| Fragments
New Top-Level Domains Are Coming For several years, there have been proposals to introduce new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) into the Internet Domain Name System (DNS). Although the introduction of gTLDs raises several issues that are of concern to various members of the Internet community, significant progress has been made recently toward achieving a consensus solution. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors is expected to consider adopting a policy to introduce new gTLDs at its meeting in July 2000. The Names Council has recommended to the ICANN Board that: "...a limited number of new top-level domains be introduced initially and that the future introduction of additional top-level domains be done only after careful evaluation of the initial introduction." ICANN Announces CPR Institute as New Dispute Resolution Provider ICANN recently announced that the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution has been designated an approved provider under their Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) for domain name disputes. CPR, an alliance of 500 general counsel of global corporations and partners of major law firms, is the fourth dispute resolution provider to be designated by ICANN to handle domain disputes, joining the National Arbitration Forum , the Disputes.org/eResolution Consortium , and the World Intellectual Property Organization . The UDRP establishes a streamlined, economical process administered by neutral arbitration companies to provide a quick and cheap alternative to litigation. The procedure applies to cases that meet all three of the following criteria: The domain name must be identical or confusingly similar to a name in which the complaining party has trademark rights (either through a registered trademark or a common-law trademark); The domain name holder must have no legitimate right or interest in the name; The domain name must have been registered and used in bad faith. In its first few months of operation, the UDRP has proven to be a very popular means of quickly resolving trademark/domain name disputes. To date, 691 proceedings have been commenced under the policy involving 1022 domain names. Of those proceedings, 348 have already been resolved. For additional information on UDRP, see http://www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm The Internet Protocol Journal Editorial Advisory Board Dr. Vint Cerf , Sr. VP, Internet Architecture and Engineering MCI WorldCom, USA The Internet Protocol Journal is published quarterly by the Chief Technology Office, Cisco Systems, Inc. www.cisco.com Copyright © 2000 Cisco Systems Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. |