Hi all

Below is the news with a number of research/academic
articles that will be of interest to some.

Cheers
David
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Check out http://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.

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ICANN claims success in African outreach
The ICANN has closed out its first African meeting in
almost two years claiming a successful outreach to the
Internet community on a continent with the lowest
Internet penetration of any.

http://cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=ED688EE3-43D5-482B-9C6E-EFAC0AA4A7DD

Proposed Amendments to Bylaws re: New ASO MOU
To the ICANN Board and the Community: On 21 October
2004, ICANN entered a new Address Supporting
Organization (ASO) Memorandum of Understanding

http://icann.org/legal/proposed-bylaws-amendments-04dec04.htm

ICANN successfully concludes Cape Town Meetings (news
release)
This week over 735 participants from 91 countries
successfully concluded the ICANN Annual Meeting in
Cape Town. The meeting included technical and industry
leaders, Internet users from Africa and around the
world, ministers and governmental representatives.
ICANN stakeholders from 25 African countries joined
the proceedings.

http://icann.org/announcements/announcement-06dec04.htm

Are We Attending the Right ICANN Meeting? By Karl
Auerbach
I have no idea who wrote that wonderful piece, Time
for Reformation of the Internet, posted by Susan
Crawford. (It wasn't me - I never use the word
"netizen".)
 http://www.circleid.com/article/822_0_1_0_C/

State and internet community reconcile
Long-strained relations between the government and the
internet community were considerably eased by last
week's International Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (Icann) annual meeting in South Africa,
Kalvin Brown, the director of Uniforum, said
yesterday.

http://www.businessreport.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=&fArticleId=2335844

Internet in Africa to Become More Accessible And More
Affordable
African ISPs struggling to survive in Internet
Protocol registries based in America and Europe can
hold their breath until April 2005, when the African
Network Information Centre (AfriNIC) will be fully
recognised and operational.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200412070359.html
 
Reaching Out to Africa
ICANN is holding a major conference in Cape Town as
part of its commitment to reach out to internet users
around the world.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200412070355.html

ICANN Concludes Annual Meeting in South Africa  	
More than 735cparticipants from 91 countries
successfully concluded the ICANN Cape Town Annual
Meeting including industry and technical leaders,
Internet users from Africa and around the world and
Ministers and Governmental representatives this week.
 http://www.thehostingnews.com/article816.html
 http://news.webhosting.info/t-3472
 http://www.cheaphostingdirectory.com/article720.html

Icann Rules Out ITU Merger
Extending the mandate of the ICANN could do
irreparable harm to it and Internet governance in the
future, says ICANN CEO Paul Twomey.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200412061251.html

African Internet Leaders Express Support for ICANN
(news release)
During the ICANN meetings in Cape Town, South Africa,
Africa's ISP Association, AfrISPA released a statement
of support for ICANN and its successful co-ordination
of IP addresses and the Internet domain name system.
 http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041206/ukm012_1.html

Meet Frank Fowlie, the Internet's physician
It would be very easy to paint the newly appointed
Ombudsman to Internet overseeing organisation ICANN as
a heroic figure. The fact that he hasn't been is
either a missed trick or a reassuring sign that
substance is more important than style - we can't be
sure which.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/08/frank_fowlie_icann/

Realtime Captioning of the GNSO Public Forum in Cape
Town, South Africa, Held on 3 December 2004
The following is the output of the real-time
captioning taken during the GNSO Public Forum held on
3 December, 2004 in Cape Town, South Africa.

http://www.icann.org/meetings/capetown/captioning-gnso-forum-03dec04.htm

Realtime Captioning of the GNSO Council Meeting in
Cape Town, South Africa, Held on 3 December 2004
The following is the output of the real-time
captioning taken during the GNSO Council Meeting held
on 3 December, 2004 in Cape Town, South Africa.

http://www.icann.org/meetings/capetown/captioning-gnso-council-03dec04.htm

ICANN GNSO Whois Task Force 1/2 Policy drafts:
1. Recommendations relating to improving notification
and consent for the use of contact data in the Whois
system.

http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/whois-notification-30nov04.pdf
2. A Procedure for conflicts, when there are conflicts
between a registrar's of registry's legal obligations
under local privacy laws and their contractual
obligations to ICANN.

http://gnso.icann.org/issues/whois-privacy/whois-tf-conflict-30nov04.pdf

Icann seeks new domain registrar
Icann is to choose a new registrar for the .net domain
next spring.

http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=135659

za: SA to Host Top-Level Domain Server
South Africa will host Africa's first top-level domain
name (TLD) server as part of a strategy by domain name
server manager UltraDNS to mitigate denial-of-service
attacks.
 http://allafrica.com/stories/200412061252.html

uk: Apple Goliath meets UK David in domain name spat
Apple is attempting to wrest control of a domain name
from a UK entrepreneur, but faces a tough fight from
the current owner of the Web address.
 http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=10355
 http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041208/101/f84xx.html
 http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041207/36/f82fv.html

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/12/08/0042207

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/06/apple_itunescouk_domain_dispute/

Time for Reformation of the Internet By James Seng
An anonymous writer posted an article titled Time for
Reformation of the Internet on Susan Crawford's blog.
The article calls for a liberal approach towards
ICANN, making a number of references to IETF and its
process.
 http://www.circleid.com/article/821_0_1_0_C/

kr: 2014 Winter Olympics bid committee receives
Internet domain
An online job-search/headhunting service business in
Namyangju, Gyeonggi-do, donated five domains to
Gangwon-do to be used by the 2010 Winter Olympics Bid
Preparation Committee including one that can be used
for 2014 Winter Olympics.

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/12/07/200412070039.asp

Ad Programs Drive Record Domain Name Growth
VeriSign is reporting the largest quarterly growth in
new domain names in Internet history, 5.1 million, in
its latest report, officials said Wednesday.

http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3442231

VeriSign Releases Domain Name Data
Internet security company and domain registry operator
VeriSign announced on Wednesday tiat it has released
the Domain Name Industry Brief for the third quarter
of 2004, noting the registration of 5.1 million new
domain names during the quarter, the highest quarterly
growth in Internet history.
 http://thewhir.com/marketwatch/ver120104.cfm

German Supreme Court rules in favor of 'generic domain
grabbing'
The German Supreme Court has ruled that merely
registering generic terms as domain names does not
constitute an unethical intent to cause damage, online
magazine Heise Online reports.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/06/german_supreme_court_allows_generic_domain_grabbing/

TPP appointed exclusive international domain registrar
for Solomon Islands
TPP Internet Australia (TPP), has announced that
Solomon Telekom Company Limited (Solomon Telekom ) has
appointed TPP as the exclusive international domain
name registrar for the Solomon Islands (.sb).

http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;744657391

Bidders line up for .net domain names registry
The role of US corporations in managing domain name
registries is destined to provoke heated debate as
various companies submit and defend their respective
bids for the .net domain name registry. Already,
information communication technology (ICT) industry
players have begun assessing the advantages of moving
the control of either .com, .net or .org registries
from the US to other parts of the world.

http://www.sabcnews.com/sci_tech/internet/0,2172,93460,00.html

Google Registers Three Domain Names
Google registered a few domain names last week.
 http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/041204-192238

Search Ads Drive Growth and Debate in Domain Business
The massive growth in pay-per-click advertising is
producing better than expected growth in the domain
name industry, but is also causing debate about how to
best divvy up the revenue, it emerged this week.
 http://au.news.yahoo.com/041203/20/s0nl.html

Premium Wireless Domain Name Now Being Offered (news
release)
Wireless names such as Freephones.com has announced
it's selling its rare and priceless domain name to the
wireless sector. The opportunity to own this quality
name will be of high interest to marketing executives,
major wireless carriers, and all internet based
services.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prwebxml185868.php

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/prweb/20041206/bs_prweb/prweb185868_1

BRS Media's dotFM to Offer an .FM / .AM / .TV
Multimedia and gTLD Domain Special (news release)
BRS Media's dotFM, the exclusive worldwide registry
for Web addresses ending in .FM, announced today a
special offer of a Free .COM, .NET or .ORG Domain Name
with the purchase of a .FM, .AM or .TV Domain Name!

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prwebxml186921.php

Extremely Valuable and Rare Two Letter Domain Name
www.CD.com for Sale (news release)
A very valuable and rare domain name www.CD.com is for
sale through www.Moniker.com and it is expected that
the domain name will receive high bids from a number
of interested parties, "We haven"t seen a domain name
this rare in some time." said Monte Cahn, CEO of
domain registrar www.Moniker.com."Many years ago all
of the one, two and three letter combinations for
domain names were purchased; CD.com will likely be
sold to a very anxious corporate bidder."

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/prweb/20041202/bs_prweb/prweb184802_4

Country Code 1 ENUM LLC Creates Technical Advisory
Committee (news release)
New Committee to Provide Technical Advice to the LLC
Regarding the Development of the Country Code 1 Tier 1
Request for Proposal
 http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/041207/latu018_1.html

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-07-2004/0002587478&EDATE=

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RESEARCH PAPERS
***************
Security in Cyberspace: Combatting Distributed Denial
of Service Attacks by Jennifer A. Chandler (University
of Ottawa Law & Technology Journal)
This paper suggests that DDOS attacks could be reduced
by improving software security, and that a promising
way to improve software security is for the targets of
DDOS attacks to sue the market-dominant vendors of
critical software for creating an unreasonable risk of
harm from attack by third parties. The target of a
DDOS attack is the best suited plaintiff in a lawsuit
against the vendor of insecure software. These
plaintiffs are not open to charges of contributory
negligence as there is essentially nothing they can do
to protect themselves. They suffer the kind of
concentrated loss that would make litigation
attractive. In addition, they do not face the obstacle
of contractual disclaimers and limitations of
liability within the software licence agreements that
exist between software vendors and the owners of the
insecure computers used to launch a DDOS attack.
It is suggested in this paper that, like a landlord or
occupier who is required to ensure the safety of those
within a physical space under the landlord’s control,
a near-monopolist vendor of software that defines the
structure of cyberspace must also ensure the safety of
those in that virtual space.
Part 1 of this paper will outline the general problem
of cyber security. Part 2 will discuss the particular
problem of distributed denial of service (“DDOS”)
attacks. Part 3 will address the prevention of DDOS
attacks, discussing measures that might be taken at
the level of the software vendor, the
internet-connected computer user, the Internet Service
Provider “ISP”, the perpetrator of the DDOS attack,
and the victim of the DDOS attack. Finally, Part 4
will explore the possibility of holding vendors of
unreasonably insecure software liable in negligence
for creating an unreasonable risk of harm to the
victim of a DDOS attack.

http://web5.uottawa.ca/techlaw/resc/UOLTJ_1.1&2.doc%2011(Chandler).pdf

Cyber-Criticism and the Federal Trademark Dilution
Act: Redefining the Noncommercial Use Exemption by
Daniel Prince (Virginia Journal of Law and Technology)
Cyber-criticism websites (e.g., [trademark]sucks.com)
present a problem under the Federal Trademark Dilution
Act’s ("FTDA") noncommercial use exemption. Though
case law is thin in the area of cyber-criticism,
indicators suggest that courts and commentators have
erred in their analysis of cyber-criticism. Both have
subscribed to the conventional belief that there is
only one type of cyber-criticism. In so doing, courts
have read the noncommercial use exemption too broadly,
undermining the FTDA's protections. This paper
identifies five types of cyber-criticism and argues
that courts should distinguish those cases where
cyber-criticism is used merely to criticize a famous
trademark (or its holder) from those where the
cyber-critic is principally free-riding off the
distinctive character of a famous trademark.
Ultimately, this Article proposes a model for courts
to use when evaluating cyber-criticism website
disputes under the FTDA's noncommercial use exemption.
 http://www.vjolt.net/vol9/issue4/v9i4_a12-Prince.pdf

Site Finder and Internet Governance by Jonathan
Weinberg (University of Ottawa Law & Technology
Journal)
In this essay, I will try to unpack the Site Finder
story. In Part 1, I will explain what VeriSign did,
and how others reacted. In Part 2, I will address the
Site Finder service from a technical standpoint, and
in Part 3 from a regulatory one. I will assume that
the reader has basic familiarity with ICANN and the
operation of the internet domain name system. Finally,
in Part 4, I will examine the Site Finder dispute from
an institutional standpoint.
The answer, I urge, is not simply to beef up ICANN
control; we don’t need ICANN as a heavy-handed
regulator of registry services generally. At the same
time, the internet’s own processes of self-correction
may not be sufficient in cases like this one to
preserve a stable basis for technical progress.

http://web5.uottawa.ca/techlaw/resc/UOLTJ_1.1&2.doc%2015(Weinberg).pdf

Net Effect II: Marked_Concern.Com by TEE JIM TAN
(Singapore Academy of Law Journal - 1999 - abstract
only)
Abstract: Never in the field of trade mark law has an
issue caused so much concern to so many people as the
protection of Internet domain names. ... In the
meantime, the Internet also spawned new technologies.
One of these allowed a company's Internet site to be
"linked" and "framed" to that of another, often
without its knowledge and consent. The other enabled a
trade mark to be embedded or "meta-tagged" in an
unrelated site, thus causing deception to users and
detriment to trade mark owners. The concerned deepened
with the emergence of the predatory practice of
"cyberpiracy" (or "cybersquatting"). Companies which
were not quick off the mark in registering domain
names found their names or trade marks usurped by
"cyberpirates" whose intention was to obtain the names
and marks for ransom. ... At root, the concerns stem
from the fundamental conflict between the domain name
system and the trade mark system. ... The purpose of
this paper is to review the nature and source of this
conflict and how it has already manifested itself in a
number of jurisdictions around the world. The paper
will also examine the international developments
concerning Internet governance and will conclude with
a hope and a prayer that ICANN will put in place
mechanisms in cyberspace which are as effective in
enforcing trade mark protection as those in the
physical world.

http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=625546

Internet Domain Name Disputes: Working Toward a Global
Solution by Sue Ann Mota (Southern Methodist
University Computer Law Review & Technology Journal)
The Internet is essential to the growth of the global
economy and the Domain Name System is essential to
accessing sites on the Internet. Over 170 registrars
are accredited to issue top-level domains, such as
.com, .net, and .org. Frequently, however, disputes
arise over who should own a particular domain name.
ICANN has adopted a Uniform Domain Name Dispute
Resolution Policy (UDRP) to address these disputes.
ICANN has approved four dispute resolution service
providers that are currently handling domain name
disputes. This article will examine the success rate
of complaints, the elements that must be proven in a
domain name dispute, the fees charged, and the number
of disputes handled by the four dispute resolution
providers. In addition, this article will make
recommendations for improving the current system.
 http://smu.edu/csr/articles/2004/Winter/Mota.pdf

Lessons from ICANN: Is self-regulation of the Internet
fundamentally flawed? by Jose MA. Emmanuel A. Caral
(Legal Affairs Manager, Shell Philippines Exploration
B.V. - International Journal of Law and Information
Technology)
Internet regulation is not an ‘all or nothing’ debate.
Government regulation dominates the physical layer,
but it is fragmented over many legal jurisdictions.
Self-regulation dominates the code layer it is
powerful and unique because the code is global,
cross-border and pervasive. Government regulation
dominates the content layer, but is fragmented over
many legal jurisdictions. Policymakers in the dominant
legal systems (the EU and the US) have long considered
Government regulation and self-regulation to be
complementary, instead of mutually exclusive
approaches. Internet governance, as it has evolved to
date, can best be described as a complex tapestry of
Government regulation and selfregulation. The Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF), the World Wide Web
Consortium (W3C), and the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) are the principal
mechanisms for selfregulation in the code layer. These
mechanisms fit awkwardly with traditional political
and legal concepts that are used to test regulatory
bodies, such as accountability and democratic
legitimacy. In 2002, ICANN embarked on a reform
process. This is a work in progress and it is too
early to gauge its success. Sceptics of
self-regulation in the code-layer will have to draw
comfort from the rapid growth of Government
regulation, and that these can be effectively
marshalled to counteract the most serious abuses (such
as anti-competitive conduct).

http://ijlit.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/12/1/1

ICANN May Be the Only Game in Town, But Marina del Rey
Isn’t the Only Town on Earth: Some Thoughts on the
So-Called “Uniqueness” of the Internet Volker Kitz
(Southern Methodist University Computer Law Review &
Technology Journal)
This article argues that this is an incorrect
assumption and that the world need not depend on ICANN
as it presently does. First, the current domain name
system (“DNS”) will be briefly explained and then its
inherent difficulties explicated. The article will
then compare the system to traditional concepts of
global communication and explain why cyberspace can
and should adopt telecommunications as a model.
Finally, it will explore an alternative system in
which ICANN would lose its unparalleled status.
 http://smu.edu/csr/articles/2004/Winter/Kitz.pdf

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WSIS & GOVERNANCE
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New measures taken in Tunisia to promote new
information technologies
Several decisions were taken today in Tunisia towards
promoting new information technologies. The decisions
were announced at the end of the meeting which was
dedicated to “the discussion of the means of
implementing the goals of President Ben Ali's 2004
electoral program as regards establishing the bases
for a knowledge-based economy,” it was officially
announced.
 http://smsitunis2005.org/plateforme/detail.php?id=283
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Sources include Quicklinks <http://qlinks.net/> and
BNA Internet Law News <http://www.bna.com/ilaw/>.

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(c) David Goldstein 2004

=====
David Goldstein
 address: 2/4 Dundas Street
             COOGEE NSW 2034
             AUSTRALIA
 email: Goldstein_David&#167;yahoo.com.au
 phone: +61 418 228 605 - mobile; +61 2 9665 0015 - home

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