Michael Toth - PAB Election

[michaeltoth]

Hi There,

Most of you know me by name and know i do not say anything without reason. I have been in this industry for a number of years and have always fought for my rights and that of others, as some of you know.

I have never stopped fighting those who affect my business, to, I hope, the advantage of all of us. I never ask for anything in return. But now i have to call the troops, we have to fight as a whole and stand up for our rights, in numbers we are strong.

I am standing for the PAB and need your support to change things from the inside. You may not agree with all i do, but i am a consistant fighter and do not usually shy away from heavy handedness. I will fight hard and have allocated a significant amount of time to this cause. Below is my PAB statement.

Please vote and support all that have commited their time to help you.



PAB STATEMENT FOR MICHAEL TOTH

I think the PAB represents the wishes and views of all stake holders. I intend to listen to and voice the opinions of all groups. There have been several issues that have come to light recently.

DRS
Complaints, Openness and disclosure
Cash surplus.

The DRS will have significant changes made to it this year if the results from the majority of the stakeholders are listened to. I hope to follow its progress and help Nominet follow the stakeholders wishes.

In the past year or so their have been a number of DRS complaints against Nominet, and as befitting a public registry, I hope to help Nominet with a solution similar to that of a government department over the disclosure of all information.

Nominet has a large cash surplus and I hope, by listening to the stake holders to find out where this money could be used.

About me.

I am a 41 year old construction graduate, with an active interest in Nominet. Since joining I have tried to go to every AGM, members meetings and have been to Nominet several times to talk about specific issues. I run a number of private companies and love the challenge of a new idea. Overcoming problems and strategy is what I do best.


I hope to bring the following strengths.

Openness - My email [email protected]
Directness – I say it how it is.
Honesty.
Team Player
Able to ask others for advice.

 

[mishmash]

Question 1: Please give us feedback on our proposals that the DRS should
include:


If a domain name is registered prior to a trade mark, it should be able to be used in any class without having to answer to the DRS

Source: http://www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAssets/16703_Michael_Toth.pdf

I believe such a policy would be out of line with current UK trademark law and would result in any DRS decision being open to being overturned in a a court - or more likely trademark holders bringing complaints against domain registrants where the domain name was registered prior to the trademark being established / registered would be less likely to use the DRS and proceed directly to court.

I don't think it would be useful to have a dispute resolution system which operated in a manner at odds with the law.

Question 3: Please give us feedback on our proposal that the DRS should
include a statement that, where the evidence is finely balanced, the weaker
the rights that the complainant has, the less likely it is that abusive
registration or use will be inferred.

I believe that this proposal could have been used in the following cases

www.bounce.co.uk
Source: http://www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAssets/16703_Michael_Toth.pdf

I can't see how P&G's rights to the word "Bounce" could be judged as weak. They were/are in my view about as strong as it gets when it comes to rights in a generic word.
I don't believe the strength of the complainant's rights was an issue in this case. It was a question of if the domain name registration was abusive, and the decision was made not on the balance of rights, but on a determination that the registration was abusive. I don't agree that the registration was abusive, but that's what the panel said on appeal: " In so using it he causes deception. "
Adding the statement proposed by Q3 would not in my view have altered the outcome of the bounce.co.uk DRS.


If registering many domains was not necessarily seen as evidence of abuse, perhaps the panel's deliberations would have gone the other way.

 

[Whois-Search]

Mishmash is this yours? http://www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAssets/16665_Richard_Taylor_OS.pdf

P.S. Good luck Michael

 

[DaveBeasley]

Excellent news Michael. I have to say that having met you for the first time at Domain Channel, what a genuine and honest bloke you came across as. Many others of you will have known Micheal for much longer, but I'm sure you will have drawn the same conclusion.

Many of acorn's contributers have on many occasions appeared dissatisfied, regarding the 'voice' and weight we as domain registrants carry with Nominet regarding their policies, and now I feel would be the ideal time to show our solidarity and unite behind Michael and his offer to stand for the PAB membership.

We need a voice on our side to be present in these meetings, and to be integrally involved in getting our points across (as seen from our perspective) to Nominet and help drive policy forward that favours domainers in general.

Its time we used this opportunity to vote onto the PAB, a person who is obviuosly dedicated to the furtherment of domaining in the UK. I for one will be voting for you! and I would recommend others to do the same.

Dave Beasley

 

[olebean]

When will Nominet release the details of who has been proposed?

 

[yesterday]

good luck Michael, we're with you.

yesterday

 

[Whois-Search]

When will Nominet release the details of who has been proposed?

Just before voting starts on 2nd March:

http://www.nic.uk/policy/pab/election/

 

[michaeltoth]

nominet PAB

why do they do this? I am sure that they could put out the full list today.

Maybe you could do it for them, or at least all the ones we might want to vote for. LOL

Just before voting starts on 2nd March:

http://www.nic.uk/policy/pab/election/

 

[domainking]

Hi Michael

You have my vote bud
its the same crowd year after year
good luck with it bud

 

[olebean]

Who else is standing?

 

[michaeltoth]

All i know at the moment is Andrew Bennett. Who i beleive is also a good candidate

But if anyone else knows anything please let us know.

michael toth

Who else is standing?

 

[Paullas]

is it possible to vote for 2 ? then hopefully micheal and andrew can get on board, now that would be really interesting.....

 

[olebean]

Should I ask who of the major cast votes has Andrew and Michael hopped into bed with? :twisted:

 

[Whois-Search]

Remember it is "one member one vote" for the PAB. Unlike the Nominet board election. You also vote by putting the candidates in order of preference so you could vote for them all 1-6 or just one.

http://www.nic.uk/policy/pab/election/

Also it is electronic voting for the first time so a lot more members are likely to vote (as long as Nominet makes it easy to do so and emails/calls every member with a link) - this means ISPs and Telecom members are likely to vote not just domainers and the usual 10%.

Also with Seb and Hazel confirmed not to be re-standing it really is wide open.......However it is likely that current PAB member Jason Johns will restand. Along with some of the canidates from the 2006 election that didn't get on like Mark Healy and James Blessing:

http://www.nic.uk/digitalAssets/16754_2006_PAB_election_archive.pdf

Also....

What I want to know is if Hazel's composition proposal is passed at the PAB meeting on 13th March (6 days before election results):

http://www.nic.uk/digitalAssets/10981_070102_PAB_Composition.pdf

The hope is that all concerned will think about the issues I have identified and the possible solutions I have proposed with a view to reaching an agreement at the March meeting.

When will it come in to force? i.e. would we get a full 2 years if elected?

Shouldn't the newly elected PAB members be allowed to object to the proposal?

 

[traffic1]

nice one michael..

met you and your laywer briefly at the after party namedrive event, talking about turks cacios islands etc

we need a domainer in on the nominet meetings to stop those dam ip lawyers changing the policy against us


best of luck

dominic

 

[michaeltoth]

Thank you Dominic,
I hope i get your vote, if you are a nominet member.

nice one michael..

met you and your laywer briefly at the after party namedrive event, talking about turks cacios islands etc

we need a domainer in on the nominet meetings to stop those dam ip lawyers changing the policy against us


best of luck

dominic