[AfrICANN-discuss] Has ICANN Opened Pandora's Box? New gTLDs Are Still Months Away But the Lawsuits and Recriminations Have Already Begun

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

*Has ICANN Opened Pandora's Box? New gTLDs Are Still Months Away But the
Lawsuits and Recriminations Have Already Begun*

*I fully expect that ICANN's plan  *to roll out *unlimited new
gTLDs*starting early next year will create
*chaos*, with consternation among confused consumers, anger among trademark
holders who will have to spend more to protect their marks in new
extensions, and turf battles between warring parties competing to operate
the higher profile new gTLD registries.

*Antony Van Couvering
Minds + Machines CEO *

What I haven't been expecting is to see chaos start breaking out *now* -
many months before the world will actually see a new gTLD in operation. The
lawsuits have already started flying. *Word
today*<http://domainnamewire.com/2009/09/02/mindsmachines-sues-wolfgang-puck-over-food-tld/>came
that one of the premier companies planning to compete in the new gTLD
space, *Minds + Machines*, has filed suit against their partner in the quest
to obtain *.food* - famous chef *Wolfgang Puck* and his wife *Gelila*.

In a *statement<http://www.mindsandmachines.com/2009/09/minds-machines-files-suit/>
* posted on the Minds + Machines website, CEO *Antony Van Couvering* gave an
account of what led his company to go on the offensive, writing "On Thursday
last week, Minds + Machines received a letter from *Daniel Petrocelli*
of *O’Melveny
and Myers*, the trial lawyer who represented *Jeffrey Skilling* of *Enron*.
On behalf of Gelila and Wolfgang Puck, Mr. Petrocelli claimed that the Pucks
have the *right to co-invest in most *

*of our business endeavors*, and that their *introductions* to some
celebrity acquaintances entitle them to *50%* *of some of Minds + Machines’
business endeavors*. Yesterday, in Federal Court, we filed suit against
Gelila and Wolfgang Puck, asking the court to declare that their claims are
*frivolous*, and that they do not have a right to participate in our *
non-.FOOD* projects.

Apparently Gelila Puck is convinced the new gTLDs are going to produce a *vast
fortune* and she wants a bigger share of the pie. An article at
*Gawker.com<http://gawker.com/5351233/anna-wintour-just-an-employee-to-wolfgang-pucks-wife>
* about the lawsuit noted that the suit says she has been telling people she
will be "*the next* *Bill Gates*." All I can say is that if this is true,
the poor woman is in for a *horribly rude awakening*. She might want to look
into how many *new billionaires* were created by the first round of new
gTLDs (*.biz *and *.info*). Hint: You can count them on less than one
finger.

Lady Puck isn't the only one suffering from illusions of new gTLD grandeur.
As *Andrew Allemann* noted at *Domain Name
Wire<http://domainnamewire.com/2009/09/01/sport-asks-just-what-is-a-top-level-domain/>
* just yesterday, the *.Sport Policy Advisory Council* (who wants to see a
.sport TLD) sent ICANN a *threatening
letter<http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/pdf2html.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eicann%2Eorg%2Fcorrespondence%2Fbaumann%2Dto%2Ddengate%2Dthrush%2D20aug09%2Den%2Epdf&images=no>
*warning against giving anyone else an extension related to *any* sport!
This even though no one, including them, has been awarded *any* extension
yet.

Even so, these people had the audacity to tell ICANN the following (my
comments are in red) "we emphatically oppose any diminution of .SPORT (how
can something that *doesn't even exist* be diluted?!) and will take *all
steps necessary *to ensure that the top-level domain for our sector is
properly protected. (sounds like a *lawsuit threat* even though these people
don't own an extension to begin with!) We are concerned that ICANN may be
prematurely entertaining a process that will allow proliferation of names in
sub-categories or* individual sports * which will lead to confusion in the
marketplace of users (in other words, no one else can own

New gTLDs are still months away but
the bullies are already roaming the halls.

.football, .baseball. etc. because these clowns think they have some
pre-ordained right to own *everything*). We cannot accept ICANN approving
any applications for top-level domains that could diminish the solidarity
implied with .SPORT" (*Huh!?* Wait a minute...you can't accept ICANN
approving any applications....! Fellas - *your* application hasn't been
accepted either! You might want to wait until that little hurdle is crossed
before you issue further orders telling ICANN what they can and cannot do).

This is *amazingly misguided stuff*. I have felt from the beginning that
ICANN was opening a *can of worms* with this whole unlimited new gTLD
process, but I don't think they have *any idea* of what is in store for
them. This is *Pandora's Box on steroids*. One very prominent domain
developer told me he thinks the new gTLD program will create such a mess
that it will lead to* the end of ICANN*. I scoffed when he first told me
that, but with the lawsuits and recriminations already flying at this
extremely early stage of the game, I am no longer so so skeptical on that
point. It looks like a *fiasco is brewing* that could create some *hurricane
force blowback*. If that happens, I wouldn't want to be the entity that
loosed this *Frankenstein's monster* on the Internet.

(Posted September 2, 2009)
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