The Internet's key site identity system is in mounting danger from new
> techniques that could cause havoc by turning it into a free-for-all
> market, the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO warned on > Monday.
> And the United Nations' agency said the latest trends in registering
> top-level domain names (TLDs) -- like
formatting link
-- could
> undermine dispute procedures under which patent holders can pursue
> "cybersquatters." ...
This is one of the worst Reuters articles I have ever read. The reporter should immediately be sent to re-education. It confuses patents and trademarks, and more importantly, it takes at face value a press release full of self-serving scare mongering from WIPO, which is basically the international trademark lawyer's lobby.
Oh, no, there might be domain names that resemble trademarks that are not owned by someone other than the trademark owner. Consumers, who are too stupid to breathe without corporate assistance, will be helpless. The world will come to an end.
Give me a break.
R's,
John
PS: I quit my position on the ICANN ALAC a couple of weeks ago, largely because this kind of nonsense ties ICANN up in knots.