Paris wants your domain name if it has Paris in it.

As the U.S. cedes more control of ICANN to foreign governments, many people are worried about what happens when censoring countries like China get a role in internet policy oversight.

Few people would ever think that countries like France would be a threat. But it appears that way, at least if the thinking of leaders in its capital are any indication.

Earlier today Domain Name Wire wrote about three domain disputes the city filed against owners of generic domain names, including WifiParis.com.

It turns out this isn’t the first time the city of Paris has tried to use its muscle in domain disputes. Back in 2006 the city threatened the owner of Paris.com, demanding that it turn over the domain name, according to a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in August, 2006. The lawsuit also says that the city of Paris contacted Register.com, threatening it with legal action in France if it didn’t transfer the domain name and cut off all access to the domain within 15 days. According to the lawsuit, the owners of Paris.tv and Paris.info were also threatened.

The lawsuit was eventually dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. That’s ironic, given that the city wanted to sue the owner of the domain in its own jurisdiction.

The city of Paris was also sued in 2007 over a trademark issue, but the documents in that case have been sealed.

Case law has long held that city names aren’t treated as trademarks, and that anyone can own a city .com domain name.

We’ve seen similar land grabs from other governments over the past several months, requesting that ICANN reserve all country and regions in both top level and second level domain names.

If this is what happens when other governments start to meddle in internet governance, you should be afraid.

ICANN’s future to become clearer on Wednesday.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will make an announcement tomorrow regarding the expiration of its Joint Project Agreement with the U.S. Government, Domain Name Wire has learned.

Although details are not available at this time, sources tell Domain Name Wire that The Economist‘s article regarding an “Affirmation of Commitments” is a fair representation of the new arrangement, barring any last minute changes.

Generally speaking, non U.S. governments will get more of a say in the governance of ICANN, but ICANN will remain a non-profit corporation based in the United States. The article in The Economist says there will be four oversight groups: competition among generic domains (such as .com and .net), the handling of data on registrants, the security of the network and transparency, and accountability and the public interest. The U.S. government will apparently have a permanent seat on the accountability and public interest oversight group.

Check in with Domain Name Wire on Wednesday for details.

Paris entity attacks generic domain names, including two domains that include the word “Paris”.

In a startling move, a quasi-governmental organization in Paris, France, has filed domain disputes against owners of generic domain names including the word “Paris” that have to do with internet access.

Ville de Paris filed cases against three domain names: WifiParis.com, Wifi-Paris.com, and Parvi.org.

In a 2008 dispute for the domain name VilledeParis.com, the organization described itself as “a public body established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest and not having an industrial or commercial character; in particular the Complainant is in charge of many missions of public-utilities notably in the fields of communication and information about activities available in the city of Paris.”

It appears that the organization may be behind a project called “Parvi” that will offer free Wifi in Paris.

WifiParis.com is owned by Salient Properties, which purchased Wifi.com and entered into a partnership with Domain Strategies to develop the domain name. WifiParis.com is a web site powered by Wifi.com that lists and maps hotspots in the city. Wifi-Paris.com does not resolve.

The organization appears to want the domain name Parvi.org because it is calling its wifi setup “Project Parvi”. Parvi.org appears to be a software developer’s wiki, and completely unrelated to Wifi and Paris.

Press freedom advocate opposed to ICANN governance changes.

Reporters Without Borders, an organization that pushes for freedom of the press, is urging the U.S. government to keep the status quo of internet governance. In an article on its web site, it suggests not handing any control of ICANN over to other governments.

No one underestimates the risks of maintaining an Internet governance system controlled by a single entity,” Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-François Julliard said. “But, given the current lack of a better solution, we think it would be better not to meddle with this mechanism. The EU proposal to create a sort of Internet G12 strikes us as dangerous. If it were implemented, nothing would stop countries that censor the Internet domestically, such as China, Saudi Arabia and Burma, from doing everything possible to restrict online access at the world level.”

Julliard added: “It is out of the question that governments that prevent their citizens from having unrestricted Internet access should tomorrow become the big shots in a worldwide Internet system. We prefer the current system which, despite its faults and weaknesses, has never threatened the free flow of online information. We therefore urge President Barack Obama not to rush into any decision that could do considerable harm to everyone’s right to unrestricted access to online information. The utmost prudence is required in this matter.

Reporters Without Borders, based in France, may be in for disappointment. The Economist has reported that ICANN is close to a deal with the U.S. government to enter a new phase of governance with more foreign government control.

The current agreement, dubbed the Joint Project Agreement, ends this month. Expect an official announcement on the future of the U.S.-ICANN relationship in the next 48 hours.

NameMedia has another strong sales week.

NameMedia, which sells domain names through BuyDomains and Afternic, had another big week with over $600,000 in sales. It sold Flying.com through its BuyDomains platform. The sale price of Flying.com was not disclosed, but Jets.com sold for $375,000 a couple weeks ago at Sedo.

The company’s median .com sale was $1,062 with an average selling price of $1,479. The median non-.com sale was $800 with an average sale of $1,328. These numbers do not include non-disclosed sales such as Flying.com. Many of the upper end sales are not disclosed, which may skew the numbers downward.

Here are some of the notable .com sales for the week:

wellthen.com $13,200
lovetolove.com $12,000
urecycle.com $5,400
affordablemoving.com $5,000
kimko.com $5,000
smartapplications.com $4,500
discountmedicalplan.com $4,488
prassociates.com $4,080
RetailFlowers.com $4,000
cyberceleb.com $3,788
magicpc.com $3,688
discounthealthplan.com $3,588
innovationnews.com $3,588
lecteurs.com $3,500
GreenCupid.com $3,500
comre.com $3,488
nutritionmarket.com $3,388
ampcorp.com $3,388
investprofit.com $3,288
blackpear.com $3,288
ObituarySearches.com $3,200
flexnetwork.com $3,188
humanline.com $3,141
mattressqueen.com $3,088
waterandenergy.com $3,000
boulot.com $3,000
healthandbody.com $3,000
archinfo.com $3,000
ourtribe.com $3,000
symbiontic.com $3,000
carperformancechips.com $3,000

Here are notable non-.com domain sales:

areacode.org $8,000
iot.net $6,500
mode.net $5,000
h2r.net $4,188
astral.org $4,000
airis.net $3,988
leep.net $3,788
birding.org $3,688
powdercoating.net $3,000
demark.net $2,788
humangrowthhormone.net $2,600
independentartist.net $2,521
ultrasearch.net $2,250
thecompass.net $2,088
MyChurch.net $1,900
onlinefinancedegree.net $1,730
onlinepsychologydegree.net $1,730
onlinemarketingdegree.net $1,730
onlineaccountingdegree.net $1,730
savingspoint.net $1,588
dentalhygienist.org $1,500