Minutes
IACC Internet Committee Meeting
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Welcome and Introduction
Co-Chairs John Macaluso and Vanessa Backman
There were 51 people in attendance (list attached). The Internet Committee will be
broken into five Task Groups, each Task Group will address a different aspect of the Internet. A
Chairperson was assigned to each group and provided an overview of the issue as well as
objectives of the particular Task Group. They are as follows:
B2B (Chair Roland Pamm)
B2B websites, or tradeboards, have become a growing problem for rights owners. Many
tradeboards do not have tools in place for rights holders to report and remove infringing listings.
Some have created links for rights holders to remove infringing content. For example, Alibaba
has a tool called “Intellectual Property Right Infringement” where IP owners can submit claims.
However, it has been the experience of many that they are slow to react to remove the infringing
content. Because most of the tradeboards do not have such tools in place, it is difficult for rights
holders to monitor them.
Objectives of the B2B task group include: (i) establishing a registration process for all
tradeboards, (ii) developing a complaint process for IP owners to submit claims and terminate
listings, and (iii) creating a review process for all proposed listings submitted to tradeboards.
B2C (Tara Steketee on behalf of Chair Alina Halloran)
There has been a flurry of recent litigation in the B2C area. Appeals have been filed in
the Tiffany v. eBay (US) and LVMH v. eBay (France) cases. It is important to note the
differences between courts in the US and Europe as global companies have to decide where to
file their cases.
The question of whether eBay should be proactively filtering auctions was addressed in
the Rolex v. eBay (Germany) case. In this case, the court found that eBay was doing everything
possible to prevent the sale of counterfeit merchandise and was not liable. eBay has the same
technology and ability to filter on its various sites; however, each site is a different entity (i.e.
ebay.com, ebay.fr. ebay.de) and the law is applied based on the country in which the entity is
located.
Annie Wang then discussed the issue of third party liability in the context of the LV v.
Akanoc case. LV found that most of the websites hosted by Akanoc were offering counterfeit
merchandise for sale. Based on internal emails at Akanoc, LV was able to prove that they were
aware of the counterfeit websites and did not take action. The jury found the defendant ISPs
liable for contributory infringement and awarded statutory damages of $32.4 million. This was
the first case of its kind and establishes that ISPs have an obligation to monitor and take action
against infringing websites.
ICANN (Elisa Cooper on behalf of Chair Andy Coombs)
A Whois working group was established to address issues with TLDs. A recent report on
proxy services indicated that of the top five TLDs, 15-25% of the contact data is masked.
Further research needs to be conducted into the misuse of Whois data.
Revisions of the RAA (Registrar Accreditation Agreement) are going to bring the
agreement up to date by creating a Bill of Rights for Registrants and establishing new
community and open TLDs (i.e. .navajo, .sports). Guidebook updates are also in progress. Once
completed, the Guidebook will be available for comment. Then open application will be
accepted, evaluated, and granted. New gTLDs are expected to be available for registration in
2011. Also discussed was an Affirmation of Commitments, whereby ICANN remains an
independent, non-profit organization. It will also commit ICANN to review by the community.
Search Engines (Vanessa Backman and John Macaluso on behalf of Chair Marcus Cohen)
This Task Force review was tabled due to shortage of time.
Social Networking (Hallie Alexander on behalf of Chair Lindsay Conn)
Counterfeiters are using social networking sites to advertise, and sell infringing
merchandise. In addition to selling counterfeit merchandise, members of social networking sites
have been found using logos in their profile pictures and in certain applications (i.e. on virtual
trading cards). Social networking sites are a growing concern because they are being used as yet
another means of making money through unauthorized use of brand owners intellectual property.
The sites have generally been responsive to rights holders’ requests to remove infringing content.
Task Group Working Sessions
At the conclusion of the meeting, committee members were asked to gather in their
previously assigned Task Groups to meet the other members of their group and begin discussing
relevant issues and objectives. The Task Groups will meet once per month via telephone, along
with the Committee Co-Chairs, to discuss strategy and action plans with respect to their focus
areas. The Committee will meet quarterly, including in person meetings at the IACC Annual and
Fall Conferences.
Selection of Secretary
Lisa Caponegro (GAF) volunteered to record the Minutes for this meeting. Hallie
Alexander (C.A.P.S.) will be the Secretary for the 2009-2010 Term.
Meeting Adjourned
Attendees
Hallie Alexander
Vanessa Backman
Sandy Beattie
Robb Beckerlegge
Jeff Bedser
Aileen Berger
Eric Berger
Stephanie Boomershine
Brian Brokate
Kris Buckner
Chris Caleufi
Lisa Caponegro
Virginia Cervieri
Esta Cohen
Lori Colbert
Elisa Cooper
Sean Dees
Leah Evert
Tom Fitzsimons
Rudy Gaines
Gustavo Giay
Adrienne Hahn
Rob Holmes
Andrew Horton
Mike Jessee
Jenny Jiang
Tony Keats
Carlos Linares
David Lipkus
Lorne Lipkus
John Macaluso
Ara Matosian
Angelo Mazza
Heather McDonald
Nils Montan
Peter Nario
Bob Okulski
Roland Pamm
Andrea Powers
Kevin Read
Brendan Reilly
Negin Saberi
C.A.P.S
adidas International, Inc.
True Religion Brand Jeans
Baker & Hostetler
Internet Crimes Group Inc.
A Action Investigations & Security, Inc.
A Action Investigations & Security, Inc.
Holihan Law
Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP
Investigative Consultants
Envisional
Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP
Cervieri Monsuarez & Associates
American Eagle Outfitters
Nike
Mark Monitor
Advanced Investigative Services
Burks- Deckers Outdoor Corp.
Deckers Outdoor Corp.
Marksmen
Marval, O’Farrell & Mairal
Chanel, Inc.
IP Cybercrime
Mark Monitor
Luxottica
Nike
Keats McFarland & Wilson LLP
RIAA
Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus LLP
Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus LLP
Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP
DTS, Inc.
Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP
Baker & Hostetler
Dannemann Siemsen
Redmond- Energizer
Gibney, Anthony & Flaherty, LLP
DuPont
Powers & Associates
Kirby & Associates
Nokia, Inc.
Oakley, Inc.
Donna Schmitt
Mark Schonfeld
Haydn Simpson
Tara Steketee
Tamara Tarbutton
Pamela Vaillancourt
Annie Wang
Jose Werner
Allen Westerfield
Energizer
Burns & Levinson
Envisional
OpSec
Vaudra Ltd.
RQA, Inc.
J. Andrew Coombs, A.P.C.
Dannemann Siemsen
Imaging Supplies Coalition