Having read the executive summary of the WIPO Domain Name Process II report, I cannot help but think that there is unnecessary effort in creating a regime for protecting personal names.

The report says that "for personal names .... it was found that there are no existing international norms dealing with their protection and that national legal systems provide for a wide diversity of legal approaches to their protection ... it is suggested that the international community needs to decide whether it wishes to work towards some means of protection of personal names against abuse of domain name registrations".

I suggest that those who feel they have a name worth protecting are often celebrities (for one reason or another) and they or their promoters can afford to trade mark their name and thus be protected via the existing UDRP.  

I suggest this as a solution to this international issue in the .au domain space.

Rikki

PS by way of aside, in the August 15 decision re: Yahoo Serious v. Yahoo!, a hearing officer of the Registrar of Trade Marks in Australia held that the registration by Yahoo! of trade marks do not infringe the rights Mr Yahoo Serious has in his name...

Rikki Lambert, Lawyer
Email:      rikkilambert§finlaysons.com.au
Website: http://www.finlaysons.com.au
Phone:    +61 8 8235 7400        Fax:  +61 8 8232 2944
Address:  81 Flinders St, Adelaide, South Australia


South Australia - a great place to live and work!

>>> "Ian Johnston" <ian.johnston&#167;infobrokers.com.au> 09/04/01 07:24pm >>>
The final Report of the Second WIPO Internet Domain Name Process - 'The
Recognition of Rights and the Use of Names in the Internet Domain Name
System' - is now accessible at
<http://wipo2.wipo.int/process2/report/index.html>


Ian Johnston, Policy Consultant
Small Enterprise Telecommunications Centre Limited (SETEL)
PO Box 58   Jamison   ACT   2614   Australia
02 6251 7848 (B)   02 6251 7835 (F)   0413 990 112 (M)
www.setel.com.au   mailto:ian.johnston&#167;setel.com.au 

SETEL is a national association advancing and representing
the interests of Australian small businesses as consumers of
telecommunications and electronic commerce.


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