At the pNC meeting on July 12, I was asked to be chairman for WG-B (Famous Marks). As a first order of business, I am looking to the volunteers for WG-B to choose a co-chair for the WG. It is the general belief of the pNC that a pNC representative should serve as co-chair at this stage since there is not sufficient history of process for WGs, but it is considered to be advantageous in the interests of maintaining the process as open and transparent, to have someone who is not a member of the pNC, or even the DNSO, to do the lion's share in co-chairing the group, if such person is available and acceptable to the members of the WG.
In the meanwhile, the preliminary list of WG-B participants and their e-mail addresses has been posted at wgroups/wg-b-members.html , along with my first message of July 8, 1999 to all of you. The closed mailing list for WG-B has also been set up (<wg-b@dnso.org>), and Michael Palage has volunteered to administer the list on behalf of the WG. I would encourage you to use our mailing list for all further correspondence.
The pNC is still in the midst of developing its rules for the WGs. WG-A had to move at a very rapid pace and there was little time to consider the niceties of process. We have enough time in WG-B that I believe we should start off by ensuring that the organization of WG-B is well founded and I would ask for the immediate input by any and all on the questions I set out in my July 9 message. However, some of the procedural matters that are already established include the following:
1) If you have not already done so, please post a brief message indicating your background (i.e. employment over the past few years, reasons for interest in WG-B, expertise in the issues and how obtained) and any other pertinent facts that would allow a third party observer to ascertain your suitability for participation in this WG, as well as any personal vested interest, or even a conflict of interest in the outcome of WG-B's efforts. The overall purpose of doing so is to ensure that the process remains open and transparent to all, including those who may not be so closely involved in it.
Many of you have already submitted such brief biographical statements to me when volunteering to participate in this WG, and I would ask that you reply to me at your earliest convenience whether you agree to your statement being posted on the dnso.org page on which the list of participants is located (see URL provided above), or whether you wish to submit any further material.
2) We hope to draw participation from a wide cross-section of people interested in the subject, including those from different countries and professions. It is further important that we alert and involve representatives from all constituencies of the DNSO. Your efforts in this outreach are important and I would ask that people try and think of others, particularly in other countries (since we are overrepresented in North America and underrepresented everywhere else) who would like to work on this question.
3) As much as possible, we would like communications in the WGs to be by e-mail. We would prefer that comment periods be longer rather than shorter, in order for participants in developing or other countries where Internet access is not so universal or the primary language is not English to be able to adequately consider the discussions and provide their input.
4) May I please hear from WG-B members in respect of the above questions by Friday July 16. At that time, when I have received comments, either substantive on the work that should be carried out and/or process, I will call for nominations from amongst WG-B members for co-chair of the WG. I will also put together a proposal for the work to be done by WG-B and look for volunteers within the WG to get the various jobs done (i.e. liaison with other constituencies to ensure that one member at least from each participates, etc.).
5) The deadline for WG-B's report is the earliest practicable date after the ICANN Board meeting in Santiago (August 23-26, 1999), pursuant to the resolutions made by the ICANN Board at its last meeting in Berlin on May 27, 1999. I would hope that we can make our final report no later than September - that is a good working target.
I look forward to hearing from you and working with you in this WG.
Jonathan C. Cohen
--
Shapiro Cohen
Group of Intellectual Property Practices
Ottawa, Canada
Telephone: (613)232-5300
Facsimile: (613) 563-9231
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