Valuable practices for the domain name system

This article first appeared in Bugnion Journal – To view the Journal in full click here

Last February the Domain Name Association (DNA) – a non-profit business association that represents the interests of the domain name industry – published its first set of “healthy practices”  for the domain name system.
Of the various practices dealing with several issues, public opinion focused on the proposed creation of a voluntary third-party mechanism, similar to the UDRP, to address infringements of copyrighted material through the use of domain names.
The Public Interest Registry, manager of the .org top-level domain, was the only registry to state that it intended to implement the DNA’s “Copyright ADRP”, but was also first to stall its plan for a Copyright Infringement Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy just a few days after the release of the HDI.
This sudden about-face followed an outburst of dissent from some opinion makers, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which reportedly described the DNA’s “Copyright ADRP” as “ill-conceived”.
The Domain Name Association has also distanced itself from the “Copyright ADRP” and the policy currently seems to have been put on hold indefinitely.
However, whether by way of DNA’s “Copyright ADRP” or a different initiative by another body, the implementation of a legal enforcement mechanism to fight piracy on a more efficient and cost-effective basis, yet respectful of the principles of due process, remains an embraceable goal.

© BUGNION S.p.A. – May 2017