Re: [wg-b] How would .fame work?

[Milton Mueller <mueller@syr.edu>]

Martin B. Schwimmer wrote:

> Amazon.com becomes famous and then switches over to amazon.fame?

No, Amazon gets to register amazon.fame when it is deemed famous by WIPO. It
uses that name in addition to amazon.com, I would imagine.

> so people know to look only to amazon.fame?

Only? People learn that amazon.fame is associated with the globally famous
Amazon.com e-tailing company. No other Amazon company or organization could
register that string in the fame TLD from that point on. Some people would
use that URL to access Amazon, others would probably stick with the old one.
Over time (of course this is conjecture) one could imagine people with a
famous name in mind going directly to .fame as the most reliable place to
find what they want, especially if the TLD space is greatly expanded (as it
should be).

> and they would never think that any other amazon.xxx was associated with
> Amzaon?

Of course not. We cannot predict or control what people will think, so policy
should not be based on the notion that we can. But if another amazon.xxx used
the word to identify goods and services that created consumer confusion with
Amazon.com or attempted to pass itself off as the famous Amazon, action could
be taken under UDRP or national law.

> so third parties would never register amazon.xxx to sell books?

They might. (btw, Amazon sells a lot more than books.) But there are simple
and effective remedies if they do.

We oppose exclusions because the word "amazon" could be used in a variety of
non-commercial AND commercial contexts, and in the commercial context it
could be used to sell different things, many of which could be
non-infringing. Amazon.com does not have a monopoly on the name of a tribe
and a famous river.

Only a case-specific juridical process can decide whether the content and use
of "amazor.com" or "amazon.web" are trademark infringements.