Hmm, will it or wont it

[Badger]

be a landmark case at WIPO....??

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/23022006/323/swiss-authorities-turn-un-win-rights-name-cyberspace.html

Swiss authorities filing for rights to geographical / language generic names..

So will they or wont they win.... ??

 

[Dave_Z]

Problem is that it's a ccTLD that's being talked about. If the presiding judge
"rules" in favor of the government even if the registrant is able to prove s/he
has a legitimate use, well...you can imagine the implications...

 

[fonzie_007]

Badger, thanks for the post. I was not aware of this case. It could have some big implications.

 

[primacomputer]

This will be a very interesting case. If the Swiss government looses it will have serious repercussion on the autonomy of ccTLDs. If the Swiss government wins it will have serious repercussions on the free market integrity of the ccTLD market.

My personal opinion is that the ccTLDs should have as much autonomy as possible. If the Swiss government wants to run them like a dictatorship then so be it. This will only enhance the value of TLDs that are run according to market principals. I believe, however, that the Swiss government will be forced to bend a knee to the new world order.

 

[robertjr]

so much for the Swiss remaining neutral :hehe:

 

[Kate]

It has already happened with other European countries.
For instance I think Belgium has registered Belgium.be but had failed to register belgique and belgie (French and Dutch are national languages there, not English...). If I remember well it took them ages to recover the names... I believe they were sized by a Dutch company.

 

[edwinfelix]

Hope not. 'cause I'm holding LeGouv.be .