CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (CDRP) Consultation
Backgrounder
The CIRA Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (CDRP), which has been effective since 2002, is a forum which is intended to provide quick, out-of-court arbitrations at relatively low cost for .CA domain names registered in bad faith. Following public consultations, CIRA developed the CDRP using ICANN’s Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) as a model, but with certain key changes for use for .CA domain names. ICANN, the entity which coordinates the Internet’s naming system, created the UDRP for use with generic top level domain names such as .COM or .ORG.
Since the CDRP became effective in 2002, there have been 149 decisions. CIRA believes that while the CDRP is effective overall, a review is now in order. There have been many changes in the Internet landscape during the past eight years, which advocate a review. In addition, as the CDRP has been used, certain questions and/or concerns with specific aspects of the CDRP have come to light.
In this regard, CIRA now wishes to undertake a public consultation to solicit input on the CDRP from stakeholders who may or do use the CDRP, including lawyers, government, academics, businesses, trademark holders, large domain holders, Registrars and Registrants. The overall purpose of this consultation is to obtain feedback from interested parties on the effectiveness of the CDRP as well as input on specific questions CIRA would like to pose. Please note, however, that other topics, such as CIRA’s WHOIS Policy or Canadian Presence Requirements, are not within the scope of this consultation.
In order to provide additional context, CIRA has included links to the CDRP Policy and CDRP Rules, and has prepared a number of background documents. These include a summary of all the CDRP decisions to date, as well as a document providing a comparative analysis of certain aspects of the dispute resolution processes of other country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) and the UDRP.
The public consultation can be accessed from the link below, and is being managed by The Strategic Counsel, a national public opinion and marketing research firm. The consultation, while open to any and all input regarding the CDRP itself, also includes questions on certain specific aspects of the CDRP which CIRA believes input is important. The findings from this consultation will provide insights that will assist CIRA in updating the CDRP to meet the needs of its stakeholders.
Please note that all your answers and comments will be published on CIRA’s website after the public consultation has concluded unless you clearly indicate that you wish them to be confidential.
