In their recent study performed by DNAttorney.com, Zak Muscovitch, a domain name lawyer and publisher of the report, has presented statistical information gathered from public record that helps to illustrate a skew in panelist assignment.

Muscovich says

“The National Arbitration Forum has provided years of service in trademark and domain name disputes. Greater transparency is required in order to explain the concentration of cases amongst certain panelists. ICANN should revisit the Rules and require that panel appointment is always random. Otherwise, there will be an apprehension of an unfair process amongst some observers and stakeholders who believe that the selection of the panellist is of paramount importance and has a substantial likelihood of affecting the outcome of cases. To increase discussion of these and other domain dispute issues, we have created a free sign-up to receive daily NAF Case Update so that you can receive daily notices of new NAF decisions.”

They have compiled statistics which we hope will provide the domain name dispute community with an idea of the approximate participation levels of all NAF Panelists.

Link: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-report-domain-name-dispute-stats-reveal-concern-over-panelist-appointment-88825337.html

Two new letters have been posted on the Correspondence page of the ICANN website, one by Yahoo and one by Fish & Richardson on behalf of U. Inc. Both companies are in support of the release of single letter domain names.

If you traveled to Vancouver for the ICANN Annual Meeting, you might have also seen representatives from Overstock.com giving away “O” hats. Overstock had previously written to ICANN in support of the release of O.com. ICANN has also received a letter on the release of K.com.

If single letter domain names are to be released, I’d like to see more information on how these names are going to be made available (via auction, first come, first served release, select reservation or other methods). Companies are already claiming trademark rights in domain names that have yet to be made available.