Mr. Francis Gurry Assistant Director General Legal Counsel World Intellectual Property Organization Geneva, Switzerland Dear Mr. Gurry: This is in response to your letter of November 3, 2000 to Mr. Gianviti, General Counsel of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), requesting the views of the IMF on whether protection against abusive registration as a domain name should be accorded to the names and acronyms of international intergovernmental organizations (hereinafter "IO's"). Please see our comments below: 1. As a general principle we believe that it would be in the interest not only of the organizations but also of the general public to accord protection to the names and acronyms of IO's such as the IMF. 2. The IMF in the past has faced, and continues to face, situations in which its name and acronym (which are registered marks under the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property) have been registered by third parties as, or as part of, an Internet domain name, in a manner which is misleading, fraudulent or abusive. In many cases, such domain names are used in connection with, and to lend credibility to, a financial scheme that has no connection whatsoever to the IMF and is often fraudulent. Even where there is no reason to conclude that the registration was done in bad faith, the registration by a third party of a domain name which uses the name or acronym of the IMF is confusing and misleading to the public, and gives rise to the perception that the IMF somehow endorses or approves of the product or service being offered, or the information provided on the website. 4. When the IMF becomes aware of such domain name registrations that use the name or acronym of the IMF in a misleading way, the IMF takes steps on a case-by-case basis to have the domain name registration terminated or transferred to the IMF. However, this is often a time-consuming and costly process, sometimes requiring the retention of legal counsel in different countries. 5. In light of the experience of the IMF described above, we believe it would be useful to provide for the exclusion from registration by an external party of domain names that use the name or acronym of the IO. We recognize that consideration would have to be given to the impact on existing domain name registrants of any additional measures of protection for the names and acronyms of IO's. Please let us know if you would like us to provide any additional information that would be useful in your consideration of this question. Sincerely, Jennifer M. Lester Counsel Legal Department International Monetary Fund
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