As discussions stall between candidate companies and the wine sector and further to the reaction of governments (GAC), ICANN decided on 4 April to give a 60-day period to stakeholders to reach an agreement. European winemakers represented by EFOW, the European Federation of Origin Wines, are sceptical and fear an unconditional delegation of the “.wine”...

The President of the European Parliament, Mr Martin Schulz, on behalf of the institution he represents, addressed a firm letter on 19 March to the ICANN Board – the domain name system technical oversight body – expressing its strong concerns with the implications the delegation of the “.wine” and “.vin” might have on the European...

ICANN “.wine” “.vin”: EU and US on a collision course The delegation of the .wine and .vin keeps on dividing the EU and the US after the meeting in Buenos Aires. The ICANN Board received a number of letters this week calling for totally opposite decisions to be taken: the US advocating for the delegation...

At ICANN’s last session in Buenos Aires (17 to 21 November), the “.wine” and “.vin” took center stage again. Governments which are divided on the question of the protection of Geographical Indications (GIs) asked ICANN to seek legal expertise. In parallel, discussions between the applicant candidates and the wine sector were finally launched in Buenos...

The week of 17-21 November will be a decisive one for the European Geographical Indication (GI) wine sector. Indeed, during ICANN’s meeting in Buenos Aires a special session on the delegation “.wine” and “.vin” will take place. The delegation (that is to say the creation) of these two new top-level domains (gTLDs)- today there are...

On 12 September, the European Commission, following the strong opposition of EFOW and national associations representing GI wines, raised its’ voice on the “.wine” and “.vin” issue. In a letter to the attention of ICANN’s CEO, the Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Mrs Neelie Kroes, stated that the European Commission would not tolerate the delegation...

– Faced with the lack of progress on the discussions on the “.wine” and “.vin” and on the eve of an important decision by ICANN, the European Commission has decided to raise its voice. It has taken two strong initiatives. First a letter, dated 12 September, to the attention of the ICANN Board in which...

In Durban on 18 July, the GAC had given one month to the wine sector and to the candidates of the “.wine” and “.vin” strings to find an agreement. None of the three candidates has engaged with the sector to find concrete solutions and, moreover, political pressure was exerted to prevent an agreement to be...

On 18 July, in Durban, ICANN’s – the domain name system technical oversight body – meeting came to an end. The program concerning the extension of domain names will move forward. Talks on the « .vin » and « .wine » dossiers were very tense. ICANN has given an additional month to the wine sector...