JUDGE SAYS STRICK.COM CAN STICK WITH OWNER
A federal court judge in Pennsylavania has ruled that James
Strickland, the owner of strick.com, is entitled to keep his
domain.  The decision contains considerable discussion about
the intersection of trademarks and domain names including
noting "that Internet surfers are inured to the false starts
and excursions awaiting them and are unlikely to be
dissuaded, or unnerved, when, after taking a stab at what
they think is the most likely domain name for particular web
site guess wrong and bring up another's webpage" and that
"It is clear that nothing in trademark law requires that
title to domain names that incorporate trademarks or
portions of trademarks be provided to trademark holders. To
hold otherwise would create an immediate and indefinite
monopoly to all famous mark holders on the Internet, by
which they could lay claim to all .com domain names which
are arguably 'the same' as their mark. The Court may not
create such property rights-in-gross as a matter of dilution
law. ... Trademark law does not support such a monopoly."
Decision at
http://www.strick.com/aug27.pdf

SUN MOVES TO BLOCK DOT-BIZ REGISTRATIONS
Sun Microsystems has taken steps to prevent others from
registering dozens of names in which it claims a trademark.
The company's lawyers have sent letters to dot-biz
registrars demanding that they reject applications that
include Sun trademarks.  Included on the list are generic
words such as sun, enterprise, and ultra.  Sun letter at
http://www.lextext.com/sunletter.html
Coverage at
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/08/29/technology/29DOMA.html
http://australianit.news.com.au/common/storyPage/0,3811,2718989%5E442,00.html


ICANN AT-LARGE COMMITTEE RELEASES FINAL DRAFT
The ICANN At-Large Study Committee has released its final
draft report. The report recommends the creation of an At
Large Supporting Organization consisting of individual
domain name holders.  The supporting organization would be
based on six geographic regions with each electing one
member to the board.  While this would increase the number
of elected board members from five to six, it still falls
well short of the 50% representation discussed early on.
Draft at
http://www.atlargestudy.org/draft_final.shtml

CRITICISM OF THE ICANN AT-LARGE DRAFT REPORT
ICANN director Karl Auerbach has lashed out at ICANN's
At-Large Study Committee's final report.  In its draft
report, the committee recommends that the Internet user
community be given its own supporting organization within
ICANN.  Auerbach claims, however, that the proposal would
effectively prevent ordinary Internet users from having a
meaningful say in Web governance.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169544.html

DOT-INFO SUNRISE CLOSES AND CHALLENGES BEGIN
With the dot-info sunrise period closing yesterday, the
stage is set for challenges to many of the registrations.
WIPO will begin deciding disputes between rival registrants
on Wednesday.  There will likely be no shortage of work -- a
new study out yesterday found that between 15 - 25% of
dot-info registrations likely fail to comply with the
registration rules.  Study at
http://www.icannwatch.org/article.php?sid=318
Additional dot-info coverage at
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,46350,00.html

Names authority jumps on high-priced com.au offers
The .au Domain Authority (auDA) is getting tough on abuse of the
database of Australian domain names, the Australian Network
Information Centre (AUNIC), by throwing suspect users off the system.
 

http://it.mycareer.com.au/news/2001/08/28/FFXJEUWUQQC.html

DIGITAL DIVIDE-FIGHTING GROUP SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH UN
The Global Internet Policy Initiative, a coalition of US and
European based media and consumer groups working to bridge
the digital divide, has inked a cooperative agreement to
offer policy guidance to developing nations through the
United Nations Development Program.  The group hopes to
educate and advise government policymakers and grassroots
advocates on a range of Internet policy issues, including
universal service, privacy, technical standards, licensing,
digital signatures, content controls and the domain name
system.
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169456.html


=====
David Goldstein
email: Goldstein_David§yahoo.com.au
phone: +61 418 228 605 (mobile)

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