Hauss said. "Brands need to be increasingly vigilant in managing their critical IP assets. CSC Digital Brand Services is a company that is passionate about helping its customers manage and protect their brands online

"With its global capabilities boosted by the recent acquisition of the Melbourne IT DBS division, CSC is truly a global leader in this space," Hauss continued. "I'm honored to be part of the CSC team and am looking forward to having the opportunity to help serve CSC's customers."


Official announcement from CSC : https://www.cscglobal.com/global/web/csc/prs-csc-dbs-names-patrick-hauss.html

CSC Digital Brand Services is a Corporate Registrar : www.cscglobal.com

.BRAND new gTLD Reports are updated once a month: CLICK HERE !