[lac-discuss-en] GAC statement on "morality and public order" objection procedure included in DAG version 4

[Dev Anand Teelucksingh]

Dear all,

The Government Advisory Committee (GAC) has written to the ICANN board
re: proposed objection procedure to new gTLD applications on "Morality
and Public Order" grounds included in version 4 of the Draft Applicant
Guidebook (DAG) for new gTLDs.

http://gac.icann.org/system/files/GAC_on_MoPo_August_4_2010_0.pdf

The text of the letter is included below

--
Dev Anand Teelucksingh
LACRALO Secretariat



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Governmental Advisory Committee Chair
Mr. Peter Dengate Thrush
Chairman of the Board ICANN

4 August 2010

RE: Procedures for Addressing Culturally Objectionable and/or Sensitive Strings

Dear Peter,

The GAC firmly believes that the absence of any controversial strings
in the current universe of top level domains (TLDs) to date
contributes directly to the security and stability of the domain name
and addressing system (DNS) and the universal resolvability of the
system. As a matter of principle, and consistent with Sections 3(b)
and 8(a) of the Affirmation of Commitments and the core values
contained in Article 1, Section 2 of ICANN's Bylaws, the GAC believes
that the objective of stability, security and universal resolvability
must be preserved in the course of expanding the DNS with the addition
of new top level domains to the root. The GAC urges the Board to
ensure that this fundamental value, which preserves the integrity of
the DNS, is incorporated as an element of the public interest standard
to which it has committed in the Affirmation of Commitments.

In this regard, the GAC believes that procedures to identify strings
that could raise national, cultural, geographic, religious and/or
linguistic sensitivities or objections are warranted so as to mitigate
the risks of fragmenting the DNS that could result from the
introduction of controversial strings.

While the GAC appreciates that the proposed objection procedure on
"Morality and Public Order" grounds included in DAGv4 was intended to
satisfy the concern noted above, the GAC strongly advises the Board to
replace the proposed approach to addressing objections to new gTLD
applications based on "Morality and Public Order" concerns with an
alternative mechanism for addressing concerns related to objectionable
strings.

The terms "morality and public order" are used in various
international instruments, such as the Paris Convention for the
Protection of Industrial Property, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR). Generally, these terms are used to provide the basis for
countries to either take an exemption from a treaty obligation or to
establish by law limitations on rights and freedoms at the national
level. Judicial decisions taken on these grounds are based on national
law and vary from country to country. Accordingly, the GAC advises
that using these terms as the premise for the proposed approach is
flawed as it suggests that there is an internationally agreed
definition of "Morality and Public Order". This is clearly not the
case.

The GAC therefore recommends that community-wide discussions be
facilitated by ICANN in order to ensure that an effective objections
procedure be developed that both recognizes the relevance of national
laws and effectively addresses strings that raise national, cultural,
geographic, religious and/or linguistic sensitivities or objections
that could result in intractable disputes. These objection procedures
should apply to all pending and future TLDs.

Yours Sincerely,

Heather Dryden
Chair of the Governmental Advisory Committee,
Senior Advisor to the Government of Canada.


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