[ga] [INS TLD KFC] PUBLICROOT REPRESENTATIVE NOTICE - VALIDATION OF .KFC INS TLD FAILED

[Joe Baptista <baptista@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The following notice (and exhibits) are permanently indexed at the 
following URL:
http://www.publicroot.org/correspondence/PR-NOTICE-Sept-27-2007.pdf

The following is an ascii copy of the notice. It does not contain any 
exhibits. Exhibits are contained in the published notice as per the URL 
given above.
PUBLICROOT REPRESENTATIVE NOTICE

VALIDATION OF KFC TLD FAILED
September 27, 2007

This is a public notice to the Inclusive Name Space community and other 
interested third parties. Distribution of this notice is encouraged and 
unlimited. This notice shall be distributed to the Directors of the Top 
Level Domain Association, INAIC (Internet Names Authorization & 
Information Center), the Federal Trade Commission, Yum! Brands Inc. and 
various community lists. A permanent copy of this notice shall be posted 
to the PublicRoot Consortium web site.

Investigation and findings:

The PublicRoot Representative conducted an investigation and audit into 
the creation and publication of the INS (Inclusive Name Space) TLD 
(Top-Level Domain) label “KFC”. INAIC published this TLD to the INS on 
August 29, 2007. The TLD is active for a term of ten years and expires 
on August 29, 2017. The whois records at INAIC show Yum Brands, Inc., a 
multinational company based in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, as 
the official registrant of this TLD.
The PublicRoot Representative contacted Yum Brands, Inc. on September 4, 
2007 to validate the TLD. The PublicRoot Representative attempted to 
contact the administrative representative responsible for the TLDs as 
per the published whois records at INAIC.
This record shows the registrant and administrative contact to be a 
David C. Novak of Yum Brands, Inc., and the mailing address is given as 
1441 Gardiner Lane, Louisville, Kentucky, 40213 in the United States. 
Mr. David C. Novak is the Chairman of the Board, President and Chief 
Executive Officer of Yum Brands, Inc.
The PublicRoot Representative was referred to Ms. Jyll Heiden at Yum 
Brands, Inc. who investigated the claim by INAIC. On September 26, 2007 
the PublicRoot Representative received an email from Mr. Philip Davison, 
Trademark Counsel at YUM! Brands, Inc. Mr. Davison wrote that “neither 
KFC nor YUM Brands ever requested or authorized INAIC to register KFC as 
a corporate TLD”. A copy of this email is attached to this notice as an 
exhibit.
Mr. Philip Davison sent an urgent e-mail to INAIC on September 26, 2007 
demanding they withdraw and cancel the “KFC” TLD and similarly that they 
take any and all reference to YUM off their registry or register.
The PublicRoot Representative herein acknowledges that Yum Brands Inc. 
DID NOT AUTHORIZE the creation and publication of the INS TLD label 
“KFC” with either INAIC.com or any agent of INAIC. The PublicRoot 
Representative therefore finds that the INAIC whois record for “KFC” is 
a bogus INS TLD record. The current whois records for “KFC” is attached 
to this notice as an exhibit.
The PublicRoot Representative issued a verbal request to Martijn Burger, 
chairman of the INAIC society and foundation, that Herman Xennt, 
operator of INAIC.com, immediately remove all references to TLD label 
“KFC” from the public DNS infrastructure and whois service. The 
PublicRoot Representative warns INAIC.com that the continued display of 
trademarks and brands names as TLDs without authorization is a 
fraudulent act. Furthermore the use of the name David C. Novak is 
considered impersonation and therefore also fraudulent.
On September 21, 2007 the PublicRoot Representative asked Burger to have 
Herman Xennt provide supporting evidence of the TLD registration, 
including accounting records of any payment made for the “KFC” TLD label.
Herman Xennt made a change to the whois record this September 23 2007. 
However the TLD label was not removed from the DNS and whois. The record 
was amended to reflect the TLD is now a PRIVATE REGISTRATION. This 
effectively removed the contact details from the record but continues to 
advertise the Yum Brands, Inc. trademark and brand names. A copy of the 
amended whois record is attached to this notice as an exhibit.
On September 23, 2007 the PublicRoot Representative contacted Burger to 
confirm Herman Xennt had changed the record to a PRIVATE REGISTRATION. 
Mr. Burger was advised this was not acceptable as the trademarks and 
brand name of Yum Brands, Inc. were still being used. Mr. Burger agreed 
to pursue the matter with Herman Xennt.

Legal Concerns:

The mission of the PublicRoot Representative is to ensure the integrity 
of the data and claims made in the INS. The system must at all times be 
operated in an honest, open, transparent fashion. It must be inclusive, 
representative & accountable to community stakeholders in particular and 
in general to the Internet community at large.
The PublicRoot Representative expresses concern that INAIC, a body 
claiming to be an INS provider and wrongly claiming to be the central 
INS authority, is engaged in an unfair and deceptive business act or 
practice. INAIC has used Yum Brands, Inc. trademarks and brand names to 
further the sale of INS TLDs through INAIC.com and it’s agents.
Furthermore consumers who find the multinational company Yum Brands, 
Inc. associated with an INS TLD assume falsely that INAIC.com or its 
agents are credible. TLD Holders who have purchased TLDs under this 
false assumption are victims of a scam by INAIC.com. Yum Brands, Inc. 
has also been a victim in this scam as their trademarks and brand names 
continue to be used without authorization to further the sale of TLDs.
Furthermore the act of listing bogus TLD labels in the whois and DNS by 
INAIC is considered by the PublicRoot Representative to be Internet 
fraud. This act causes harm to the reputation and credibility of the INS 
community at large.
Furthermore from a technical point of view the PublicRoot Representative 
is concerned that this labels use the INAIC.com web proxy to effect 
resolution for INS users. This represents a potential security issue 
known as a man in the middle attack. Web users connecting to 
unauthorized INS TLD labels can have their personal information compromised.

Actions Taken and Requested:

The PublicRoot Representative requests that INAIC.com remove all 
references to the “KFC” TLD label from their web sites, whois databases 
and DNS records.
The PublicRoot Representative further requests that the Directors of the 
Top Level Domain Association investigate this breach of trust by 
INAIC.com and it’s agents. The PublicRoot Representative hereby submits 
this notice as a complaint to the Top Level Domain Association.
The PublicRoot Representative further requests that the Federal Trade 
Commission (FTC) Bureau of Consumer Protection file this notice as an 
fraud-related complaint and that the complaint be entered into the 
Consumer Sentinel online databases available to civil and criminal law 
enforcement agencies worldwide.
This notice, complaint and any requests made in this document are on 
behalf of the PublicRoot Representative who assumes full responsibility 
for this publication. Yum Brands, Inc. did not participate in its 
publication except to provide the PublicRoot Representative with 
evidence on the INS TLD registrations claimed by INAIC.


PublicRoot Representative Notice
Submitted by Joe Baptista
<Signature>
PublicRoot Representative
5921 Agean Drive
Mississauga, Ontario L5M 6Y3, Canada

Tel: +1 (360) 526-6077 / +1 (202) 517-1593
Fax: +1 (509) 479-0084
Email: baptista@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

--
Joe Baptista                                www.publicroot.org
PublicRoot Consortium
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