Press Release
May 31, 1997

The Domain Name Rights Coalition Opposes WIPO's Planned Jurisdiction
Over Non Trademark Holders' Domain Names


The Domain Name Rights Coalition has called upon the World
Intellectual Property Organization to drop its assertions of
jurisdiction over all disputes between domain name owners and
trademark holders and to restrict its proposed arbitration rules to
disputes between large intellectual property owners.  Without the
consent or even debate of its member countries, WIPO seeks to make its
Arbitration Center, which offers "arbitration and mediation services
for the resolution of commercial disputes between private parties
involving intellectual property," (WIPO website http://www.wipo.org)
the center of disputes for large trademark owners seeking to revoke
the domain names obtained by small businesses, entrepreneurs,
community organizations and individuals for a variety of communication
purposes.

"WIPO has overstepped their UN mandate, and is not taking the small
businesses and non commercial interests of the Internet into
consideration," said Mikki Barry, Board Member of the DNRC.  "They are
chartered to cater solely to the interests of large owners of
intellectual property interests, interests often in direct opposition
to the larger goals of the free flow of information that the Internet
was created for. Allowing an organization made up of intellectual
property owners to decide a dispute between Jane McDonald and
McDonald's Corporation is ludicrous at best.  The outcome is already
mandated."

"It is a second Internet coup d'etat attempt.  Early this month the
ITU tried to seize power over the creation and assignment of Internet
domain names and this week WIPO tries to seize power over the
arbitration of domain name disputes with only the interests of large
intellectual property owners in mind.", said Harold Feld, Secretary of
the Domain Name Rights Coalition.  "The shame of it is that the WIPO
proposals would kill the diversity of speech that brings people onto
the Internet and ultimately to the sites of large corporations."

The Internet is the most powerful form of international communication
that exists today. It allows every individual to publish his/her
personal and political views, communities to form across international
borders, and circulation and availability of information and databases
to urban and rural areas alike. In little discussed but increasingly
widespread cases, the ability of all individuals, organizations,
political groups, and business, including entrepreneurs and small
businesses (businesses too new or too unsophisticated to have obtained
trademarks), to communicate on the Internet is being threatened by
trademark abuse and overreaching.

To protect the speech of everyone equally, and not favor large
intellectual property owners, the DNRC in its Position Paper to WIPO
stated that WIPO must:

1.  Adopt trademark specific domain names at the international level,
e.g., .TM, and propose them at national levels

2.  Limit the scope of WIPO Arbitration Center to the .TM domain name
spaces and disputes between intellectual property owners over domain
names

3.  Add affirmative language to the WIPO arbitration guidelines
upholding the value of noncommercial speech on the Internet and
affirming traditional limitations of trademark law, including news
reporting and parody.  Further, because citizens and companies across
the world use common letters, words and language, WIPO must affirm
that duplicate use is expected and will be protected on the Internet
as in all other mediums of communication.

4.  Apply rules and policies to domain name spaces with the same
selectiveness and care as in all other mediums of communication and
acknowledge that a blind application of one set of rules and policies
across all domain name areas, including domain names devoted
exclusively or primarily to noncommercial speech, would produce
disastrous results and drive valued forms of communication offline.

"WIPO has lost any claim of impartiality to domain name arbitration
proceedings. Nowhere in the proposed rules does WIPO acknowledge the
terrible situation of "reverse hijacking," where large companies abuse
their trademarks by claiming exclusive rights to domain names with
basic dictionary words such as "prince" or "roadrunner," said Kathryn
Kleiman, President of the Domain Name Rights Coalition.  "Trademark
rights are limited by the law of every country, but are not even
acknowledged by WIPO. WIPO is an advocate for intellectual property
owners, it has no claim or right to be an impartial arbitrator."

About the Domain Name Rights Coalition:

The Domain Name Rights Coalition represents the interests and views of
entrepreneurs, small businesses and individuals on the Internet.  The
DNRC works for equitable, consistent and responsible domain name
policies from international governmental organizations, the National
Science Foundation, Network Solutions, Inc., and all entities who
control portions of the Internet.  Its representatives have served on
the State Department's Working Group on Domain Names and regularly
assist and advise domain name owners worldwide.

To obtain a copy of its position paper to WIPO, please contact Mikki
Barry at ooblick@netpolicy.com.  The DNRC website is located at
http://www.domain-name.org.