[LINK] Fwd: Australian Barrister Accuses ICANN of Antitrust Violations

[Eric Scheid]

Australian Barrister Accuses ICANN of Antitrust Violations
Friday, November 24, 2000 
<http://www.telecommunications.com/frmMainCurrentNews--Internet%20Daily.htm
>

     An Australian lawyer asked regulators Monday to probe allegations 
that ICANN and the .au Domain Administration (auDA), an industry 
self-regulatory body for the .au country-code top-level domain name (TLD) 
space, violated the country's antitrust laws. In his notification to the 
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC), Len Lindon, who 
identifies himself as "barrister and human rights defender," said the 
current Domain Name System "is capable of millions of domain names and 
there are many 'alternative/open root server' operators and users. There 
could and should be many more operators and users." Lindon said "ICANN 
has deliberately and knowingly undermined, sabotaged and sought to 
destroy" competitors by breaching 8 provisions of the Trade Practices Act 
of 1974.

     By giving the nod to only 7 new TLDs, Lindon charged, ICANN violated 
laws barring: (1) Contracts that affect competition. (2) Secondary 
boycotts for the purpose of causing damages and substantially cutting 
competition. (3) Contracts that affect the supply or acquisition of goods 
and services. (4) Misuse of market power. (5) Unconscionable conduct in 
business dealings. (6) Contravention of industry codes. AuDA has close 
ties with ICANN, Lindon said, and appears to be engaging in similar 
anticompetitive activities. "Having read much of the available evidence, 
and having personally witnessed some of these anticompetitive 
activities," he said, "I am satisfied that each corporation is in breach 
of each section and I now submit this request for immediate action..." 


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eric@ironclad.net.au                 i r o n c l a d   n e t w o r k s
genius for hire                            http://www.ironclad.net.au/