Canada responds to ICANN regarding .Sucks

Move along, now…

John Knubley, Deputy Minister of Industry Canada, has responded (pdf) to the letter ICANN sent to both the U.S. FTC and Canada regarding the .sucks domain name.

Knubley basically states that this is not a matter for the government, and that if intellectual property rights holders think a .sucks domain infringes their mark, they by now know what to do regarding it:

Canada’s laws provide comprehensive protections for all Canadians. Canada has intellectual property, competition, criminal law and other relevant legal frameworks in place to protect trademark owners, competitors, consumers and individuals. These frameworks are equally applicable to online activities and can provide recourse, for example, to trademark owners concerned regarding the use of the dotSucks domain, provided that trademark owners can demonstrate that the use of dotSucks domains infringes on a trademark. Intellectual property rights are privately held and are settled privately in the courts.

The FTC by now responded to the letter by basically saying “I told you so”.

Some trademark holders believe the .suck registry is extorting them to keep their .sucks domains out of the hands of others.