[comments-wgb] MPA comments on the WGB Formal Report - support for sunrise

["Shapiro, Ted" <Ted_Shapiro@MPAA.org>]

MPA COMMENTS ON THE WGB FORMAL REPORT
These comments on the WG-B Formal Report are filed on behalf of the Motion
Picture Association (MPA) which is a trade association representing the
interests of seven of the major international producers and distributors of
films, television programs, home videos, and digital representations of
audio-visual works. MPA's members include: Buena Vista Pictures
Distribution, Inc. (Disney); Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.;
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Twentieth
Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios, Inc.; and Warner Bros.
The MPA Member Companies also own innumerable trade marks as well as domain
names in both the generic top level domain (gTLDs) and country code top
level domain (ccTLDs) name spaces. As such, the MPA like many of the various
Internet stakeholders has a profound interest in the maintenance of the
stability and integrity of the Domain Name System (DNS) and its constituent
TLDs.

The MPA supports the Sunrise Plus 20 proposal put forward by the
Intellectual Property Constituency. This proposal provides a mechanism for
helping to "minimize the use of new gTLDs to carry out infringements of
intellectual property rights."  We believe that one of the key elements of
this proposal is the obligation on registrars to "take down" domain names
that are either (1) registered by people not entitled to use the sunrise
period (i.e., phony trade mark claimants) or (2) used in violation of the
terms of a "charter" that governs the operation of a TLD. 

Ted Shapiro
General Counsel - Europe
Motion Picture Association-Brussels
T- 32 (02) 778-2711
F- 32 (02) 778-2700