Re: [ga] lawyers

["kidsearch" <kidsearch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Only for the portion of the suit that also named them. The portion naming
ICANN is valid. They are not a government entity. Just a Cali nonprofit org.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jeff Williams" <jwkckid1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Karl Auerbach" <karl@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "kidsearch" <kidsearch@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <ga@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 10:49 AM
Subject: Re: [ga] lawyers


> Karl, Chris and all other interested parties and/or stakeholders/users,
>
> I agree with Karl and Chris's thoughts here and have on several
> occasions expressed them in different terms myself in the behalf
> of our members.  My worry or concern here however is that
> DOC/NTIA could secure indemnity from such legal actions
> should they come to pass.
>
> Karl Auerbach wrote:
>
> > On Thu, 5 Jan 2006, kidsearch wrote:
> >
> > > I speak with my lawyer, who you will remember I said there were some
> > > uses for, and ask him if they can stop me from doing that.
> >
> > > He says nope. They are restraining free enterprise against a company
who
> > > now has proven technical capabilities and has enough pre-orders to
prove
> > > a demand for the product in question.
> >
> > > Personally, I think it might just fly.
> >
> > I agree, ICANN is ripe for being at the wrong end of legal actions
> > claiming that ICANN has unfairly and improperly acted as a combination
for
> > the purpose of restraining trade, restricting the entry of vendors into
> > the marketplace, establishing minimum prices, and prohibiting new
product
> > innovations.
> >
> > There are several possible actions, each with its own class of
plaintiffs
> > (I use the word "class" intentionally).
> >
> > The registrars form a class that can claim that they are unfairly
deprived
> > of the ability to compete due to the imposition of cross-industry
standard
> > terms and conditions as well as the imposition of arbitrary minimum
> > registry fees.
> >
> > The buyers of domain names form a much larger class that can claim that
> > they have had to suffer artifically imposed registry prices (that are
> > passed on via the registrars) and suffer industry-wide terms, such as
the
> > privacy-busting whois and the trademark-uber-alles UDRP.  The damages in
> > this case could amount to billions of dollars - enough to attract the
> > Lerach kind of class action attorneys.
> >
> > Those who have applied for, or perhaps even those who have thought to
> > apply for, top level domains form yet another class.  For example, the
40
> > or so groups who paid $50,000 apiece to ICANN in 2000 to have their
> > applications put on infinite hold seem to have a lot of common-ground
(and
> > since ICANN has strung them along saying that their applications are
still
> > pending, I'm not sure that the statute of limitations would bar an
> > action.)
> >
> > And this could happen in virtually any country that has laws that make
it
> > unlawful for entities to conspire to limit competition, set prices,
> > constrain product innovation, and to block new entrants from entering
the
> > marketplace.
> >
> > Just last month a couple of such actions were filed; I expect there to
be
> > more in the future.
> >
> >                 --karl--
>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Jeffrey A. Williams
> Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
> "Obedience of the law is the greatest freedom" -
>    Abraham Lincoln
>
> "Credit should go with the performance of duty and not with what is
> very often the accident of glory" - Theodore Roosevelt
>
> "If the probability be called P; the injury, L; and the burden, B;
> liability depends upon whether B is less than L multiplied by
> P: i.e., whether B is less than PL."
> United States v. Carroll Towing  (159 F.2d 169 [2d Cir. 1947]
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