[kictanet] New blog and whitepaper "How Threats Against Domain Names Are Used to Censor Content"

Sat Jul 29 14:22:59 EAT 2017

Hi Ali and Gace,

Registry Africa developed its own Mark Validation System in addition to the
TMCH. You may read more here
http://www.africainonespace.org/content.php?tag=43&title=Rights+Protection

Regards

On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 1:27 PM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Grace
>
> It's very relevant and I think .Africa is implementing this during the
> Sunrise Period. Maybe @Alice Munyua can give us more information?
>
> By the way even KeNIC is implementing a Sunrise Period in the delegation
> of the second level domains (.ke) which I understand kicked off last
> weekend?
>
> @KeNIC can you maybe educate us on this?
>
> Regards
>
> *Ali Hussein*
>
> *Principal*
>
> *Hussein & Associates*
>
>
>
> Tel: +254 713 601113
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> Twitter: @AliHKassim
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> On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 7:06 AM, Grace Mutung'u via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> I wonder how much.africa is implementing the trade mark clearing house
>> and whether this debate is relevant for Africa.
>>
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>
>>
>> EFF is now encouraging registrants to avoid domains that are subject to
>> the TMCH.  From https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/
>> 2017/07/how-threats-against-domain-names-used-censor-content:
>>
>> "Today EFF and Public Knowledge are releasing a whitepaper titled Which
>> Internet registries offer the best protection for domain owners?
>> <https://www.eff.org/files/2017/07/26/domain_registry_whitepaper.pdf> ...
>>
>> To draw one example of out of our whitepaper, if you're running a website
>> to criticize an established brand and you use that brand as part of your
>> domain name, it may be wise to avoid registering it in a top-level domain
>> that offers special rights and procedures to brand owners, that could
>> result in your domain name being wrongly taken away or could embroil you in
>> dispute settlement proceedings.
>>
>> This probably means you'll want to think twice about registering in any
>> of the newer global top-level domains (gTLDs), which provide brand owners
>> access to a privately-run Trademark Clearinghouse that gives them veto
>> powers that go far beyond those they would receive under the trademark law
>> of the United States or those of most other countries.
>>
>> For example, under U.S. trademark law, if a trademark applicant sought to
>> register an ordinary word such as smart, forex, hotel, one, love, cloud,
>> nyc, london, abc, or luxury, they would have to specify the category of
>> goods or services they provide, and protection for the mark might only be
>> extended to its use in a logo, rather than as a plain word. Yet each of the
>> plain words above has been registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse
>> <https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/03/icanns-special-privileges-trademark-owners-are-theworst>,
>> to prevent them being used in *any *of the new gTLDs without triggering
>> a warning to prospective registrants about possible infringement.
>>
>> This applies regardless of whether the planned usage covers the same
>> category of goods or services as the original trademark—indeed there isn't
>> even any way for the registrant to find out what that category was, or even
>> which country accepted the mark for registration, because the contents of
>> the Trademark Clearinghouse database are secret. And since 94% of
>> prospective registrants abandon
>> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-02-23-en> their attempted
>> registration of a domain after receiving a trademark warning, this has a
>> drastic chilling effect on speech.
>>
>> EFF is currently participating in an ICANN
>> <https://www.eff.org/issues/icann> working group fighting to ensure that
>> brand owners' veto rights aren't extended even further (for example to
>> catch domains that include *typos* of brand names), and to prevent these
>> outrageous rules being applied to older gTLDs such as .com, .net, and .org.
>> But for now, you can minimize your exposure to trademark bullying by
>> avoiding registering your website in one of the new domains that is subject
>> to these unfair policies. Our whitepaper explains what to look for."
>>
>> --
>> Jeremy Malcolm
>> Senior Global Policy Analyst
>> Electronic Frontier Foundationhttps://eff.orgjmalcolm@eff.org
>>
>> Tel: 415.436.9333 ext 161
>>
>> :: Defending Your Rights in the Digital World ::
>>
>> Public key: https://www.eff.org/files/2016/11/27/key_jmalcolm.txt
>> PGP fingerprint: 75D2 4C0D 35EA EA2F 8CA8 8F79 4911 EC4A EDDF 1122
>>
>>
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>>
>>
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> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
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