Biased WIPO panelist

[domaingenius]

I have notified of the appointment of the Panelist. I am not happy with him, how can I do something to get him changed ?.
(a) He and his own law firm Hosted a Forum with WIPO on IP enforcement (b) he has done work for the parent and associate companies of the Complainant.

What is procedure on this please ?.

Thanks
DG

[draggar]

(b) he has done work for the parent and associate companies of the Complainant.

I'm wondering if this could be considered a conflict of interest?

[INVIGOR]

GOOD GRIEF MAN! WIPO is becoming more of a joke every freaking day! The federal courts are going to be filled with more and more of these bs cases! That just smells of payoff to me man!

[PRED]

if wipo dont have an outside body to regulate them then they need one. if nothing else but to protect joe bloggs, companies and themselves being accused of conflict of interests at the very least.
most of the lawyers that will write to you have been wipo panelists at some point

fact is its like lawyers in a court of law sometinmes acting as a judge and coming up agianst past and future paymasters.
can this be right?
of course not. chances are the lawyer will know the wipo panelists pretty well

[domaingenius]

I also neglected to say, of all, the Countries in the World they chose the very same
Country as that of the Complainant,where he and his own Law Firm
do a lot of work that cannot help but be connected to the very Family who
own the Complainant, as they pretty much own everything somewhere down
the line. Also,I see the Law Firm who act for Complainant are based in
Belgium and London etc etc and also act as Panelists in WIPO.

I just asked WIPO how they consider themselves impartial when they
jointly hosted a Forum on IP enforcement with this Panelist and they
cannot really give an answer. As I told them all Case Law states that
a Judge/Arbitrator must be seen to be impartial. ("see to be" as opposed
to "be")

DG

[PRED]

I also neglected to say, of all, the Countries in the World they chose the very same
Country as that of the Complainant,where he and his own Law Firm
do a lot of work that cannot help but be connected to the very Family who
own the Complainant, as they pretty much own everything somewhere down
the line. Also,I see the Law Firm who act for Complainant are based in
Belgium and London etc etc and also act as Panelists in WIPO.

I just asked WIPO how they consider themselves impartial when they
jointly hosted a Forum on IP enforcement with this Panelist and they
cannot really give an answer. As I told them all Case Law states that
a Judge/Arbitrator must be seen to be impartial. ("see to be" as opposed
to "be")

DG

perfectly salient point you make.
important to make it clear you are aware of situation also. i wish you the best.
how did you contact them, by email or phone, wipo?

i'll see you there soon i think myself

[INVIGOR]

Dude, pay the extra bucks for a three member panel, at least that way you have a better fighting chance.

[Gerry]

...wipo dont have an outside body to regulate them then they need one.

It is wishful thinking that someone would oversee and reel in ICANN.

This whole "I'm in charge" issue is getting way out of hand.

I have never seen more abuses of power than what has been going on within the past year or so.

The BIGGEST factor, in my opinion, is WIPO and ICANN are NOT MAINSTREAM to the masses and only have brand/name recognition among domainers.

And in the global scale of things, we make up but a drop in the bucket of the global population.

I can not imagine any legitimate legislative or legal body doing what it has done lately without calls for impeachment and investigation and outster of the primary abusers.

[domaingenius]

Dear Mr XXXX


I am very concerned about the lack of impartiality, or at the very
least the appearance of lack of impartiality, of WIPO in regards to
UDRP. Let me look at the case of xxxxxx
Here we have a case where the Complainant is located in
xxxxxxxxxxxx and whose owner has many tentacles
throughout the business and political World ,and pretty much
most companies there have a connection with.
Some of his companies are listed here;
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I of course am a small one man business located in the UK.

I note that the law firm who represent the Complainant
are also WIPO panelists. I note too that the Panelist
that has been appointed today for the above case in which
I am respondent was a Partner with WIPO in the
operation of a Forum in the Middle East on
enforcement of IP rights. That Panelist who has been
appointed to hear this above case also has a large
Law practice in xxxxxxxxxxxxxand has many connections
with the Complainant both directly and indirectly.

I cannot say that he is biased because that is hard to
prove, but as you will I know the ECHR in Strasbourg
has ruled time and again that such arbitrators and
judges must have the appearance of impartility,
which I am sorry to say this Panelist does not have,
either in terms of independence from WIPO
or from the Complainant. Perhaps this is through no
fault of his own, but be that as it may be he does not
appear impartial. On a more practical point, of all the
Countries in the World that you have Panelists from
why was one chosen from the same Country as
the Complainant ?. I would not care if they were from
Iraq,Iran or Timbuctoo but to choose one from the
Complainants Country ,which is a fairly "closed"
society seems at odds with common sense.


I hope that you will note this matter and ensure that
we can avoid taking up the Court's time with
an Injunction or other hearing.

Kind Regards

What do you reckon on this draft letter ,sent ?

[dvdrip]

You are too kind.
Drop this "I am very concerned" and accuse them out right.

[domaingenius]

Please give me your opinions on this point.

I have found that the Panelist definately represents Microsoft in the
Country concerned. I know also now that Microsoft have sold and sell
goods to organisations and companies owned by the Complainant.
I have 2 articles both with photos and in both those is pictured the
top guy of the Complainant company (buyer) and also pictured alongside
is the Panelist in his role as Representative of Microsoft having just sold
him some more stuff. He acts as MS's legal representative . Does this
show impartiality ?

DG

[dvdrip]

Yes it does.

[Domagon]

Both sides can the play the biased panalist game. That's much of the reason many respondents choose to pay extra for a three person panel ... then each side has a say who the panalists are.

Sending letters, etc to WIPO, ICANN, U.S. Dept of Commerce, etc is worth a shot, but don't expect them to care...

Arbitration, in general, by its very nature tends to be biased, since it's the usually complanent who chooses the arbitration company to contract with - WIPO, etc know this, and thus go out of their way to facilitate the end result the complanent desires.

Ron

[dvdrip]

Well the arbitration companies are just 2 and they pretty much use the same panelists.

wmloz, he can't get 3 member panel now.

[Keyword Factory]

Try contacting the Bar Association where the lawyer practices and ask them.

[JuniperPark]

I think I was screwed in a similar way. I recently had a WIPO and after it was over I realized that the panelist's address was just 1 mile from the complainant's address!

[dvdrip]

What was the domain?

[PRED]

they're all in choots. the lawyer im dealing with at mo is representing billion $ compny
i did a background check on her and shes a regular wipo panelist herself. they all know each other bigtime.
they're basically judges who go out whoring as lawyers or other way round.

imagine if a judge presiding over a murder case, rape case etc or anything even minor in a standard court of law, sees the defendant and realises its a paymaster of his from the past. or even a present client who he represents as a barrister. if he didnt declare it and ask for a new judge he would be in all sorts of bother.
its the same thing.
these wipo panelists that take their time on panel and also as fulltime lawyers will at the very least spend hours together, have lunch etc. some will be friends and even maybe go on family holidays skiing etc, you can imagine. there need to be a firm body of member s on panel who dont whore it as l;awyers. they need to be impartial.
i tell you this is nuts

[Makis77]

Pred is so right, after 1.5 yr of domaining i believe wipo panel procedure is one of the most troubled cases every domainer has to confront. In some yrs time things will have changed and everyone will look back and say it was a terrible time of domaining history.
Its like feeding the system and they fight you back at the same time.

Transparency doesnt exist

[domaingenius]

If anyone in USA or Europe is into taking a case to proof that WIPO is
NOT impartial or independent then I can provide all necessary proof and
case law required. All it needs is someone/lawyer willing to issue the claim
and deal with it at Court.
We need to pull together on this for all domainers benefits. As they united
we stand divided we fall.

Seriously, anyone with ability to do this ?

DG

Sorry for Typos,

DG