Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center to Be Set up

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 17, 2001

Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center to Be Set up

The Asian Domain-Name Dispute Resolution Center (ADNDRC) which is formed by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC) is to be set up next February to settle domain-name disputes in relation to generic top-level domains.

About ADNDRC

The center will be the fourth center in the world and the only one in Asia authorized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

ADNDRC is committed to provide neutral panelists familiar with Asian languages, both in Asia and throughout the world.

It will begin accepting disputes on 28 February 2002, through the offices of its centers in Beijing and Hong Kong. For the first two months of operation it will initially accept a maximum of 20 proceedings per month but plans to expand to accept over 200 per month.

Dispute Resolution to Become Easier

"This will make dispute resolution easier for people and institutions from Asian countries," noted Stuart Lynn, President and CEO of ICANN. "The rapid expansion of the Internet in Asia has made clear the need for a regionally-accessible provider".

"Asia has enjoyed rapid economic growth as well as an increase in Internet users. There is room for the expansion of the business of resolving domain disputes," said CIETAC vice chairman Wang Shengchang.

Christopher To, secretary-general of the HKIAC, said the new center would have a competitive edge over the World Intellectual Property Organization due to its new on-line system and its ability to operate in the Chinese language.

"As time goes by, traditional arbitration will drop and on-line arbitration will increase," he said. "The younger generation is coming in and they would like to have disputes heard at the click of a button."

Other Three Domain Name Dispute-settlement Centers

Sources indicate that some 7,000 disputes have been undertaken by the world's other three dispute-settlement centers for top-level domains.

ADNDRC joins the three dispute-resolution providers that have been designated by ICANN: New York-based CPR Center for Dispute Resolution; Minneapolis-based National Arbitration Forum; and the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization. namely, the Center for public Resources Institute for Dispute Resolution and the National Arbitration Forum, both in the U.S., and the Arbitration and Mediation Center under the World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.

HKIAC : HKIAC, established in 1985 to assist disputing parties solve disputes by arbitration and by other means of dispute resolution, is widely respected throughout the international community as the focus for Asia of dispute resolutions.

Specializing in Asian languages, HKIAC's caseload ranks second after that of CIETAC. HKIAC has signed 18 cooperative agreements with other International ADR institutions, including the American Arbitration Association and the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. HKIAC, the dispute resolution provider for the ccTLD .hk, was the first Asian institution to settle international domain-name disputes.

CIETAC: CIETAC, established in 1956, is the international commercial arbitration institution in China and is headquartered in Beijing. The Shenzhen Sub-Commission and Shanghai Sub-Commission were established respectively in 1989 and 1990 in view of the expansion of arbitration services. CIETAC's, caseload has increased with the rapid development of the Chinese economy and demand for the resolution of international or foreign-related disputes.

ICANN : ICANN is a non-profit, private-sector corporation, dedicated to preserving the operational stability of the Internet; to promoting competition; to achieving broad representation of global Internet communities; and to developing policy through private-sector, bottom-up, consensus-based means. ICANN welcomes participation of any interested Internet user, business, or organization.

By PD Online Staff Li Yan

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