Abstract: For over ten years, the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP) has resolved nearly 20,000 domain-name disputes brought before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations organization that arbitrates UDRP disputes. The UDRP allows the holder of a legally protectable trademark to initiate proceedings to cancel the domain name or have it transferred to the trademark owner. Domain-name holders, though, have a number of defenses, including using their domain names in a noncommercial, fair manner. Although several empirical studies have analyzed various aspects of the UDRP, none has specifically examined this fair use defense. This study does what others have not. It analyzes the fair use defense in decisions before WIPO. Using WIPO’s online decision database, this study found that arbitrator and respondent nationality influence the success of a respondent’s fair use claim to a statistically significant degree. Specifically, respondents from the United States are more likely than those from other countries to succeed on a fair use defense. Additionally, arbitrators from the United States are more likely than those from other countries to find that a respondent’s use of a domain name was fair.This means that, under the UDRP, respondents from the United States enjoy greater speech protections than those from other countries, and that arbitrators from the United States are more sympathetic to speech interests than arbitrators from other countries. To improve the UDRP, I propose two revisions. First, ICANN should adopt a choice of law provision stating that the law of the respondent’s home country governs fair use disputes. Second, ICANN should implement a panel assignment provision in fair use cases that requires arbitrators to share the nationalities of the litigants. To download this paper by David A. Simon from Harvard Law School, go to: ssrn.com/abstract=1887888

Virtuelle Communities für Good Governance Der berufsbegleitende Studiengang “Master of Public Policy”, den die HUMBOLDT-VIADRINA School of Governance anbietet,… Download now

IT and Managed Services firm, Weidenhammer Systems said it has been awarded third-party recertification in its Web Hosting and Management Services operation under the Statement on Auditing Standards No.

Abstract: This paper examines the changing relationship between ICANN and national governments. ICANN was born out of a self-contradictory attempt to “privatize” domain name governance; its relationship with national governments has been fraught ever since.

Students at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business begin implementing their ideas before they graduate, according to the school’s dean Daniel Shapiro. “The key to start-up success is the school’s ability to help entrepreneurial and innovative students combine theory with practice in unique, forward-thinking and relevant ways,” says Shapiro

Virtualization | Feature Served Up Virtually A Catholic liberal arts college in Vermont is significantly reducing the number of its physical servers by going virtual. The effort is not only paying off in energy efficiency and cost savings, but it’s also allowed the college to establish a second data center dedicated to disaster recovery.

OneNeck Selected to Provide Data Center Hosting for Barrett-Eastman, CORE Construction and InnovatED’s IT Environments Scottsdale, AZ (Vocus) December 8, 2010 Managed hosting services company, OneNeck IT Services announced today it has entered into several multi-year contracts with service providers in the Phoenix area. This includes a managed hosting contract to support InnovatED’s Cloud Based eLS solution and co-location contracts with Barrett-Eastman Property Management, LLC and CORE Construction. Under the terms of the contract with InnovatED, an education solutions provider, OneNeck will provide managed hosting of their Microsoft Windows environment, as well as operating systems administration, network management and infrastructure management