[wg-b] Japanese Sunrise Program

["Michael D. Palage" <mpalage@infonetworks.com>]

Dear (former) WG-B Members:

I think this article shows that despite all the criticisms about the Sunrise
Program it was the best solution available.

Mike



JPNIC to Delay Registration of New Domain Names to Protect
Trademark Holders' Rights

October 4, 2000 (TOKYO) -- Japan Network Information Center (JPNIC) will
postpone the
acceptance of applications for registering general-use .jp Internet
domain names, which
was initially scheduled to start on Nov. 20.

The postponement follows JPNIC's decision to assign a priority period
for businesses to
register domain names matching their trademarks.

The center judged that it needs to delay the registration start by one
or two months to
make sure its decision is known widely by the concerned parties.
Takaharu Ui, a member
of JPNIC's planning division, says registration is likely to start in
January 2001, after the
New Year's holiday. The new starting date will be announced on Oct. 10.

The new .jp domain name has a new format that takes .jp right after a
product name or any
unique character string, such as netbusiness.jp. Unlike conventional
domain name
addresses, .jp domain names can have a Japanese character string.

Up to now, JPNIC has been limiting the registration of .co.jp domain
names to one per
company, but many businesses have expressed a desire to use the names of
their
products as the domain name for their sales promotion homepage. The
registration of the
general-use .jp domain names should satisfy these demands.

In its policy on .jp domain names, the center was announcing that as a
rule it will register
new domain names on a first-come, first-served basis, and it will not
take any special
measures to protect domain names that have corresponding trademarks.

The decision to delay the start of registration signals a policy change,
and is seen as a
step forward by the center to protect the right of companies to use
their trademarks as
domain names. JPNIC has agreed to use the Arbitration Center for
Industrial Property
(ACFIP) as a mediator in cases of domain name disputes. However, major
corporations
and other companies that have a number of trademarks have voiced their
dissatisfaction
over JPNIC's reliance on the post-dispute problem-solving system, saying
it is bound to
create chaos.

It has been pointed out that legal technicalities may make it impossible
for the legitimate
owner of a trademark to successfully sue a third party for using a
domain name that
matches its trademark.

Related stories:CFIP to Handle Troubles Concerning JP Domain Names
Mediawall.cc to Start .cc Domain Registry Service
Japanese Firms Winning Back Dot-Com Names from Cyber-Squatters

(Nikkei NetBusiness)