IP Justice Publications
IP Justice Statement on ICANN’s Responsibility to Respect Human Rights
IP Justice submitted a statement today in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) regarding its relationship with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). In its submission, IP Justice argued that ICANN needs a better legal framework that will obligate the organization to respect internationally recognized legal principles and uphold basic human rights. ICANN's status as a private corporation, arguably without any legal duties to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, is an inadequate governance structure for a global public resource that is critical to human development. IP Justice stated, "ICANN’s structure must be rooted in a firm foundation and a legally enforceable obligation to uphold basic rights. Today more than ever, we see the promise and the power of a free and open Internet to empower citizens and strengthen democracies. And we recognize the critical need to ensure the Internet remains an engine of human progress and freedom. Respect for human rights in the policies governing the DNS is critical to furthering the global public interest." IP Justice Statement on ICANN's Responsibility to Respect Human Rights (.pdf) The NTIA official notice for comments on ICANN is here. Comments submitted to NTIA are posted here. United States Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) RE: Docket No. 110207099-1099-01 [...]
IP Justice Comments on ICANN Plans for New Top-Level Domains: Keep the Core Neutral – ICANN Should Avoid Expanding Scope of Mission to Include Enforcing “Morality” and Fighting “Terrorism”
IP Justice submitted brief comments today to ICANN regarding its plan for introducing new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). Specifically, IP Justice raised concerns about policy proposals that threaten freedom of expression on the Internet and seek to expand ICANN's mission to include ensuring "Morality and Public Order" (MAPO) and preventing "terrorism" through personal background checks. IP Justice believes both of these ICANN proposals are mis-guided and will harm the healthy development of the Internet and the global public interest.
IP Justice Comments on ICANN Accountability & Transparency Concerns: Lack of Accountability to Non-Commercial Users Remains Problematic for ICANN’s Promise to Protect the Public Interest
IP Justice is deeply concerned that ICANN is insufficiently accountable to relevant non-commercial interests. Certain interests, such as business interests (in particular the trademark and domain name industries) are over-represented at ICANN both in structure and in practice. On the other hand, non-commercial interests and individual Internet users are not given the appropriate representation, although some improvements have been made in recent years. There is a real worry that ICANN is an "industry organization" and works predominantly for trademark interests and the domain name industry. Too often non-commercial concerns are ignored by ICANN; without any real "muscle" behind non-commercial interests, ICANN has little incentive to protect those interests in its policy development process...
IP Justice Statement to ICANN on Need to Respect Decision of Independent Review Panel on .XXX Domain
IP Justice supports the swift adoption of the decision of the Independent Review Panel (IRP) by ICANN and the inclusion of the applied for .xxx domain name into the root. This IRP decision should not be, and cannot be, a referendum on pornography as some comments urge. This decision is only about ICANN's accountability mechanism - its means of correcting its past mistakes, and in particular its mishandling of the .xxx domain name application...
IP Justice and Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure File Amicus Brief to US Supreme Court on Software Patents
Two international intellectual property policy groups IP Justice and the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) filed an Amicus Curiae Brief in the United States Supreme Court in the Bilski v. Kappos case dealing with software patents. The US Supreme Court's decision in this case is expected to be a landmark decision on the limits of patentability on abstract ideas....
Public Interest Groups in ICANN Appeal to New President For Fairer Treatment For Civil Society
The organization that represents Non-Commercial Internet Users in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) issued an open letter to the Board this week, expressing concern about the possible failure of ICANN's attempt to balance the representation of commercial and noncommercial interests.