Brussels, 18/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - Three days before the 50th session of ICANN opens in London on Sunday 22 June, EFOW, the European Federation of Origin Wines, has criticised the parts certain governments had to play in the breakdown of negotiations between the sector and the companies which have applied to use the domain names “.vin” and “.wine”. It laments the lack of transparency surrounding the decision-making within ICANN and the conflicts of interest, and calls for a thoroughgoing reform of the global governance of the internet and the creation of an independent organisation.
The stand-off between the parties has been going on for nearly two years now and, as readers may recall, relates to the controlled designations of origin which ICANN has no plans to protect; hence the pressure brought to bear by the European wine-making sector. The European Commission stepped up to the plate, writing to ICANN in February to plead the cause of the European sector (EUROPE 11012). In early April, ICANN gave the sector and candidate companies a further 60 days to come to an agreement, but unfortunately the negotiations were not successful. “These negotiations had no chance to succeed since a number of governments intervened to dissuade candidates to pursue the dialogue with us. The only candidate who seemed open to proposals came under such pressure that the talks eventually broke down”, EFOW states in a press release. The representatives of the wine-making sector have announced plans for a vast awareness-raising campaign to emphasise the risks to consumers and producers from such domain names and to call for a boycott. Lastly, they call upon the governments to set in place measures to identify and block illegal websites, and upon the European Commission to be more proactive in international negotiations. (IL)