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<p><font size="+1"><font face="Lucida Grande">Seems important that
we engage on this, can folks who are at the intercessional
weigh in and brief us on what we might want to do?</font></font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><font face="Lucida Grande">cheers SP</font></font><br>
</p>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Subject:
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<td>[Ncph-intersessional2017] .FEEDBACK PICDRP Update to
NCPH Intersessional Participants</td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">Date: </th>
<td>Thu, 16 Feb 2017 19:06:44 +0000</td>
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<tr>
<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">From: </th>
<td>Winterfeldt, Brian J.
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:BWinterfeldt@mayerbrown.com"><BWinterfeldt@mayerbrown.com></a></td>
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<th align="RIGHT" nowrap="nowrap" valign="BASELINE">To: </th>
<td><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:ncph-intersessional2017@icann.org">ncph-intersessional2017@icann.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:ncph-intersessional2017@icann.org"><ncph-intersessional2017@icann.org></a></td>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Dear </span><span
style="color:#1F497D">NCPH Intersessional Participants</span><span
style="color:#1F497D">:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">It was great
working with all of you during our NCPH Intersessional
meeting!
</span><span style="color:#1F497D">Following up on our
discussion </span><span style="color:#1F497D">during the</span><span
style="color:#1F497D"> meeting, I write to provide some
additional background information on the .FEEDBACK Public
Interest Commitment Dispute Resolution Procedure
(PICDRP) currently pending at ICANN.</span><span
style="color:#1F497D"> I know a number of you were
interested in learning more about the issue, so hopefully
this summary provides some helpful additional detail.
</span><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">As you may
know, ICANN created the PICDRP to permit any person who has
been harmed to ask ICANN to take action when a new gTLD
registry operator violates its Public Interest Commitments
(“PICs”). PICs are special provisions in the registry’s
contract with ICANN. PICs are intended to ensure that the
registry operates its gTLD in the public interest, free from
fraudulent or deceptive activity, and in accordance with
principles of transparency and non-discrimination.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Unfortunately,
from the moment Top Level Spectrum, Inc. (TLS) launched
.FEEDBACK, it (and parties acting in concert with it),
unleashed an escalating series of deceptive marketing
practices that violate its PICs, and the promises it made to
ICANN when it first applied for the exclusive right to run
.FEEDBACK. TLS’s deceptive conduct violates its own
policies, terms and conditions that it imposes on others,
and violates certain applicable laws, including consumer
protection laws. More specifically, as detailed in the
complaint, TLS:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#1F497D;mso-list:l2 level1
lfo3">Promised they would run .FEEDBACK as a place for
genuine commentary, whether positive or negative when TLS
hired paid reviewers to write and post fabricated reviews on
.FEEDBACK and cut and pasted users’ comments posted years
earlier from Yelp. TLS never disclosed that such reviews are
not from actual customers, its role in soliciting and hiring
paid reviewers, and the fact that the vast majority of such
reviews (62%) come from users located in the Seattle,
Washington area, near TLS’s headquarters.<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span
style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#1F497D;mso-list:l2 level1
lfo3">Launched a marketing program called FREE.FEEDBACK,
deceptively targeted brand owners to validate and renew
.FEEDBACK domain names they never sought to register in the
first place. The FREE.FEEDBACK program resulted in brand
owners being targeted by phishing schemes.<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span
style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<ul style="margin-top:0in" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="color:#1F497D;mso-list:l2 level1
lfo3">Repeatedly changed its own policies and marketing
programs in a confusing, unclear, nontransparent manner, and
with the intent to discriminate against brand owners,
(including self-allocating domain names bypassing the
Sunrise Period protections, and charging exorbitant and
discriminatory pricing for brand owners while offering the
identical domain names to others for “dirt cheap”).
<o:p></o:p></li>
</ul>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:.5in"><span
style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">I emphasize
that the complaint is <u>not</u> an attempt to challenge the
ostensible purpose of TLDs like .FEEDBACK to promote free
expression or facilitate genuine public commentary or
discourse, whether it be positive or negative about a
company. The complaint is intended solely to address TLS’s
deceptive practices. TLS’s own practices, including
populating the majority of live .FEEDBACK websites with
phony commentary and making unauthorized comments copied
from third party websites like Yelp (including years-old
reviews that are post-dated on the .FEEDBACK site to give
the appearance that it is a recent comment) undermine any
legitimate purpose behind this TLD.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Unfortunately,
we recently identified a number of additional ongoing
incidents of fraudulent and deceptive conduct being
perpetrated in the .FEEDBACK TLD. For example, we found
that some .FEEDBACK websites contain what appear to be
official customer service phone numbers on the
FACEBOOK.FEEDBACK, WHATSAPP.FEEDBACK, and INSTAGRAM.FEEDBACK
websites, but which actually appear to be used in connection
with various well-known consumer scams. <i>See </i>National
Public Radio, <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/01/31/511824829/-facebook-customer-service-is-a-scam-literally"
target="_blank">Searching for ‘Facebook Customer Service’
Can Lead to A Scam</a> (Jan. 31, 2017). In addition, we
also discovered that many .FEEDBACK websites contain false
or inaccurate contact information about the companies that
are the subject of .FEEDBACK websites. For example, a
.FEEDBACK page for a particular company is supposed to
include the authoritative phone number and address where
consumers can reach that company. Instead, we have found
that .FEEDBACK pages often contain incorrect or non-working
phone numbers.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">These kinds
fraudulent activities harm businesses, and consumers who
seek real and trustworthy feedback about companies or are
looking for customer support. These deceptive practices are
exactly the kind of registry misconduct the PICs were
designed to prevent.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Our hope is
that ICANN and a PICDRP Standing Panel will fully
investigate TLS and the parties acting in concert with it,
render a formal determination as to TLS’s PIC violations,
and impose appropriate sanctions and remedial measures
against TLS.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">ICANN must not
only take action to address this registry’s misconduct, but
also send a message that it will not tolerate these
practices in any other TLDs. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">The full
complaint that has been submitted to ICANN is publicly
available <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.markmonitor.com/downloads/PICDRPexhibits/"
target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">We are
currently seeking some additional procedural details from
ICANN regarding the status of the matter and next steps.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">I hope this
summary provides a helpful overview of the .FEEDBACK PICDRP.
I would be happy to discuss the matter further during our
remaining time together at the Intersessional, by email, or
at the ICANN 58 meeting next month in Copenhagen.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Best regards,<a
moz-do-not-send="true" name="_GoBack"></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Brian<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#1F497D">Brian J.
Winterfeldt</span></b><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Co-Head of
Global Brand Management and Internet Practice<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Mayer Brown LLP<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:bwinterfeldt@mayerbrown.com" target="_blank">bwinterfeldt@mayerbrown.com</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">1999 K Street,
NW <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">Washington, DC
20006-1101<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">202.263.3284 direct
dial<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">202.830.0330 fax<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">1221 Avenue of
the Americas<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">New York, New
York 10020-1001<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D">212.506.2345 direct
dial<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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