In 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) took the unprecedented step of opening up the generic Top Level Domain (“gTLD”) space for entities who wanted to run registries for any new alphanumeric string “to the right of the dot” in a domain name. After a number of years of vetting applications, the first round of new gTLDs was released in 2013, and those gTLDs began to come online shortly thereafter. One of the more contentious of these gTLDs was “.sucks” which came online in 2015. The original application for the “.sucks” registry was somewhat contentious with a number of countries and others opposing the application. Nevertheless, ICANN granted the rights to a Canadian company, Vox Populi, which has subsequently made a splash in the domain name market offering a variety of pricing levels for different “.sucks” domain names. Complaints have been made to Industry Canada about the activities of Vox Populi in the domain name space, but, so far, the Canadian government has bowed out of involvement in the issue. This Article explores the way that the new gTLDs in general, and the “.sucks” domain name in particular, have affected the landscape for domain name regulation with a particular focus on North America. * LL.B. (Hons) (Melb.), LL.M., Ph.D. (Cantab), Visiting Professor of Law, University of Pittsburgh; Director, Authography LLC. U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H L A W R E V I E W P A G E | 6 6 2 | V O L . 8 0 | 2 0 1 9 ISSN 0041-9915 (print) 1942-8405 (online) ● DOI 10.5195/lawreview.2019.631 http://lawreview.law.pitt.edu INTRODUCTION Prior to 2012, the Internet domain name system, administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) was limited in its operation to twenty-two generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs),1 all registered under the auspices of ICANN. The most well-known and sought-after of these gTLDs were “.com,” “.org” and “.net.” A number of these original gTLDs were restricted to particular entities: for example, “.gov” was restricted to government departments,2 and “.edu” was limited to educational institutions.3 After much deliberation, ICANN rolled out the beginnings of a new gTLD program, opening in 2012 for applications for new gTLDs.4 The idea was to create more online real estate in new domain spaces and de-regulate the domain space by allowing more entities to take on the responsibility for particular new gTLDs.5 While ICANN does provide oversight of these entities, they are largely independent registries under contract with ICANN.6 It could be argued that the new program was not necessary and that it was simply another way to raise revenue for ICANN. The perceived problem in the pre1 ICANN, GTLD APPLICANT GUIDEBOOK (2012) [hereinafter GTLD APPLICANT GUIDEBOOK] (acknowledging the 22 current ICANN-approved gTLDs at the time of development of the new gTLD program); Kim Murakami, The gTLD Explosion: Changes to Domain Names that All Businesses Should be Aware of, PILIERO MAZZA (July 23, 2014), https://www.pilieromazza.com/blog/the-gtld-explosionchanges-to-domain-names-that-all-businesses-should-be-aware-of (“The domain name system had consisted of only 22 different gTLDs such as ‘.com,’ ‘.gov,’ ‘.org,’ and ‘.net’ as some of the most common. The new program exploded the number of gTLDs from the original 22 into the hundreds.”). 2 See Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, §§ 102–173.5, https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/textidx?SID=d611d7d4bd8f3155d3262ea4857c011e&mc=true&node=pt41.3.102_6173&rgn=div5#se41.3. 102_6173_15 (last viewed on Nov. 29, 2018) (“Internet GOV Domain refers to the Internet top-level domain “dot-gov” operated by the General Services Administration for the registration of U.S. government-related domain names. In general, these names reflect the organization names in the Federal Government and non-Federal government entities in the United States. These names are now being used to promote government services and increase the ease of finding these services.”). 3 Educase is the sole registrar for “.edu” domain names which are limited to educational institutions. See EDUCASE, https://net.educause.edu/ (last visited Nov. 29, 2018). 4 Murakami, supra note 1. 5 ICANN, New gTLD Program in Brief (Oct. 2009), http://archive.icann.org/en/topics/newgtlds/factsheet-new-gtld-program-oct09-en.pdf (“Opening the top-level space so that names can be proposed rather than be restricted to the existing 21 gTLDs could open up a new wave of innovation. Competition and innovation best occur when a stable and open platform is available and the barriers to entry are reduced.”). 6 Id. (“The application for a new gTLD is a much more complex process. An applicant for a new gTLD is, in fact, applying to create and operate a registry business and sign a contract with ICANN.”). E V E R Y T H I N G O L D I S N E W A G A I N

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旧的一切又是新的：“.Sucks” GTLD 是否改变了北美的监管范式？

2012 年，互联网名称与数字地址分配机构 (“ICANN”) 采取了前所未有的举措，为希望在右侧为任何新字母数字字符串运行注册管理机构的实体开放通用顶级域 (“gTLD”) 空间。点”在域名中。经过多年的审查申请，第一轮新 gTLD 于 2013 年发布，此后不久这些 gTLD 开始上线。这些 gTLD 中最具争议的一个是“.sucks”，它于 2015 年上线。“.sucks”注册的原始申请在一些国家和其他国家反对该申请的情况下有些争议。尽管如此，ICANN 还是将权利授予了一家加拿大公司 Vox Populi，该公司随后在域名市场上引起了轰动，为不同的“. 糟透了”域名。已经向加拿大工业部投诉了 Vox Populi 在域名空间中的活动，但到目前为止，加拿大政府已退出参与该问题。本文探讨了新 gTLD 尤其是“.sucks”域名对域名监管格局的影响，尤其是在北美。* 法学学士 (Hons) (Melb.), LL.M., Ph.D. (Cantab)，匹兹堡大学法学客座教授；Authography LLC 董事。UNIVERSITYOFITTSBURG HLAWREVIEWPAGE | 6 6 2 | 音量。8 0 | 2 0 1 9 ISSN 0041-9915（打印）1942-8405（在线） ● DOI 10.5195/lawreview.2019.631 http://lawreview.law.pitt.edu 简介 2012 年之前，互联网域名系统，由互联网名称与数字地址分配机构 (ICANN) 管理，其运营仅限于 22 个通用顶级域 (gTLD)，1 所有这些都在 ICANN 的赞助下注册。这些 gTLD 中最著名和最受欢迎的是“.com”、“.org”和“.net”。许多这些原始 gTLD 仅限于特定实体：例如，“.gov”仅限于政府部门，2 而“.edu”仅限于教育机构。3 经过深思熟虑，ICANN 推出了新的gTLD 计划，于 2012 年开放用于新 gTLD 申请。4 其想法是在新域空间中创建更多在线不动产，并通过允许更多实体承担特定新 gTLD 的责任来解除对域空间的管制。5 而 ICANN确实提供对这些实体的监督，它们主要是与 ICANN 签订合同的独立注册管理机构。6 可以说，新计划没有必要，它只是为 ICANN 增加收入的另一种方式。pre1 ICANN GTLD APPLICANT GUIDEBOOK (2012) [以下简称 GTLD APPLICANT GUIDEBOOK] 中发现的问题（在制定新 gTLD 计划时确认 22 个当前 ICANN 批准的 gTLD）；Kim Murakami，gTLD 爆炸：所有企业都应注意的域名变化，PILIERO MAZZA（2014 年 7 月 23 日），https://www.pilieromazza.com/blog/the-gtld-explosionchanges-to-domain-所有企业都应该知道的名称（“域名系统仅由 22 个不同的 gTLD 组成，例如‘.com’、‘.gov’、‘.org’和‘.net’作为一些最常见的。新计划将 gTLD 的数量从最初的 22 个激增至数百个。”）。2 参见联邦法规电子法典，§§ 102-173.5，https://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/textidx?SID=d611d7d4bd8f3155d3262ea4857c011e&mc=true&node=pt41.3.102_6173.102_6173.102_6173 102_6173_15（上次浏览时间：2018 年 11 月 29 日）（“Internet GOV 域”是指由美国总务管理局运营的用于注册美国政府相关域名的 Internet 顶级域“dot-gov”。一般而言，这些名称反映了美国联邦政府和非联邦政府实体中的组织名称。这些名称现在被用于促进政府服务并增加查找这些服务的难度。”）。3 Educase 是“. edu”域名，仅限于教育机构。参见 EDUCASE，https://net.educause.edu/（上次访问时间为 2018 年 11 月 29 日）。4 Murakami，前注 1。 5 ICANN，新 gTLD 计划简介（2009 年 10 月），http://archive.icann.org/en/topics/newgtlds/factsheet-new-gtld-program-oct09-en.pdf （“开放顶级空间以便名称可以被提出而不是仅限于现有的 21 个 gTLD 可以开启新的创新浪潮。当一个稳定和开放的平台可用并且进入壁垒时，竞争和创新最好发生减少了。”）。6 身份证。（“新 gTLD 的申请是一个复杂得多的过程。新 gTLD 的申请人实际上是在申请创建和运营注册业务并与 ICANN 签订合同。”）。一切都在 edu/（上次访问时间为 2018 年 11 月 29 日）。4 Murakami，前注 1。 5 ICANN，新 gTLD 计划简介（2009 年 10 月），http://archive.icann.org/en/topics/newgtlds/factsheet-new-gtld-program-oct09-en.pdf （“开放顶级空间以便名称可以被提出而不是仅限于现有的 21 个 gTLD 可以开启新的创新浪潮。当一个稳定和开放的平台可用并且进入壁垒时，竞争和创新最好发生减少了。”）。6 身份证。（“新 gTLD 的申请是一个复杂得多的过程。新 gTLD 的申请人实际上是在申请创建和运营注册业务并与 ICANN 签订合同。”）。一切都在 edu/（上次访问时间为 2018 年 11 月 29 日）。4 Murakami，前注 1。 5 ICANN，新 gTLD 计划简介（2009 年 10 月），http://archive.icann.org/en/topics/newgtlds/factsheet-new-gtld-program-oct09-en.pdf （“开放顶级空间以便名称可以被提出而不是仅限于现有的 21 个 gTLD 可以开启新的创新浪潮。当一个稳定和开放的平台可用并且进入壁垒时，竞争和创新最好发生减少了。”）。6 身份证。（“新 gTLD 的申请是一个复杂得多的过程。新 gTLD 的申请人实际上是在申请创建和运营注册业务并与 ICANN 签订合同。”）。一切都在 org/en/topics/newgtlds/factsheet-new-gtld-program-oct09-en.pdf（“开放顶级空间，以便可以提出名称而不是仅限于现有的 21 个 gTLD 可以开辟新的浪潮创新。当一个稳定和开放的平台可用并且进入壁垒降低时，竞争和创新最好发生。”）。6 身份证。（“新 gTLD 的申请是一个复杂得多的过程。新 gTLD 的申请人实际上是在申请创建和运营注册业务并与 ICANN 签订合同。”）。一切都在 org/en/topics/newgtlds/factsheet-new-gtld-program-oct09-en.pdf（“开放顶级空间，以便可以提出名称而不是仅限于现有的 21 个 gTLD 可以开辟新的浪潮创新。当一个稳定和开放的平台可用并且进入壁垒降低时，竞争和创新最好发生。”）。6 身份证。（“新 gTLD 的申请是一个复杂得多的过程。新 gTLD 的申请人实际上是在申请创建和运营注册业务并与 ICANN 签订合同。”）。一切都在 当一个稳定和开放的平台可用并且进入壁垒降低时，竞争和创新才能最好地发生。”）。6 身份证。（“新 gTLD 的申请是一个复杂得多的过程。新 gTLD 的申请人实际上是在申请创建和运营注册业务并与 ICANN 签订合同。”）。一切都在 当一个稳定和开放的平台可用并且进入壁垒降低时，竞争和创新才能最好地发生。”）。6 身份证。（“新 gTLD 的申请是一个复杂得多的过程。新 gTLD 的申请人实际上是在申请创建和运营注册业务并与 ICANN 签订合同。”）。一切都在