International Olympic Committee threatens legal action against ICANN over new TLDs.
In a sternly worded letter to ICANN (here), International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it reserves the right to “take action against ICANN for damages resulting to the IOC or the Olympic Movement from the implementation of the gTLD proposal.”
IOC is concerned about the time and expense of protecting its brand as ICANN rolls out new top level domain names, such as .web.
That IOC is threatening legal action shouldn’t come as a big surprise. In my comments to ICANN I noted:
I am very concerned that this process will open up ICANN to a wave of lawsuits, frivolous or not, that may undermine the organization. From a risk management perspective, this could put the entire internet at risk.
But what’s also interesting about this is yet another organization is stepping up and requesting special status with ICANN. IOC’s letter is full of statements that its trademarks have special status and are more important than corporate interests. The organization even goes so far as to suggest that ICANN should reserve its trademarks in domain names, similar to what ICANN currently does with some of its common marks.
We’ve seen the Pope ask for special considerations of religious top level domains. Nations and cities think they should get special rights to their location names. Everyone thinks they’re special. If you give these groups even an inch then you open up the floodgates.
I’m beginning to realize ICANN CEO Paul Twomey is one smart guy. He’s quitting before the you-know-what hits the fan.
[Thanks to George Kirikos for the link.]
Link to the PDF is not working
fixed link, sorry
ICANN randomizes PDF attachment links, so one shouldn’t hard link to them. The actual PDF can be read via the HTML comment at:
http://forum.icann.org/lists/2gtld-guide/msg00019.html
The IOC sent me a C&D letter in early 1996 for a domain similar to OlympicProperty,com, back before I knew anything about TM’s. I may be the first person in the world to get a C&D letter for a domain name, and they may be the first to send one.
It just goes to show how much ahead of the game the IOC is. They know this will cause big problems and cost them plenty to try to control. It’s better to deal with ICANN now then fight a war that will never end once those domains are released.
I love where you say “everyone thinks they are special”.
I have a bumper sticker on my desk that states: “Always Remember You’re Unique Just Like Everyone Else”.
The IOC is one the most vociferous defenders of their mark. They will go after practically anything with the word Olympics in it like a hungry piranha.
The most effective solution to future TM violations with these vanity TLDs is something that will sound utterly ridiculous now, but don’t be so sure it will never happen – make the owners of these TLDs liable for selling TM violations, not the buyers for buying them. I know it sounds crazy, but what else can ICANN do?
If the NFL buys dotNFL or CNN buys dotCNN you’re not going to have a problem with TM violations because both of those organizations will keep an iron grip on distributing their names. But watch what happens when some guys get together to strike it rich with dotRestaurants and it ends up sitting there like a bump on a log. These are the people who will end up selling names to every wannabe speculator to recoup their investment.
What little respect I may have once had for ICANN continues to evaporate. The new TLD idea is riddled with potentially severe, long-term problems, and I am thoroughly disgusted with their game of gathering public response. They have no real interest in the collective input of the internet community. What they have is obvious commitment to their own self-interest. ICANN are going to implode, or be crushed. The new TLD concept will introduce terrible problems for many companies and organizations.
ICANN are single handedly taking it upon themselves to cripple companies, and force unjustified risks on 1000’s of companies. For what? I hope that everyone at ICANN responsible for supporting the new TLD idea gets to face the reality of one lawsuit after the other. They have brought this on themselves.
I predicted opposition would build as companies are FORCED to waste their time and resources defending themselves against ICANN’s perpetual self-serving. I will say this again: ICANN have no real rationale for pushing the new TLD’s. Except to selfishly elevate their status, and to profit at the expense of everyone.
David is right. I’ve never understood why there has been no accountability to the registry to this point. Makes no sense. Not sure it is a great comparison, but compare it to drug dealers, and the people that buy the drugs. Both get punished in that example. Why shouldn’t the TM dealers be punished?
I’ll be launching .sue
Who’s with me?
ICANN needs to be dissolved and replaced by another organization that brings balance to the entire domain system instead of just going after money imo.
I want ICANN to reserve all *donny* domains, just for me, not that Donny Osmond guy.
The arrogance of the IOC is breathtaking! They act as if their own commercial interests prevail over everyone and everything else. The world must be organized and run in a way that suits their convenience and protects their property. And they claim to be the sole judge of the adequacy of that protection. The macho reservations of rights in their letters are nothing but the superfluous rhetoric favored by small-bore lawyers trying to compensate for the weakness of their position. ICANN should just bin such letters!
@randonneur – You characterize it however suits you, but I doubt its about the overcompensating egos of “small-bore lawyers”. There are real principles and interests at stake. And ICANN is the culprit. That’s true no matter how eloquent your rebuttal. You seem to be missing the forest for the trees. Or reacting to some prior butt kicking you previously received from IOC.
ICANN dropping a time bomb in everyone’s living room is not superfluous either. And ICANN had better not “bin” any letters. ICANN’s authority is being injected into an arena of bigger and more aggressive players than themselves. We call that being too big for your britches.
And even more importantly, ICANN’s impetus for pushing new TLD’s has zero merit when stacked against the potential damage this proposal will cause to countless companies. And that’s the argument in a nutshell. So it really comes down to just how arrogant and selfish this organization really is. And how they calculate their chances. Currently, they are failing to factor in the repercussions to themselves collectively and personally. Which is a serious miscalculation. They will be accountable.
For what it’s worth, one of the first lessons learned by the IOC was around WinterOlympics.com, and they are probably still smarting about it.
I was at CBS SportsLine in 1997 when we registered WinterOlympics.com for the 1998 CBS Nagano Winter Olympics website — it was the last Olympics done by CBS before NBC did their exclusive multi-year deal.
The IOC was pretty ruthless trying to get the name to say the least — but to this day, CBS owns it but cannot use it in any promotions or TV placements.
The IOC owns SummerOlympics.com and it’s a dead page. Enough said.