Esther Dyson defends ICANN
The founding chairwoman of the Internet's governing institution
explains why we have to work with what we've got, even if it isn't
perfect.
 http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2002/07/25/dyson/index.html

Domain name policy absurd when it comes to trademarks
By MICHAEL GEIST
 Last week an Ontario court issued a landmark judgment involving the
domain name Canadian.biz. Effectively, it overruled a domain name
dispute resolution decision that had called for the transfer of the
domain from the original registrant to Molson Breweries. The court's
decision does much more than just reverse a plainly wrong initial
outcome -- it provides one of the clearest examples of the absurdity
of a domain name policy that grants trademark holders (such as, in
this case, Molson) rights that extend far beyond those traditionally
associated with trademark law. Following years of debate, the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers decided in the
fall of 2000 to establish seven new generic top-level domains,
including dot-biz and dot-info. When it became clear that most of
those new domains were to be allocated in either a random or
first-come, first-served basis, trademark interests expressed concern
that the new domains would provide fertile ground for a fresh round
of cybersquatting. Their fear was that speculators would snap up
domain names matching their trademarks and then demand sizable
payments in return for transferring the domain names.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20020725/TWGEIS

Judge orders alleged cybersquatter to shut down anti-abortion Web
sites
A federal judge has ordered a South St. Paul man to shut down his
anti-abortion Web sites with domain names that are confusingly
similar to the trademarked names of some of the nation's best known
companies.

http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/news/editorial/3721782.htm

Jurisdiction over website
Where a threatened wrong complained of related to the infringement of
a trade mark by use of a domain name on the internet, it was
sufficient to establish jurisdiction if it could be demonstrated that
the infringer’s website was intended to be of significant interest in
the country in which jurisdiction was claimed.	
 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-2985-351862,00.html
 http://www2.bailii.org/~jury/cases/ScotCS/DRU2606.html

ICANN Forefather Wants More Democratic Internet Governance 
Public participation may be messy, but the organization that manages
the Internet's addressing system must give ordinary Internet users
more say in its decisions, one of the men responsible for creating
the domain-name management body said today. 
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51142-2002Jul23.html

ICANN v Auerbach
ICANN statement

http://www.icann.org/legal/auerbach-v-icann/icann-reply-memo-15jul02.pdf
Auerbach Reply

http://www.eff.org/Infra/DNS_control/ICANN_IANA_IAHC/Auerbach_v_ICANN/20020715_auerbach_reply.html

Letter from M. Stuart Lynn to Nancy J. Victory
...In response to your letter of 11 July 2002, in which you asked
ICANN to describe the reform and evolution process going forward, I
wanted to let you know what steps are underway to complete this
process, hopefully by the time of our Shanghai meeting in late
October...
 http://www.icann.org/correspondence/icann-to-doc-19jul02.htm

ICANN moves against VeriSign retired domain land grab 
The Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers may block a
controversial proposed service from VeriSign Inc that would allow the
company and its partners to offer customers chances to register
expiring domain names, Kevin Murphy writes But VeriSign and its
allies say that ICANN would be overextending its mandate if it does
try to block the service.
 http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/26363.html

SCOOBY DOO FAN SITE DOMAIN STAYS WITH REGISTRANT (from BNA Internet
Law News)
Nominent has refused to transfer scoobydoo.co.uk to Hanna-Barbera,
the entertainment company that owns a trademark in the name. The
domain was registered by a fan of the show in 1999 for a fan site and
when the registrant asked for £3,000 for the domain to compensate for
the work he put into the site, the company launched an action under
the dot-uk dispute resolution process. The Nominet expert found that
the registration wasn't abusive, however, and there was nothing wrong
with setting a price for selling the domain.
 Decision at <http://www.nominet.net/drs/decisions/scooby-v-hay.html>
 Coverage at <http://www.demys.net/news/02_jul_23_scooby.htm>

ICANN FORUM NOW ONLINE (from BNA Internet Law News)
The video archive of the recent CATO forum on ICANN, which featured a
call for more public participation from Ira Magaziner, is now online.
Meanwhile, ICANN's Committee on Evolution and Reform has issued an
update that announces the creation a group to work on the formation
of an At-Large Advisory Committee.
  http://cato.org/events/020723bf.html

http://www.icann.org/committees/evol-reform/status-report-24jul02.htm

....

E-Democracy Links, UK Government E-Democracy Report and more ...
 http://www.publicus.net/articles/edemresources.html

Over the last year, governments around the world have started to 
explore "e-democracy" policies and applications that complement their


initial focus on e-government services.  This is an important trend 
to follow and requires civic activity from the local level on up 
around the world. Below are some key resources to help you explore 
e-democracy-related issues.

1. New E-Democracy Links Flyer

A simple two-page flyer with links to the top "E-Democracy Resources"


is now available in HTML, PDF, or Word format.  The flyer may be 
redistributed in print at conferences and other events.  Access the 
flyer at:
      http://www.publicus.net/articles/edemresources.html

2. UK Government Releases Major E-Democracy Paper, Host Online 
Consultation

The UK national government recently released a major paper on 
e-democracy titled, "In the service of democracy."  This is the major


e-democracy event of the year and will likely spawn similar policy 
development and e-democracy projects in other nations.

To access the report and online consultation options, see:
      http://www.edemocracy.gov.uk
To download their full 61 page, 1MB document in PDF, see:
      http://www.edemocracy.gov.uk/downloads/e-Democracy.pdf

3. Democracies Online Newswire - E-mail Announcement List

Now with 2500 members, DO-WIRE is the place for primary source 
announcements related to democracy, politics, government and 
information and communications technologies.  Since 1998 this 
moderated e-list has focused on the use of ICTs in governance and 
community (not on the politics or regulation of technology). 
To subscribe (no more than seven messages a week) to this free public


service, visit:
      http://www.e-democracy.org/do
See the sample subject lines below.

4. Other recent articles/resources from Steven Clift - 
http://publicus.net 

Online Consultations and Events - Top Ten Tips for Government and 
Civic Hosts
      http://www.publicus.net/articles/consult.html

The Future of E-Democracy - The 50 Year Plan 
      http://www.publicus.net/articles/future.html

Democracies Online Message Archive
      http://www.mail-archive.com/do-wire&#167;tc.umn.edu/
... including, additional UK e-democracy policy links
    http://www.mail-archive.com/do-wire&#167;tc.umn.edu/msg00507.html
Other sample DO-WIRE subject lines:
[DW] Young Voters and ICTs - 3 UK Reports
[DW] Major UK e-Democracy Consultation Paper Released 
[DW] Using Online Tools to Track Campaign Finance 
[DW] UK Fax Machine Uprising - BBC 
[DW] "Information Commons" - Reports, Articles, and Legislation 
[DW] Democracy, Freedom & Internet Conf - European Parliament 
[DW] Global E-Gov Survey, Internet Stats 
[DW] Broadband PewInternet, S Korea Broadband E-Democracy 
[DW] Evidence-Based Governance in the Electronic Age
[DW] Texting and Lobbying - Leading UK Example 
[DW] Web gives a voice to Iranian women - BBC 
[DW] Forum for European e-Public Services - e-Forum 
[DW] Ventura Not Running, MN Election Links, US Senate Race
[DW] Mobile E-mail and Canadian Liberal Party Politics 
[DW] Online Voting Articles and Links - New Resource 
[DW] Tunisian Online Journalist/Forum Host Jailed 


Please keep me informed of e-democracy-related happenings in your 
community and nation so I can continue to pass on the good word to 
those around the world working to make a difference with ICTs in 
everyday politics and democracy.  Send your DO-WIRE submissions to:  
clift&#167;publicus.net

Sincerely,
Steven Clift
http://www.publicus.net
Democracies Online
http://www.e-democracy.org/do

=====
David Goldstein
email: Goldstein_David&#167;yahoo.com.au
phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 0015 - home (from 31 July)

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