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Saturday, January 17, 2004

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For those who would disparage the United Nations...

Over the past ~~year~~ ~~decade~~ five decades, the United Nations has taken a lot of hits -- and some of it is deserved. However, one must remember that the United Nations is not a single entity, but a plethora of semi-autonomous organizations. Some of these organizations have major accomplishments under their belts, such as polio eradication.

And then there's the more recent good it's done for Carmen Electra:

[What, the UN helped with her eyeliner?--ed.] Not exactly -- the Associated Press explains:

Former "Baywatch" star Carmen Electra has won control of the Internet name www.carmenelectra.com in a ruling by a United Nations panel, a U.N. spokeswoman said Thursday.

An arbitrator for the World Intellectual Property Organization ordered the transfer of the domain name to the American actress, who had complained that it was being used in bad faith to divert Internet traffic to a commercial site, Celebrity1000, said WIPO spokeswoman Samar Shamoon.

The ruling upheld Electra's complaint against the company that registered the name — Network Operations Center of High Prairie, Canada....

The U.N. arbitration system, which started in 1999, allows those who think they have the right to a domain to get it back without having to fight a costly legal battle or paying large sums of money.

You can read the complete text of the arbitration ruling here.

I, for one, applaud this multilateral initiative.

[Er, I just checked out www.carmenelectra.com, and it's still going to Celebrity1000!--ed. OK, so enforcement hasn't been the U.N.'s strong suit. More seriously, I'd expect Electra's legal team to ensure that the decision will be implemented. A year ago, Pamela Anderson won a similar decision and her domain name now goes to her site. I trust that Carmen Electra's official site will be moving very soon. You did a lot of research for this post--ed. Just trying to be as thorough as the grant-hogging Columbia School of Journalism!!]]

UPDATE: According to this story, "If there is no court appeal, domain names must be transferred 10 days after a ruling."

posted by Dan on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM

Comments:

OK, so enforcement hasn't been the U.N.'s strong suit.

That's an understatement ...

And Dan, www.salmahayek.com goes to celebrity1000 too.

posted by: Hei Lun Chan on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Damn you, Celebrity1000!! DAMN YOU TO HELL!!!

posted by: Dan Drezner on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

So this is where all that Oil-for-Food money has been going. I'm relieved. Thanks, Dan.

posted by: Roger L. Simon on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

Convergence R us:

We're no fans of the United Nations or transnationalism progressivism, so we weren't impressed by a blurb on The World Conservation Union's website crowing about their "Observer status" at the General Assembly.

But then we discovered their Cat Specialist Group and went all soft and fuzzy.

http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2004/01/post_12.html

posted by: Sissy Willis on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

I see a quid pro quo here if she ends up dating Kofi Annan...

posted by: John on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

You can read the complete text of the arbitration ruling here.

Well, the WIPO/ICANN Arbitration proceedings ain't perfect. Consider Tata Sons Limited v. D&V Enterprises, wherein the domain name bodacious-tatas.com was awarded to the House of Tata, an Indian utility company. The arbitration panel thought that consumers might confuse the two. (A short discussion of this an other ICANN rulings is here.)

posted by: von on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

Can't believe you could applaud this initiative. This is a complete whiff again by an internal body. Why should a company who followed the local and other international procedures to register a domain have to return it to every psuedo-celebrity-(hot-startup-whatever)-come-lately? If a company happens to pick a prime-piece of real estate early, they should be rewarded. This is not justice. It is international theft. If she (or startup) wants to (re)claim it, pay for it.

posted by: olchaos on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

What is shocking is that www.samarshamoon.com goes to celebrity1000 also! What's a girl to do? We need strict enforcement against these miscreants. This may seem a bit rigid to some academics whose approach to multinational domination is flaccid, but you seem to appreciate what is at stake.

posted by: Mr. Davis on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

If there is no court appeal, domain names must be transferred 10 days after a ruling

Or else what?

Why should a company who followed the local and other international procedures to register a domain have to return it to every psuedo-celebrity-(hot-startup-whatever)-come-lately?

Sounds to me like the internet equivalent of eminent domain being abused to favor certain favored private parties. Exactly what I would expect from a UN body.

posted by: R C Dean on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

For some context and background on just how badly messed up this arbitration system designed by ICANN and WIPO is, please see my article, ICANN's "Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy" -- Causes and (Partial) Cures, 67 Brooklyn Law Review 605 (2002), available online at http://www.law.miami.edu/~froomkin/articles/udrp.pdf

posted by: Michael Froomkin on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

Carmen Electra is hot

posted by: Paolo Thompson on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

posted by: Carmen Electra on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]

posted by: Hollywood on 01.17.04 at 02:10 PM [permalink]