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[RRE]Petition to ICANN and the US Dept of Commerce
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Date: Tue, 11 May 1999 21:50:50 -0400
From: Dave Farber
>May 10, 1999 >PETITION TO ICANN AND THE US DEPT OF COMMERCE > >On May 6, 1999, ICANN posted the following statement was posted >on its web site at http://www.icann.org/wipo/wipo.htm > >"The ICANN Board of Directors will consider the WIPO Final >Report, including its annexes, at its May 27 meeting and will >take appropriate action, which may include from [sic] seeking >further comments on the recommendations, referring of some or >all of them to other ICANN entities, and/or adopting certain of >the recommendations." > >The undersigned strongly object to the last phrase in this >sentence, referring to "adopting certain of the >recommendations." We wish to see any reference to "adoption" >removed from the Berlin meeting agenda. > >Under the "bottom up" philosophy articulated in the White Paper >and in ICANN's own by-laws, important decisions regarding domain >name policy were supposed to be passed up to ICANN's board by >the Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO). The DNSO does >not exist yet. ICANN has encouraged numerous individuals and >organizations to make substantial investments in the creation of >the DNSO and its constituencies, with the promise that >good-faith participation in the process would give them a voice >in policy making. Those expectations would be unjustly >frustrated if ICANN adopted any recommendations of the WIPO >proposals in Berlin. > >ICANN's current board was appointed on a temporary basis and was >not elected by a membership. Its sole mandate is to get the >organization started and to fill the gaps in its membership, >board and by-laws. It is not appropriate for a board with >interim status to make lasting policy on such a sensitive and >complex matter. It is, in fact, a cause for great concern for >ICANN even to publicly propose adopting such proposals at this >juncture. > >The WIPO recommendations comprise over 120 pages of dense legal >prose. The final report will have been out for public >consideration only three weeks when the Berlin meeting is >convened. Whether one supports or opposes the proposals, it is >undeniable that they will have a profound and permanent impact >on domain name registrations and on international intellectual >property rights. No legitimate purpose can be served by hasty >adoption or by short-circuiting the deliberative process that >ICANN was created to foster. Furthermore, we question the >ability of the current Board to properly assess the WIPO >recommendations and comments about them amidst the flood of >comments and documents pertaining to other important matters, >such as the DNSO, ASO, and PSO formation, the definition of the >constituencies, and the Membership Advisory Committee >recommendations. > >We feel that the whole idea of ICANN would be undermined if the >interim board were to make fundamental and permanent changes in >domain name policy with inadequate information, without even the >possibility of consultation with a DNSO and the other supporting >organizations, and without members. The overall effect would be >highly destructive of the trust and cooperation that is required >to run the Internet properly. > >We urge the Board to wait until the DNSO is formed and then send >the WIPO report to the DNSO for the DNSO's consideration. > >Signed: >Laina Raveendran Greene, GetIT Pte Ltd., WIPO Panel of Experts, >SINGAPORE >Ellen and Peter Rony, Authors, Domain Name Handbook, USA >Milton Mueller, Syracuse University School of Information >Studies, USA >Lawrence Lessig, Harvard University, USA >David J. Farber, University of Pennsylvania, USA >Kathy Kleiman, Esq., Counsel, Domain Name Rights Coalition, USA >Scott Bradner, Harvard University USA >Anthony M. Rutkowski, USA >James V. DeLong, USA >Dan Steinberg SYNTHESIS Law & Technology, CANADA >Harold Feld, USA >Tressa Kirby, VRx, CANADA >Richard Sexton, VRx, CANADA >Gene Marsh, AnyCAST, USA >David J. Steele, USA >Gordon Cook, The Cook Report on the Internet, USA >Karl Auerbach, USA >Image Online Design, Inc. USA >Jay Fenello, Iperdome, Inc. USA >Patrick Greenwell, Telocity, USA >Mikki Barry, Esq. USA >Eric Weisberg, Internet Texoma, USA ```
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