[Ncsg-discuss] 1 to 1 call with ICANN CEO

[Kathy Kleiman]

On 2/3/2026 9:28 AM, Rafik Dammak wrote:
>
> Sending a reminder to get your suggestions and topics for the meeting 
> with ICANN CEO.

Hi Rafik, Juan and Wisdom,

Yes, I have a topic. I’m concerned that ICANN, for the sake of its own 
integrity and in completion of clear commitments made long ago (1999), 
needs to hold /a full and fair review of the Uniform Dispute Resolution 
Policy (UDRP)./The UDRP was ICANN’s first consensus policy and it is 
just over 25 years old.Noncommercials and the ICANN Community were 
promised a full and fair review of the UDRP – its rules and procedures – 
within a few years of adoption and that never happened.

Then again in 2016, at the start of the Review of All Rights Protection 
Mechanisms – Phase 1 [Uniform Rapid Suspension and Trademark 
Clearinghouse], /we were promised a full and fair review of the UDRP 
when Phase 2 started/. If you check the charter materials of the GNSO 
Council, the UDRP review should include the questions asked by NCSG, 
including: examining freedom of expression protections, assessing the 
fairness and balance, checking whether notices to registrants are being 
a) received and b) in a language they understand, and much more.

You were in Dublin and I was not, but from a distance, I saw WIPO and 
its representatives lobbying ICANN and the GNSO for a /fast and short 
UDRP review/ – one focused on the issues that “insiders” care about, 
particularly attorneys who regularly work on UDRP cases before WIPO.

*But no one is talking about the 97% of the Registrants who are 
defaulting**– nor what we can do to ensure the UDRP Review is full and 
fair.*Before we expand the DNS with New gTLDs with IDNs, how do we 
ensure that the UDRP is “fit for purpose” and fully and fairly reviewed, 
and that registrants and trademark owners alike are being treated 
equally and fairly by the UDRP providers?

/Particularly for Registrants who do not speak English, cannot afford 
lawyers, and have never heard of WIPO or the UDRP (the very registrants 
we were promised would be protected in 1999), how can Kurt and the Board 
help us to facilitate a full and fair review of the UDRP?/

Best and tx,

Kathy
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