I hear the bongo drums telling ICANN no new tlds - can you hear them too??? PLAN FOR DOMAIN SUFFIXES HAS COLLEGES GIRDING FOR TRADEMARK FIGHTS College and university officials are unhappy with the amount of time required to combat cybersquatters, and Stanford and Yale Universities believe that ICANN's proposal to add new top level domain names will simply cause an even larger headache. Universities and other institutions of higher learning could avoid some of these predicted troubles if ICANN provides trademark owners with the right to new domain names first, says lawyer Mitchell Stabbe. Further, educational institutions should consider lobbying ICANN for this type of policy and advise the International Trademark Association of their views. A division at Yale University has created a computer program that locates domain names that include the word Yale and then gives those names to university lawyers, says Daniel A. Updegrove, Yale University director of information-technology services. Stanford University utilizes an outside service on a weekly basis to locate registered domain names that contain the word Stanford. The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act and the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy both provide new legal opportunities for educational institutions, says Stabbe. (Chronicle of Higher Education, 4 Aug 2000) Joe Baptista The dot.GOD Registry http://www.dot.god/
