Competitive Justice?: The Role of Dispute Resolution Providers under ICANN’s UDRP

John Selby, with the Department of Business Law at Macquarie University in Sydney Australia, brought to my attention his truly excellent article and study of ICANN UDRP Dispute Resolution Providers.

This article was published in 2004, and the concerns outlined therein are even more important today, given that the Czech Arbitration Court apparently intends to provide so-called 'fast track' UDRP's on the cheap.

And kudos to Jim Davies at Wrays Patent and Trademark Attorneys, also from Australia, for taking this new radical and arguably unmandated approach to UDRP's to task, in his article.

New Domain Name Arbitration Study Release and NAF Case Update Tool

Today I released a brief study of NAF decisions, and panelist participation levels in particular. I also created a system for people to receive NAF Case Updates in their email box, similar to the way that WIPO sends them out. Hopefully NAF will do this themselves in the future and at that time I can stop the Update service.

Canadian ICANN Official Loses Arbitration

But its not what you think....

In this Ottawa Citizen story, Canadian, Frank Fowlie, ombudsman for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), was flying from Paris to Montreal last March when he had an angry confrontation with a flight attendant in executive class.

The story states that, "He filed a complaint with the CTA, alleging Air Canada breached the terms and conditions of carrying passengers internationally that it is required to follow.

Fowlie says he brought the complaint chiefly to get an apology from the airline, not for financial compensation.

Fowlie says he is a SuperElite member of the airline's frequent-flyer program and regularly logs 240,000 kilometres a year in his work as ombudsman for the ICANN.

"If this is how they treat one of their best customers, how do they treat a casual flyer?"

He says the airline has a corporate culture that "views customers as cattle" because of its history of financial pressures.

He also says the older air crews that work on Air Canada flights are less willing to put themselves out to help passengers, compared with the younger crews on other airlines.

The CTA last week dismissed his complaint, however, saying it was satisfied Fowlie engaged in abusive and offensive behaviour and said he hadn't proved otherwise."

My sympathies are with Fowlie here. Lord knows that treatment on Air Canada for regular travelers, let alone Super Elites, is pathetic. I am sure he was rightly pissed off, and the Air Canada staff tried to paint him as unruly and dangerous.