[ALAC] Rights versus benefits

JJS jjs.global at gmail.com
Wed Aug 14 15:21:18 UTC 2013


*Interesting point brought up by Evan, and the ensuing discussion (Holly,
Carlton). Two points:

*
*1) Does this new terminology signal a growing dichotomy between the
declared internationalisation of ICANN and a conservative comeback? What I
mean is this:

*
*- the CEO has made statements about the need for enhancing the
international dimension of ICANN, and has changed the role of ICANN offices
outside the USA (Istanbul, Singapore);

*
*- these changes, which have a powerful symbolic value, do not tally with a
longer-term trend which is apparent in the opposite direction. By intent or
not, the Board now contains such a proportion of conflicts of interest that
a new seating arrangement has been devised for the public meetings of the
ICANN Board. Also, the commercial sector has lost any shyness it may have
had in proposing or defending policy which puts their considerations in the
fore.

*
*- Question: is the change from "rights" to "benefits" an indication of
this wider mutation?

*
*2) From the Internet user point of view (and therefore within the pale of
ALAC), 2 interesting questions now arise:

*
*- in California law, what are the precise implications of "benefits"? One
can look at it from the standpoint of a trademark lawyer who is keen to
harmonize Internet legislation, still very much in the making, with US
trademark law, see
http://www.registeringatrademark.com/trademark-registration-benefits.shtml

*
*- Will the continued alignment of Internet practices on US Trademark
legislation amplify the already skewed balance between global users (most
of whom are outside the USA) and the domain name business (the majority of
which is and will for some time remain in the USA)?

*
*Regards,
*
*Jean-Jacques.
*
*

*


2013/8/14 Carlton Samuels <carlton.samuels at gmail.com>

> ....Um, we noticed that and remarked on it.  Recall your mentioning the
> introduction of the term 'licensee' in the room and linking it to the piece
> of the business to be run by Akram? It wasn't a full discussion but the
> matter was framed.
>
> To my mind these ideas/things/instances - change in the language of the
> RAA, the talk about 'licensees' and Akram's operations - all converge.
>  ICANN has finally fully and publicly embraced the proprietorship model of
> character sets, known and unknown,  that it has initiated with
> bootstrapping of the DNS.
>
> -Carlton
>
>
> ==============================
> Carlton A Samuels
> Mobile: 876-818-1799
> *Strategy, Planning, Governance, Assessment & Turnaround*
> =============================
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 13, 2013 at 2:37 PM, Evan Leibovitch <evan at telly.org> wrote:
>
> > Hello all,
> >
> > One of the things that I noticed in the last Registrar Accreditation
> > Agreement -- snuck in at the last moment, so I didn't notice it before it
> > was presented at Durban -- was the replacement of the term "Registrant
> > Rights and Responsibilities" with "Registrant Benefits and
> > Responsibilities" in some but not all cases. Indeed, it looked like a
> very
> > sloppy search-and-replace effort because the word "rights" was removed in
> > some places but not others in what appears as random fashion.
> >
> > Given that the ALAC did not have an opportunity to discuss this during
> the
> > Durban meeting, I raised it in an individual capacity during the Durban
> > Public Forum (see page 97 of the Forum
> > transcript<
> >
> http://durban47.icann.org/meetings/durban2013/transcript-public-forum-18jul13-en.pdf
> > >
> > ).
> >
> > When asked, Fadi spent what seemed quite a long time (not reflected in
> the
> > transcript) conferring silently with his staff (including legal staff),
> > after which he promised to "look into it".
> >
> > I would like to ask Olivier and/or At-Large staff to please follow up on
> > this. I think that the community is owed an explanation of how the term
> > "registrant benefits and responsibilities" ever crept into ICANN lingo; I
> > don't ever recall it ever being used in a policy context.
> >
> > Thank you,
> >
> > --
> > Evan Leibovitch
> > Toronto Canada
> >
> > Em: evan at telly dot org
> > Sk: evanleibovitch
> > Tw: el56
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