| T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
East in Hollywood, Florida in
October and back to the West Coast for this
month's GeoDomain
Expo in San Francisco.).
Moving was also
complicated by the fact that Diana and I are both pack
rats, so we had a lot to move. I'm a
media nut so I had thousands of books, CDs and
DVDs to transport - most of which Diana thought
I should get rid of. Diana is an antique
collector (and once owned an antique store) but I
thought most of her antiques were junk that she
should get rid of. Funny how your perspective
changes if it is your stuff someone has
earmarked for the trash! Neither one of us was
willing to budge so we moved it all.
In the midst of
all of that packing, unpacking and traveling I had
to keep up with an already full editorial
schedule. Something had to give, so this monthly
opt-in newsletter went on hiatus from July through
October. We are finally settled in the new place
now, so barring another major disruption in life
(which I assure you will not be moving -
after this experience I am never moving
again) we expect to get back on our regular
monthly schedule in 2008 (this publication is sent out in the final
week of each month to those who sign
up to receive it).
Internet
Commerce Association Gains Traction As Threats
Mount
| In
a fast moving industry like this, a
lot of water has gone under the bridge
since our last newsletter. We covered the
key events on our site, but there was one
development during the past few months
that I think was particularly important
for the industry as a whole that |
|
|
should
be expanded on. That was seeing new
supporters step up during the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
East conference in October to provide
the money needed to keep the Internet
Commerce Association funded for
another year so the non-profit group |
|
can
continue to give domain owners a voice on Capitol
Hill, in front of ICANN and in
communications with mainstream media
outlets. |
As
domain names have become more valuable, opponents
are looking for any way they can to separate domain
investors from their assets. That includes getting
both UDRP procedures and laws changed to make
it easier to take domains away from their
current owners, including generic domains they have
no right to. The only way to fight this disturbing
trend is to band together and support an
organization that can effectively counter these
moves. That takes significant resources and
to date, the ICA is the only viable
organization that has formed to fill that
role.
| For
those not familiar with the non-profit
organization, it was founded just over a year
ago when a half-dozen concerned industry individuals
and corporations donated $50,000 each
to |
|
ICA's
Phil Corwin (left) and Michael Collins |
seed
the effort. The money was used to hire an Executive
Director and a Legal Counsel/Washington
D.C. lobbyist. The latter dual role has been
filled exceptionally well since day 1 by Phil
Corwin. The current Executive Director is
former Afternic Executive Michael
Collins (who replaced the first ED Jude
Augusta) and Michael has also proven to be a
good fit. Those two are the only paid employees
of the ICA. They answer to a Board of Directors
that is subject to annual |
| change,
as are the organization's officers, so that new
people and ideas get involved to broaden the
group's base and keep it moving forward. |
The
six original founding board members were Frank
Schilling (Name Administration, Inc. and
the author of the popular SevenMile.com
blog), iREIT, Oversee.net, Sedo,
Straat Investments and the World
Association of Domain Name Developers (the
organization that stages the T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
conferences). A few months after the ICA was
founded, the board invited to me join the board in
the newly created role of Independent Director to
broaden its base beyond corporate and large
portfolio owners and to add transparency to the
organization's operations by having a member of the
industry media sit in on and have a vote in board
decisions.
The
ICA board members do not receive (or want) anything
from the organization. Quite the opposite - their
participation in the ICA effort is costly to them in
them both time spent and money donated, but they
have made that sacrifice knowing that without such
an organization in place, the rights of domain
owners will be steadily whittled away until there is
nothing left to build a reliable foundation
on.
|
Frank
Schilling
One of six ICA founding members |
In
October, after one year in existence, the
board held its annual meeting in Hollywood,
Florida during the 2007 T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East
conference. At that meeting, original founding
members iREIT, Frank Schilling and Straat
Investments gave up their board seats. Now
that the ICA has gotten off the ground,
Schilling and Straat are turning their primary
attention back to their businesses, though
both remain active ICA members and strong
financial supporters of the organization.
Despite giving up his board seat (and vote on
ICA issues) Schilling donated another $50,000
to help fund the ICA's second year.
iREIT,
which has undergone a change of leadership in
the wake of a legal battle with Verizon,
has left the ICA. Many felt iREIT's presence
was an obstacle to increasing ICA support
because the lawsuit Verizon filed against them
centers on domains Verizon contends infringe
upon their trademarks. |
| The
ICA recently adopted a Code
of Conduct that, among other
things, requires members to "follow
accepted trademark law and respect the brands
and trademarks of others." It will be up
to the court to decide the merits of the
Verizon/iREIT case, but that is likely to be a
long process. By departing the ICA now, iREIT
has helped the organization move forward by
eliminating their role in the organization as
an issue. |
As
iREIT left, four new donors, including TrafficZ.com,
Reinvent Technology, Worldwide Media and
an anonymous giver stepped up to fill the funding
void by donating $25,000 each to the ICA
effort. Many smaller portfolio owners also signed up
at the standard $295 membership level after
hearing Corwin detail the increasing threat to
domain owners during a speech at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
East. Corwin spoke to the same issues earlier this
month at the GeoDomain Expo in San Francisco as he
continues to log thousands of miles traveling
wherever it is necessary to get the true story of
the domain industry out.
| For
those of you who have not heard Corwin
speak, I will have a follow-up to this piece
in the next newsletter giving you
specific details about the opposing
interests who are lining up against domain
owners. Corwin has been meeting those
challenges head on and without him out there
working on our behalf, we would already be
sidelined in the critical game being played
out in Washington, in the courts and before
ICANN that will decide our financial
futures. I would urge all domain owners to
visit the ICA
site and become familiar with
the organization's mission. If you have any
questions, contact Michael Collins through this
link on the site and I'm sure he
will be happy to answer them. |
In
Phil Corwin, domain owners now have a
man
in Washington speaking up for their rights
-
but everyone's help is needed to keep him
there. |
You
recognized an opportunity in domains and risked your
capital to take advantage of those opportunities
long before anyone else saw them. Others now want
what you have and they want it without paying you
what those assets are worth. Your livelihood is
increasingly at risk - and I am talking about
generic domain owners, not obvious TM infringers who
will always be at risk (and rightfully so). To win
the fight we need everyone on our side in the
game.
|
