8-26-99

WHEREAS, on April 30, 1999, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) presented a report with its recommendations to ICANN on, among other things, a uniform dispute resolution policy for domain name disputes; and

WHEREAS, at its Berlin meeting the Board referred the dispute-resolution recommendations to the Domain Name Supporting Organization and encouraged the testbed registrars to develop a model dispute resolution policy for voluntary adoption;

WHEREAS, on August 3, 1999, the DNSO Names Council submitted to the Board five recommendations on a uniform dispute resolution policy as consensus positions;

WHEREAS, the testbed registrars, under the leadership of America Online and register.com, consulted among themselves and with post-testbed registrars and Network Solutions and proposed a Model Dispute Resolution Policy for Voluntary Adoption, which approximately twenty registrars have agreed to adopt; it is now

RESOLVED [99.__] that the Board accepts the DNSO's recommendation that ICANN adopt a uniform dispute resolution policy for accredited registrars in the .com, .net, and .org top-level domains;

FURTHER RESOLVED [99.__] that the President is directed, with the assistance of ICANN staff and counsel, to prepare implementation documents for approval by the Board after public notice and comment, on a schedule that allows the policy to be put into place within 45 days.

FURTHER RESOLVED [99.__] that the Board gives the following guidance as to the preparation of the implementation documents:

1. The registrars' Model Dispute Resolution Policy should be used as a starting point;
2. The President or his delegate should convene a small drafting committee including persons selected by him to express views and consider the interests of the registrar, non-commercial, individual, intellectual property, and business interests;
3. In addition to the factors mentioned in paragraph 171(2) of the WIPO report, the following should be considered in determining whether a domain name was registered in bad faith:

(a) Whether the domain name holder is making a legitimate noncommercial or fair use of the mark, without intent to misleadingly divert consumers for commercial gain or to tarnish the mark;

(b) Whether the domain name holder (including individuals, businesses, and other organizations) is commonly known by the domain name, even if the holder has acquired no trademark or service mark rights; and

(c) Whether, in seeking payment for transfer of the domain name, the domain name holder has limited its request for payment to its out-of-pocket costs.

4. There should be a general parity between the appeal rights of complainants and domain name holders.
5. The dispute policy should seek to define and minimize reverse domain name hijacking;

FURTHER RESOLVED [99.__] that the President is authorized to provisionally approve dispute resolution providers under the uniform dispute resolution policy. From time to time, a list of provisionally approved providers should be compiled and provided to each accredited registrar to be incorporated into its policy. The DNSO is requested to recommend principles for a more formal dispute resolution provider accreditation program for consideration by the Board in 2000.

FURTHER RESOLVED [99.__] that the Board requests WIPO to provide recommendations on the topics set forth in a list to be transmitted to WIPO by the President.