[council] Country and Territory Names Working Group

["Winterfeldt, Brian J." <brian.winterfeldt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear all:

I confirm that Ms. Heather Forrest will be pleased to serve as the Co-Chair of 
the Cross Community Working Group on Country and Territory Names.  For your 
convenience and consideration, here are her expression of interest and her 
qualifications.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to send you the following statement of my 
qualifications in relation to the position of co-chair of the Working Group on 
Country and Territory Names.

I am a legal academic, currently serving as Deputy Dean of Law at Australian 
Catholic University in Melbourne, Australia. I am a member of the IPC and have 
actively contributed to the constituency since joining at the Seoul meeting in 
October, 2009. I have attended 10 ICANN meetings; I represented the IPC in the 
inaugural ICANN Academy Leadership Training in Buenos Aires. When the ICANN 
Board voted in June, 2008 to launch a new expansion process, I commenced a 
doctoral thesis on the protection offered by international law and ICANN DNS 
policy of geographic names. My project was undertaken at the Institute for 
International and European Economic Law of the University of Berne, 
Switzerland, where I had the opportunity to work closely with WIPO and other 
international materials and national and international law-making participants. 
My thesis was awarded highest honours, summa cum laude, in April, 2012 and it 
was published in 2013 by Wolters Kluwer as a book entitled Protection of 
Geographic Names in International Law and Domain Name System Policy. Reviews of 
the book are available online. The book has been nominated, and is currently 
being assessed, for a Swiss national research prize in law, the Walther Hug 
Foundation Prize. I have additionally published articles on various aspects of 
geographic name protection and ICANN policy-making in refereed academic 
journals. I have been invited by the International Trademark Association to 
chair a panel on the issue of geographic name protection later this year. From 
August 2011 to August 2012, I was employed as a senior consultant by a 
well-known technical back-end provider. In this role I advised several 
geographic new gTLD applicants; this experience provided me with the unique 
opportunity to put policy into practice and understand its feasibility in 
registry operations. I was appointed by the GNSO Council to the ccNSO Study 
Group on Country and Territory Names. I attended all meetings and worked 
collegially with SG members and supporting ICANN staff. My significant comments 
and contributions to the SG's Draft and Final Reports are evidenced in 
transcripts of SG meetings and in my updates to the IPC list. I was invited to 
advise on the drafting of the WG charter, which I support. I would be honoured 
to serve as co-chair of the WG if the GNSO Council approves of my doing so.

I look forward to your feedback, and toward the prompt appointment of a 
Co-Chair for this CCWG.

Thank you,

Brian

Brian J. Winterfeldt
Head of Internet Practice
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP
2900 K Street NW, North Tower - Suite 200 / Washington, DC 20007-5118
p / (202) 625-3562 f / (202) 339-8244
brian.winterfeldt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx<mailto:brian.winterfeldt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> / 
www.kattenlaw.com<http://www.kattenlaw.com/>


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