Andrew McLaughlin posted the following:
----
Q: Who is on the drafting committee?
A: The drafting committee consists of Louis Touton (ICANN counsel), Kathryn
A. Kleiman (of the Association for Computing Machinery's Internet
Governance Committee, a member of the DNSO Non-Commercial Domain Name
Holders' Constituency, and co-founder of the Domain Name Rights Coalition),
Steven J. Metalitz (General Counsel of the International Intellectual
Property Alliance, a member of the DNSO Trademark, Intellectual Property,
Anti-counterfeiting Interests Constituency), and Rita A. Rodin (of Skadden,
Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, retained by America Online, a member of the
DNSO Registrars Constituency). These individuals were selected because of
their legal drafting abilities and because they represent a diversity of
viewpoints that spans individual, non-commercial, business, intellectual
property, and registrar concerns and interests.
----
Hopefully that will clear up who is on the committee. Given this
information, I would like to make clear that although I am certain
that Kathy continues to embody DNRC ideals and our mission, she is
not speaking for DNRC in this matter. There is no representative for
individual interests on this committee.
The principles Kathy is pressing to the committee include:
1. The Internet is the most participatory marketplace of mass speech that this
country and indeed the world has yet seen. Accordingly, protection of the
openness and freedom of this speech must be the primary priority of Internet
policy and protections.
2. No Internet policy should prevent individuals or businesses from using
their full imagination and creativity to create and label products, services
and content for the Internet.
3. Polices for the Internet must affirmatively and expressly set out
protections for free speech and open communication as well as intellectual
property protections.
4. Internet policies must protect and promote the development of new Internet
products and services by entrepreneurs and small businesses.
However, given the latest "turns in the law" governing domain names
and trademarks, and the fact that there has never been any type of
consensus in the Internet community for whether there should even BE
a uniform dispute policy, this entire path is currently ill advised,
especially since once again there is no representative for individual
domain name holders' interests.
