auDRP SubmissionFrom: Jillian Slater 
Sent: Wednesday, 13 June 2001 10:30 AM
To: jo.lim@auda.org.au
Subject: auDRP Submission

Ms Jo Lim
Chief Policy Officer
au Domain Administration Pty Ltd


Dr Ms Lim


I am writing to endorse the overall recommendations in the auDA Dispute Resolution 
Working Group report of May 2001 regarding the Proposed .au Dispute Resolution Policy 
(auDRP) and Rules.


I welcome the Group's emphasis on a dispute resolution regime that is consistent with 
the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy developed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned 
Names & Numbers and that is an integral feature of administration of the dot-au domain 
space.


I am conscious of criticisms of the UDRP and its interpretation by alternative dispute 
resolution providers. I am writing because such criticisms are sometimes perceived to 
have strong industry or community support and may thus influence consideration by the 
auDA Board of the DWRG proposal. Overall, the UDRP offers a mechanism that
+ accommodates community concerns about equity in the registration of domain names
+ does not impose inappropriate legal costs on disputants
+ recognises the concerns of business and other entitities regarding intellectual property.

It assumes that disagreements about the identification of online resources are situated 
within national and international legal frameworks, accordingly rejecting notions that 
cyberspace should be unaffected by trademark or investment decisions.


Alignment of the dot-au dispute resolution policy and rules will, I believe, encourage 
investment, facilitate community understanding (and thus support) of the regime, and assist 
best practice through comparison with ADRS decisions in other countries.


In my March 2001 submission regarding the Name and Competition Policy Panels I commented 
on the importance of dispute resolution mechanisms being adequately promoted and in place 
when competition is introduced late this year. The auDRP is not peripheral or something 
that might be left to individual registrars. It instead requires the support of auDA, 
business, industry bodies and entities such as the National Office for the Information 
Economy with an interest in e-services.


My expectation is that auDA will adopt a flexible approach and that the auDRP will 
accordingly be enhanced to reflect local and overseas developments such as the World 
Intellectual Property Organization's report regarding The Recognition of Rights & The 
Use of Names in the Internet Domain Name System. auDA has a key role in ensuring all 
Australians have access to the benefits of the information society.


Views expressed in this submission are those of the author.


Jillian Slater
Caslon Analytics Pty Ltd