The New ICANN Proposal Called “Rapid Suspension System”

[companyone]

Hi,

You can help STOP this with a simple email to ICANN!

Hey Affiliates & DOMAIN OWNERS - Screw You! (pass it on)

ALL LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE ~ ARTICLE: “Rapid Suspension System”

If this new ICANN proposal called “Rapid Suspension System” goes through, I can cheaply file a complaint to get your affiliate landing pages taken down immediately. Shoot first and ask questions later! Think about that… I file for next to nothing, claim your Acai-berri site is confusingly similar to my Acai-beari site, and your landing page goes “bye bye” while your PPC campaigns click away into the red. Don’t even think about arguing… it goes off line FIRST (I’ll make sure it’s on a Friday at 4:45pm heh heh).

Send an email to ICANN right NOW saying “no way to rapid dispute system”(mailto it could save your future.

When opportunity knocks you have to answer. This time, it’s a “negative knock”. That means if you don’t answer, you don’t just miss an opportunity but lose out later, when the consequences of your inaction hit you smack in the face. Luckily, this one is easy. It’s a simple email. If you’re smart, you’ll send one right now.

What’s the opportunity? How about an opportunity not to have to battle Joe-abusive when he has your domain taken offline? There’s a proposal on the table that would make it dirt cheap and simple for just about anyone to file a claim that YOUR domain name infringes on their trademark, and to have your website immediately taken down.

The existing dispute process for internet web sites (domains) costs about $1600 bucks. A trademark holder has to make a case for why your web site is infringing on their trademark, before they can get anything changed. And of course you have a right to answer the complaint. This process keeps things “civil”…. it takes effort and some money to acuse you, and you can respond reasonably (or tell them to take a walk) with no cost. Only after a claim has been made, debated, and judged, does your website come down.

We also have the DMCA, which can be used for more immediate concerns (but which also has a penalty for mis-use).

But now a lobby group for big corporations has pushed to change the system so they can get your site taken down for a few dollars, based on their claim that it infringes. What do you think? Do you agree with me that this would mean constant headaches for you? Bad idea.

So tell them so. Just send an email to [email protected] and say “No way! Bad idea!” and tell them you do NOT support this “Uniform Rapid Suspension System”.

I have a website I’ve used for email and a home page for about 8 years, which is a clever twist on a word. I have received inquiries from companies over the years, because they, too use that same clever twist on the word. They have asked about buying it from me, asked whether I would link to them, or if I would help promote their products (for free). They have never filed a dispute claim because I would probably win and they don’t want to waste $1600. Even though I never trademarked it, I had it first, and it is not (despite their wishes) truly infringing on their trademarks. Under this new proposal, they could take my site offline immediately at almost no cost to themselves. Is that fair? Think about the leverage they would gain if that was a revenue producing site. For each day it was off line, it would be costing ME money, putting pressure on ME to negotiate out of the mess that I had nothing to do with in the first place. When I think like a dirty bastard, I imaging all sorts of cute ways this could be used as an anti competitive tactic in the affiliate world!

Just think of all of the affiliate sites that could be immediately taken off line because some company claims the websites are “confusingly similar” or files some other grey area complaint, knowing they don’t need to actually make a case, just file a complaint. THINK OF THE LOST PPC REVENUES when your landing page goes offline but you don’t know it!

This is pretty important -send an email TODAY and let ICANN know you won’t tolerate big business telling us how the Internet will be managed. Do it now, because in a few weeks, it might be too late, and you’ll probably regret it as your web sites get taken down.

Perhaps most important, pass the word. Let everyone in online marketing know about this a.s.a.p. because this is under consideration NOW and the comment period closes in JUNE!

* ICANN page (it’s buried in the details of that)

* Mike Berken’s write up (he lays it out for domain investors)

* email address to send a NO WAY email : [email protected]

ALL LINKS CAN BE FOUND HERE ~ ARTICLE: “Rapid Suspension System”

____

Peace!
Dan

 

[Ulysses]

Last chance to send your objections email.

See Sedo article here: http://sedo.com/links/showlinks.php3?tracked=&partnerid=&language=e&Id=2851


May/10/11|
Act by Midnight To Protect Your .NET Domain Rights
A special message from Phil Corwin, ICA Legal Counsel, to the domain community

Sedo, a founding member and platinum sponsor of the Internet Commerce Association (ICA), supports the rights of domain owners all around the world. At times, Sedo steps forward to help fight against policies that challenge, limit or eliminate the rights of domain owners, in an effort to support a fair and balanced domain system.

As a member of the domain community, we invite you to read this important message from Phil Corwin, Legal Counsel for the ICA. Even if you do not own .NET domains, the revised .NET registry agreement may impact your future rights regarding other top level domains (TLDs). We urge you to thoroughly review the information below and take action.

Message from Phil Corwin:

To the domain community:

Currently, your .NET domains can be challenged by trademark holders in a Uniform Domain Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) proceeding. The UDRP is far from perfect but it has a fair degree of predictability, provides adequate notice to registrants, allows you to opt for a 3-member panel, and lets you appeal an adverse decision under applicable national law. There may be a new threat to your .NET domains, though.

On April 3, 2011, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published the text of a revised agreement for VeriSign to run the .NET top level domain (TLD) as of July 1, 2011 (view the ICANN announcement). There’s nothing in that revised registry agreement of serious concern to registrants.

However, ICANN’s Business Constituency is considering sending a comment letter that urges ICANN to impose the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) and Trademark Claims Service (TCS), developed for the still-unapproved new gTLD program, on .NET domains through further amendment of the .NET registry agreement. Other trademark interest groups may make the same request; if this happens to .NET this year, it will almost surely be applied to .COM when that agreement is up for renewal next year. Registrants of .NET domains need to speak out now to preserve existing rights and avoid subjection to the URS, as well as to protect their .COM assets.

Why is this an issue? The URS is untested and its details are still in flux. ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) continues to pressure the ICANN Board to concede to trademark owners at the expense of registrants in order to get GAC signoff on the new gTLD program. Even in its present form the URS is far worse for registrants than the UDRP:

- A complainant need only to file a 500 word statement accompanied by a $300 fee.
- A registrant gets only 14 days to respond; failure to respond results in a default judgment for the complainant.
- There is only a single examiner with no possibility of a 3-member panel.
- There are no effective penalties for complainant abuse and the grounds for appeal are very narrow.
- A “loser pays” rule kicks in if a complaint applies to 26 or more domains held by the same registrant.

While a domain would only be suspended under the current form of the URS, the GAC also wants ICANN to give the complainant the first option to acquire the domain at the end of the suspension period – which would make it equivalent in result to a UDRP decision and a potentially low-cost, expedited means for hijacking domains. The GAC also wants ICANN to further water down the burden of proof for a winning complaint.

The comment period closes at midnight today, Tuesday, May 10, 2011. File a comment with ICANN by sending them an e-mail. You will receive a reply from ICANN asking that you confirm that you sent the email, which you must do.

SEND AN EMAIL

Here are some arguments you can use against imposing URS on .NET through this registry contract renewal:

- URS details are in flux. While untested, the URS clearly provides registrants with fewer rights than the UDRP.
- There is no foundation in any ICANN policy process for imposing new gTLD “rights protections” on incumbent gTLDs without careful study and deliberation -- after seeing how they work, or don’t, at new gTLDs.
- This is a big deal: .NET is the third-largest TLD after .COM and .DE, with nearly 14 million registrations.
- It’s fundamentally unfair to impose URS on .NET registrants. Individuals who wish to acquire future domains under new gTLDs would be notified in advance that they will be subject to URS. However, .NET domains have already been acquired, often at considerable expense, with the understanding that registration and use would only be subject to possible UDRP review.
- If trademark interest groups can get the URS imposed on .NET now, and .COM next year through its contract renewal, then they are likely to scuttle the ICANN-planned UDRP reform process (the only real prospect for balanced and comprehensive UDRP reform).

The value and security of your .NET assets are at stake. And, once again, if URS is imposed on .NET this year, the same will likely happen to .COM in 2012. So please take five minutes to send a comment to ICANN now to let them know what you think of this idea.

Thank you!

 

[companyone]

Hi,


I urge EVERYONE to comment on the proposed .net registry agreement.


Make it clear that, for the most part, .net should continue to be run the way it is today without any of the new rules being invented for new TLDs.


You can comment by sending an email to: [email protected].


Your Comments Will Appear Here:


http://forum.icann.org/lists/net-agreement-renewal/

***YOU ONLY HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT***


UPDATE:

Full Text Of The PROTECT IP Act Released: The Good, The Bad And The Horribly Ugly


Best To All,

Dan