External forces chip away at Internet’s overseer
After years of criticism, Icann — the organization spun off
by the U.S. government to oversee the smooth flow of the
world’s dot-com addressing system — is still trying to
prove that it has the world’s interests at heart.
 http://www.iht.com/articles/509038.html

ICANN president denies group is a regulator
If the Internet was the postal system, the only job of
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
would be to give each letter an address, the group's head
claims.
 http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=1768520435

http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=129022

http://www.silicon.com/networks/webwatch/0,39024667,39118983,00.htm

ICANN approves domain wait list
The nonprofit group's approval of VeriSign's so-called Wait
Listing Service puts to rest one of the company's chief
complaints about the organization.
 http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5171809.html
 http://www.bizreport.com/print.php?art_id=6428
 http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1545027,00.asp

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40112-2004Mar8.html

us: Net lawsuit could have global effect
On its face, the latest showdown between the company that
runs much of the internet's core and the organisation that
oversees key aspects of the global network is a basic
contractual dispute.
 http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=8402

ICANN Announcement ICANN Extends Global Outreach During
Rome Meeting
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
(ICANN) held its first meeting of 2004 in Rome where a
record number of delegates took part in over 27 fora to
discuss the issues regarding the technical coordination of
the Domain Name System (DNS).

http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-06mar04.htm

ICANN launches new body for country codes (reg req'd)
A new supporting organization representing country code
domain names was formed during the ICANN meeting in Rome
last week.

http://www.legalmediagroup.com/default.asp?Page=1&SID=13846&CH=5&CN=&CountryName=&Type=News

Cybersquatters snap up names in web domain race
Many Swiss companies, including Nestlé, have been pipped to
the post by "cybersquatters" in the rush to register new
internet domain names with accents.
 http://www.nzz.ch/2004/03/10/english/page-synd4775193.html

.CN domain name registration outnumbers .COM registration
in China during 2003
As of the end of February 2004, 350,000 .CN domain names
have been registered in China, CNNIC (China Internet
Network Information Center) office director Liu Zhijiang
told Interfax in an interview.
 http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Chin&pg=0&id=5702482&req=

Alemania admite "Ñ" y "Ç" en sus dominios
DENIC, organismo encargado del registro de los dominios
".de", permite desde el pasado 1 de marzo los siguientes
caracteres: Ñ, Ü, Ç y Å, en los nombres de dominio.

http://delitosinformaticos.com/noticias/107884504442557.shtml

Another Good Decision on Internet "Gripe Sites"
I want to call your attention to another court decision
that upholds the right of a consumer to create a
non-commercial web site criticizing a company, using the
company's name as the domain name. Lucas Nursery and
Landscaping v. Grosse, 2004 WL 403213 (6th Circuit March 5,
2004).
 http://www.circleid.com/article/527_0_1_0_C

Controlling National Top-level Domains -The Question of
Legitimacy
National Top-level Domains (TLDs) are controlled in
different ways and by different types of organs, including
governments, non-profit organizations and stock-listed
companies. The only thing the different systems seem to
have in common is that they all have been criticized for
lacking legitimacy. This paper will describe the different
types of systems used to control national TLDs and review
whether they meet the traditional demands for legitimacy.
It will also evaluate the importance of possible lack of
legitimacy in the different systems and try to provide
possible solutions.
 http://www.bileta.ac.uk/03papers/roos.html

ICANN's Role in Controlling Information on the Internet
Social control is a normative process whereby societies
introduce rules that shape their existence and internal and
external relations. In many ways, controlling information
within a society is an essential part of the process of
social control, as it serves to prevent the proliferation
of thoughts and expressions that can undermine a society's
overall goals. Controlling information therefore, is not
something new; rather it has always been used as a strategy
to determine the direction in which societies should move.
In the online environment the phenomenon of controlling
information takes on new dimensions. Since the Internet is
a zone that knows no national boundaries, no government can
reign autonomously over it, yet governments have managed to
come together to exert some control. A prime example of
this control lies in the management of the domain name
system (DNS) by the ICANN. In particular, the mandatory
character of the UDRP, the decisions taken in cases heard
under the UDRP regarding freedom of speech, and the
operation of the WHOIS database all serve to exemplify the
control ICANN has over information on the Internet.
Accordingly, each of these issues will be analysed in turn
so as to ascertain the exact power that ICANN possesses,
and the amount of influence that it has over information
online.
 http://www.bileta.ac.uk/03papers/schiavetta.html

CONFERENCE: United Nations Information and Communication
Technologies Task Force - Sixth Meeting of the UN ICT Task
Force; 25-27 March 2004, UN Headquarters
The Sixth Meeting of the UN ICT Task Force will address the
outcomes of the Geneva phase of WSIS. The agenda, once
finalized, will be posted on the UN ICT Task Force website.
 http://www.unicttaskforce.org/sixthmeeting
 http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/documents.pl?id=1288
(Español)
 http://www.un.org/News/fr-press/docs/2004/PI1558.doc.htm
(Français)

6th circuit refuses to transfer criticism domain (from BNA
Internet Law News)
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court
decision that denied a claim to transfer a domain name that
was used to criticize a landscaping company for bad
service. The court noted that the site was dedicated to
informing consumers about a bad experience, which was
consistent with the goals of the ACPA. Case name is Lucas
Nursery v. Grosse. Decision at:
http://pacer.ca6.uscourts.gov/opinions.pdf/04a0071p-06.pdf

ICANN and the Data Quality Act: Part VI
This is the sixth part of a multi-part series reported by
ICANNfocus. This part focuses on ICANN's Strategic Plan.
Read previous parts: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV,
Part V. "The requirement that ICANN develop a Strategic
Plan offers an important opportunity for achieving
meaningful reform of the organization. The Strategic Plan
is one of the key new ICANN duties contained in the most
recent amendment to their Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
with the Department of Commerce. The MOU specifies in
considerable detail the elements that ICANN is to include
in the Plan including issues ranging from executive
compensation to mechanisms for ICANN accountability..."
 http://www.circleid.com/article/526_0_1_0_C

Where Did the .Root Top-Level Domain Come From?
It was pointed out to me the other day that the
ICANN/NTIA/Verisign root zone file contains a previously
undiscussed top level domain. The contents of this TLD
suggest that it was created by Verisign, the company that
actually constructs the root zone file used by the dominant
set of root servers. (The same zone file is also used by at
least one of the competing root systems.) That TLD is
.root. It's existence is as real as any other TLD such as
.com or .org.
 http://www.circleid.com/article/518_0_1_0_C

ICANN and VeriSign agree on something - both get sued
The board of directors for ICANN (Internet Corporation of
Assigned Names and Numbers) has approved a controversial
new domain name service after almost two years of
negotiations with registrar VeriSign, which proposed the
service.

http://www.netimperative.com/cmn/viewdoc.jsp?cat=news&docid=BEP1_News_0000063146

WIPO decision - Jupitermedia Corporation and
Australia.Internet.com Pty Ltd v. Spotpress Pty Ltd.
trading as Internet Printing
Disputed domain name  - internet.com.au.

http://arbiter.wipo.int/domains/decisions/html/2003/dau2003-0005.html

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Check out http://www.auda.org.au/domain-news/dn-news for
the latest domain news. Within 24 hours of this news being
posted, a more recent edition of the news will normally be
posted to the auDA web site. The domain name news is
supported by auDA.

Also see
http://greta.electric.gen.nz/mailman/listinfo/internet-news
for an archive or to subscribe to the general news.

Sources include Quicklinks (www.qlinks.net) and BNA
Internet Law News (www.bna.com/ilaw)".

=====
David Goldstein
 address: 2/4 Dundas Street
             COOGEE NSW 2034
             AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David§yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 0015 - home

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