[3989] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Amazon v the Amazon: internet retailer in domain
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (PRIVACY Forum mailing list)
Thu Apr 25 23:09:09 2013
Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2013 19:46:33 -0700
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Amazon v the Amazon: internet retailer in domain name battle
http://j.mp/10Eeoli (Guardian)
The Seattle-based company has applied for its brand to be a top-level
domain name (currently .com), but the South American governments argue
this would prevent the use of this internet address for environmental
protection, the promotion of indigenous rights and other public
interest uses. Along with dozens of other disputed claims to names
including ".patagonia" and ".shangrila", the issue cuts to the heart
of debates about the purpose and governance of the internet. Until
now, the differences between commercial, governmental and other types
of identity were easily distinguished in every internet address by
.com, .gov and 20 other categories. But these categories - or generic
top-level domains (gTLDs) as they are technically known - are about to
undergo the biggest expansion since the start of the worldwide web
more than 30 years ago. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers (Icann) - a US-based non-profit organisation that plays a
key role in cyberspace governance - has received bids (each reportedly
worth almost $200,000 [129,000]) for hundreds of new gTLDs to add to
the existing 22. Amazon has applied for dozens of new domains,
including ".shop", ".song", ".book" and ".kindle". But it's most
contentious application is for its own brand.
- - -
Litigation bait extreme. This stuff is going to keep legions of
lawyers in billable hours for years. Not only should Amazon.com not
get .amazon, but they should not have an exclusive right to various
generic terms they filed for, like .shop, .song, .book.
This is insanity. But you already knew that.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com): http://www.vortex.com/lauren
Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org/pfir-info
Founder:
- Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org
- PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com/privacy-info
- Data Wisdom Explorers League: http://www.dwel.org
- Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org
Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren / Twitter: http://vortex.com/t-lauren
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com
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