Hi Sam,

Somebody awake smells the coffee....
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2014-05-22-en

Gakuru


On Fri, May 16, 2014 at 4:02 PM, Sam Lanfranco <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>  On 15/05/2014 9:25 PM, Alex Gakuru wrote:
>
> Beyond if just "outreach" role, one actually wonders which globally
> binding instrument mandated ICANN's derived legal authority to act as
> enforcer on global Intellectual Property rights. Can it be contested in a
> court of law in any of all other countries/regions outside of US/
> California? And if so, what next?
>
>
> Alex is scratching at an important area here. When one looks at theories
> of governance, and at legislation and case law with regard to trademarks,
> it is probably correct to say that there is a Pandora's Box of unresolved
> issues around how ICANN is currently trying to handle the terms of the
> process for awarding domain names, the dispute resolution process, and in
> particular the trade mark ownership/infringement issue. This is not the
> place to do that analysis but it is worth flagging two elements that bring
> complexity to any progress here.
>
> The first has to do with governance. In most governance models there is
> quite a separation of powers as between the policy (legislative) process
> and the dispute/infringement (adjudication) process.  The currently
> existing approaches to handling these two powers may be one source of
> complications.
>
> The second has to do with while there are international accords and
> agreements on many aspects of Intellectual Property, the area of trademarks
> is particularly complicated. Much of policy and enforcement is at the
> national level and, in contrast to images (or patents), words can be less
> distinct and delineated. The ICANN logo is distinct. If a groundnut farmers
> organization in India creates ICANNuts.org, and ICANN decide there is an
> issue, where should it be addressed, and what policy (legislation) and
> precedents (case law) should apply? There needs to be a broader and deeper
> stakeholder engagement for a better understanding of elements of the
> problem at this level, rather than focusing on the specifics of who did
> what, and when given the current situation. The trademark issue is a case
> in point.
>
> It comes as no surprise that the first efforts to address these issues at
> the global level will have problems. For much of the Internet ecosystem, we
> are on a journey across partially uncharted terrain populated by various
> stakeholders protecting and extending existing rights into these new
> territories. The new structures and processes we are building draw from
> existing ideas of structure and process. The challenge is to “learn while
> doing”, and build based on that learning. While it is impossible to
> separate structure from process, we need a sense of mutuality of interest
> in finding workable structures and processes here (e.g., with regard to
> adjudication) even if within those structures and processes we will have
> disagreements over desired outcomes.
>
> Sam Lanfranco
>
> --
> ------------------------------------------------
> "It is a disgrace to be rich and honoured
> in an unjust state" -Confucius
> ------------------------------------------------
> Dr Sam Lanfranco (Prof Emeritus & Senior Scholar)
> Econ, York U., Toronto, Ontario, CANADA - M3J 1P3
> email: [log in to unmask]   Skype: slanfranco
> blog:  http://samlanfranco.blogspot.com
> Phone: +1 613-476-0429 cell: +1 416-816-2852
>
>