+1 to Milton. I remember the old days when there was no way in a domain name to criticize a trademark owner without losing your domain name. Newspapers could criticize and critique large companies for practices they did not like even in headlines (such as abuse of migrant workers); Saturday Night Live (a popular US TV show) could parody; but not in domain names. For years we posited a ".SUCKS" domain name where you could register a trademark and make it very clear that the domain name was going to be used for legal expression - to criticize, critique and parody. I remember talking about how much I wanted it years ago - long before the New gTLD program. How it would make life clearer online and provide clear protections for speakers. $2500 is a lot of money, but not out of line with what is being asked by other New gTLD Registries. I heard that one new registry is demanding the absurd price of $30,000 for its "landrush" domain names -- and that's truly extortion. But $2500 while high is ballpark - that chance to pull your (your company's) trademark out of .SUCKS and not be part of the free speech and discussion to come. Best, Kathy : > > I’m on .sucks side on this one. > > In effect, the .sucks domain seems to be engaged in a legitimate form > of price discrimination between brand owners who want to suppress > critical expression about their brands and people who actually want to > use the domain for its intended purpose. > > Extortion means that one is threatened with violence or some other > form of illegal harm if one doesn’t pay up. The idea that paying a > high fee to preempt the mere possibility that someone might register > and use a critical domain such as brand.sucks is not extortion. > > --MM > > *From:*NCSG-Discuss [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *On Behalf > Of *Rafik Dammak > *Sent:* Friday, March 27, 2015 6:09 PM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* [NCSG-Discuss] [Info] IPC Letter to ICANN regarding .SUCKS > > +1 > > Hi everyone > > Please find attached the letter sent by IPC to ICANN about .sucks . > > Best Regards. > > Rafik >