anthony

That's a matter of interpretation, my understanding of the English language suggests it should apply to before registration simply because the T&Cs read "..rights you have to register.." rather than "..rights you had to register..". It's how the T&C's are read I suppose, but I can't envisage Nominet having no rights to investigate only after registration. It's like saying they could have rights beforehand, but accepting the T&Cs cancels that right!

No, that's why it was asked as a question, you seem very knowledgeable on the subject, so was picking your brains.

QUOTE- "The standard T&Cs aren't the rules of the two and one character release sunrise. The sunrise is based on trademark rights and there is a criteria for what is considered valid and invalid."

I got the impression from this that you didn't consider the T&Cs were a factor, If I've misjudged you, then I apologise. They are of course, which is why I delved a bit deeper into the process after your initial reply, and responded accordingly. I can't see what was wrong to respond like that once I'd looked a bit more into it?

Doodlebug commented earlier in the thread regarding his thoughts about Nominet conducting the auction, I was responding based on my past experiences to which I think you are referring, which has left a definite impression that Nominet have never had such rights, they are meant to be impartial. We all impart some knowledge in threads based on experience, yourself included, but that doesn't mean that by doing so, there is a hidden agenda. I should really have quoted doodlebug first I suppose, but there you are.

On another point, in reply to your question where you ask..
"When there's more than one party interested in a domain name under the sunrise, how else do you propose they pick a registrant in the fairest possible way?", could they not simply adopt the first come first served rule (in terms of rights), fcfs seems to work quite well generally, and it avoids the wealthiest potential registrant simply stumping up money?

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invincible

[snipped invincible previous comments]

invincible quote- "The standard T&Cs aren't the rules of the two and one character release sunrise. The sunrise is based on trademark rights and there is a criteria for what is considered valid and invalid."

As far as I am aware, anyone could apply for any domain name available under the sunrise. If the validation agent considered an application valid (based on a preset criteria) then it was accepted and moved onto the next stage. That stage either awarded the domain name to the applicant (if there was only a single applicant) or the domain name is auctioned between applicants (I don't know what format the auctions are). I don't know at what point any applicant has to agree to the standard Nominet T&Cs but I assume at the point of paying for the registration of the domain name with their preferred Registrar.

I am still unsure why you are mentioning the standard T&Cs but am wondering if you believe that there could be some kind of conflict between an applicant applying for a domain name as part of the sunrise, and needing to fit a criteria (as judged by the validation agent) based on TM rights, and the standard T&Cs which any successful applicant who is eventually granted a domain name needs to agree to?

FCFS in what respect? First person to get their application onto Nominet's desk via a courier, or electronically via email? I don't know why auctions were decided upon because I wasn't paying attention to any consultation that may or may not have occured relating to it. If you want to find out why an auction was chosen it might be best to ask Nominet. If either of you do, I'd be interested to know why.

anthony

This is purely academic now of course, but I'd plumb for the one who can demonstrate the earliest established right, whatever the category. The current solution seems to be the most expensive one, in that 9 out of 10 auctions will be won by the guy with the biggest pockets. Earliest established rights would remove that, and cost nothing more to the registrant.

One would hope too that if any auctioned domain is subject to a DRS in the future, then these auctions would carry no weight whatsoever.

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