Changes

== INTA and ICANN ==

== INTA and ICANN ==

The INTA was critical of ICANN, telling its members to oppose ICANN’s proposed expression of interest (EOI) process, which it drafted in December, 2009 to solicit entities to submit basic information about themselves and their requests for new [[gTLD]]s. INTA cited that the decision of ICANN to accept pre-registrations was premature and also stressed that the pre-registration process was harmful to trademark holders, as it would force them to register their trademarks defensively in order to protect them.

The INTA was critical of [[ICANN]], telling its members to oppose ICANN’s proposed expression of interest ([[EOI]]) process, which it drafted in December 2009 to solicit entities to submit basic information about themselves and their requests for new [[gTLD]]s. INTA cited that the decision of ICANN to accept pre-registrations was premature and also stressed that the pre-registration process was harmful to trademark holders, as it would force them to register their trademarks defensively in order to protect them.

However not all INTA members were supporting the association’s decision. For instance, Minds + Machines, an INTA member, supports the EOI procedures. The Minds + Machines CEO Antony Van Couvering, in his post on the EOI comments area pointed out to ICANN staffers that INTA told its members to flood the EOI comment area with anti-EOI messages which the association thought would be effective in raising their voice against the process. Antony Van Couvering explained why INTA was opposing the EOI procedures in his post. ICANN had committed to resolve the overreaching issues related to the unlimited new gTLD program including Trademark protection, root zone scaling, malicious conduct and economic demand and impact before introducing the new gTLDs. INTA believed that these overreaching issues remained unresolved and that ICANN had not done necessary work that ensures that the potential benefits outweigh the risks, harms and the costs to the domain name system and to the public.<ref>[http://forum.icann.org/lists/draft-eoi-model/msg00024.html forum.icann.org; post from Antony Van Couvering, CEO, Minds + Machines]</ref>

Not all INTA members were supporting the association’s decision to oppose ICANN, however. For instance, [[Minds + Machines]], an INTA member, supports the EOI procedures. Minds + Machines CEO [[Antony Van Couvering]] pointed out to ICANN staff that INTA told its members to flood the EOI forum's comment area with anti-EOI messages, which the association thought would be effective in raising their voice against the process. Van Couvering explained the following as to why INTA opposed the EOI: ICANN had committed to resolve several issues related to the unlimited new gTLD program including trademark protection, root zone scaling, malicious conduct and economic demand and impact before introducing the new gTLDs, and the INTA believed that these overreaching issues remained unresolved and that ICANN had not done necessary work to ensure the potential benefits outweighed the risks, harms and the costs to the [[DNS]] and to the public.<ref>[http://forum.icann.org/lists/draft-eoi-model/msg00024.html forum.icann.org; post from Antony Van Couvering, CEO, Minds + Machines]</ref>

    

    

In a letter from Heather Steinmeyer, President, International Trademark Association (INTA) dated September 8, 2010 and from Alen C. Drewson, Executive Director of INTA dated October 12, 2010; INTA showed its willingness to assist ICANN in the identification of trademark protection and analysis of economic impact which it considered two of the overreaching issues that must be resolved before any new gTLDs are introduced.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/steinmeyer-to-dengate-thrush-08sep10-en.pdf Letter from Heather Steinmeyer, President, International Trademark Association, September 8, 2010]</ref><ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/drewsen-to-dengate-thrush-12oct10-en.pdf Letter from Alen C. Drewson, Executive Director of International Trademark Association, October 12, 2010]</ref>To this Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of the Board of Director of ICANN replied on October 27, 2010 accepting the offer and  

In letters from [[Heather Steinmeyer]], President of the INTA, dated September 8, 2010 and from Alen C. Drewson, Executive Director of the INTA, dated October 12, 2010, the INTA showed its willingness to assist ICANN in the identification of trademark protection issues and the analysis of the economic impact of the New gTLD Program.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/steinmeyer-to-dengate-thrush-08sep10-en.pdf Letter from Heather Steinmeyer, President, International Trademark Association, September 8, 2010]</ref><ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/drewsen-to-dengate-thrush-12oct10-en.pdf Letter from Alen C. Drewson, Executive Director of International Trademark Association, October 12, 2010]</ref>To this Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of the Board of Director of ICANN replied on October 27, 2010 accepting the offer and  

allowed INTAs participation in the economic analysis.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/dengate-thrush-to-steinmeyer-drewson-27oct10-en.pdf Letter from Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of the Board of Director, ICANN, October 27, 2010]</ref>

allowed INTAs participation in the economic analysis.<ref>[http://www.icann.org/en/correspondence/dengate-thrush-to-steinmeyer-drewson-27oct10-en.pdf Letter from Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of the Board of Director, ICANN, October 27, 2010]</ref>

== References ==

== References ==