[registrars] Anti-Trust Reminder

["Michael D. Palage" <michael@palage.com>]

Hello All:

Although I encourage the constituency to continue to engage in a
constructive dialog surrounding the WLS and NeuLevel's allocation of Class
2.B names, I would like to offer the following gentle reminder of what the
constituency SHOULD NOT be discussing for legal reasons.

Listed below is an excerpt from a pharmaceutical trade association' website
at http://datia.org/about_datia/about_datia/antitrust_guidelines.htm. It is
one of the resources that I have been referencing in connection with my
personal research on anti-trust laws:

START EXCERPT

5. Refusals to deal with suppliers, customers, or other competitors. For
example, if a group of collection facilities were to agree to boycott a
national laboratory for the purpose of forcing that supplier to lower its
prices, such an agreement could run afoul of the antitrust laws. Critiques
of supplier products or customer practices can also raise the danger of
being construed as an unlawful group boycott, and should only be conducted
after consultation with legal counsel. Such discussions may be permissible
where efficiencies will be achieved through the exchange of ideas and where
precautions are taken to avoid the inference of an agreement to deal with
suppliers or customers only on certain terms.

Penalties for violation of US antitrust laws include: Fines per violation of
up to $10,000,000 for a corporation and $350,000 for individuals; and
individual employees who are involved in activity that violates the
antitrust laws can also be sentenced to jail for up to three years, and
possibly more if mail or wire fraud are involved.

END EXCERPT

Although intellectual property concerns have been a driving force since the
inception of ICANN, I personally believe that anti-trust laws will have the
biggest impact in the long term evolution of ICANN. It is for this reason,
that I have invited the following anti-trust attorney to be the first
speaker at the upcoming Registrar meeting in Dulles. I believe that she will
provide an excellent primer to registrars that may not be aware of the
nuisances of US anti-trust law.

I look forward to seeing everyone in Dulles in a couple of weeks.

Best regards,

Michael D. Palage


Bio of anti-trust attorney speaking at the Registrar meeting:

Veronica G. Kayne, former Assistant Director of the Federal Trade Commission
’s (FTC’s) Bureau of Competition, Anticompetitive Practices Division.
Ms. Kayne joined the FTC in June 1996 as a staff attorney in the Office of
Policy and Evaluation. In October 1997, she was promoted to Deputy Assistant
Director of the Anticompetitive Practices Division, and became Assistant
Director in May 1998. In her role as Assistant Director, Ms. Kayne headed
the Anticompetitive Practices Division and was responsible for directing and
supervising the Bureau’s non-merger investigation and litigation activities,
including the development of Commission policy with respect to B2B Internet
exchanges, permissible uses of patents and copyrights, exclusive dealing,
and price discrimination. She also managed, supervised, and participated in
all phases of litigation, evaluated case leads and results of
investigations, developed legal theories and analysis, and negotiated
consent agreements. Recent cases in which Ms. Kayne has played a lead role
include: In re Summit, resulting in a consent agreement breaking up a patent
pool that controlled laser vision correction technology; In re VISX, an
administrative trial alleging monopolization through enforcement of a
fraudulently obtained patent; McCormick and Company, the first
Robinson-Patman case pursued by the FTC in nearly two decades, resulting in
a consent agreement prohibiting price discrimination by the leading spice
manufacturer; and In re Sony, resulting in consent agreements prohibiting
major distributors of pre-recorded music from enforcing minimum advertised
price policies. Prior to joining the FTC, Ms. Kayne was an antitrust
attorney with the firms of King & Spalding (1987-1996) and Milbank, Tweed,
Hadley & McCloy (1983-1987).

Ms. Kayne graduated from the University of Pennsylvania (B.A. 1976), the
University of California (M.A. 1978 ), and Villanova University School of
Law (J.D. 1981, cum laude). Ms. Kayne has spoken and written on various
antitrust issues, and has been a principal drafter of several ABA Section of
Antitrust Law publications. She is currently a member of the steering
committee for the Antitrust and Consumer Protection Section of the DC Bar.