Question: Does ICANN deal with Domain Name Dispute? What are its activities in this area?

Nominee Replies

Sureswaran Ramadass - posted on 2000-09-30 04:59:21 Yes it does. It is called UDRP. You can get more info at the ICANN website. Johannes Chiang - posted on 2000-09-27 02:51:29 ICANN is a supreme organization that manages domain name affairs. ICANN has made policy (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, i.e. UDRP ) for domain name disputes. So far there are 4 ICANN approved providers for the mediation and arbitration for domain name disputes but none of them is located in the Asia/Pacific region. For the time being, the so-called UDRP is the only guidelines which all of the providers must follow before resolution. In my view point, the UDRP system alone is not the most perfect way to solve Domain Name Dispute problems. So far, most of the decisions are for complainants, viz. the trademark holders. At present, solutions for domain name disputes are still under an educational period and I believe, if I am elected as the board member of ICANN, I will work hard to figure out a better way to solve this problem to protect both Name Holders and Trademark Holders. Especially, I would like to introduced preventive methods to avoid potential conflicts. Masanobu Katoh - posted on 2000-09-21 14:40:17 As answered by Mr. Gao, ICANN does provide a dispute settlement mechanism. Please refer to: www.icann.org/udrp/udrp.htm I should emphasize that ICANN’s UDRP is a very unique mechanism, where the parties can solve disputes relating to domain names cheaply, quickly and, most importantly, fairly. As you see in my website (www.mkatoh.net), I believe that the UDRP is a good model to follow for many other disputes relating to the Internet and e-commerce. Lulin Gao - posted on 2000-09-20 02:00:23 ICANN doesn’t handle the settlement of individual domain name disputes. As you know, assisted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, ICANN has developed a uniformed policy and procedural guidelines for the resolution of disputes involving abusive registration (or cybersquatting) practices. The resolution of domain name disputes will be handled by the competent courts and arbitral tribunals as well as dispute service providers accredited by ICANN.