WASHINGTON, June 10 /PRNewswire/ --

- Jonathan Zittrain of Oxford University Delivers Keynote

This past Thursday, the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) held
its London Online Brand Abuses and Internet Governance Education Forum. Broad
in its geographical scope, the forum welcomed companies from the US, UK,
Belgium, Netherlands and Switzerland, with half of the attendees representing
Global 500 companies. These attendees came together because of concerns over
issues such as online brand dilution and the often-ineffective governance of
ICANN. This was the first of two international Online Brand Abuses & Internet
Governance Education Forums to be hosted by CADNA, both aimed at creating a
global network of brand owners in order to share the latest in proactive,
reactive and preventative domain name strategies.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070724/DCTU006LOGO )

Today there are over 1.4 billion Internet users, and online advertising
is projected to grow to over US$80 billion in the next 3 years. The Internet
makes it easy for brands to move into new markets, but unfortunately
criminals enjoy the same perks- inexpensive and easy access to services and
consumers. This forum brought together brands from across the globe to share
collective knowledge, experiences and strategies for combating brand
infringement, harmful diversion, phishing and other online abuses such as
counterfeiting. With the high margins posted by online criminals-many
cybersquatted domains that are simply used to post sponsored advertisements
produce US$10,000 per year and cost just US$10 to maintain-it is clear that
this form of online abuse needs attention. CADNA forums open avenues for
communication and cooperation between brand owners so that they can have a
collective voice with which to effectively protest these practices.

The keynote speaker at this CADNA-hosted event was Dr. Jonathan Zittrain,
Chair in Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University, principal
of the Oxford Internet Institute and a Berkman Visiting Professor for
Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard Law School, where he co-founded
Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society. Dr. Zittrain's
presentation reviewed the evolution of the Internet from an open, simple, and
informal environment to a structured corporation. He argued that this
evolution came about because of entrepreneurial, technical and regulatory
opportunities that the Internet provided, and was dictated by the individuals
at the helm of ICANN, who often took decisive positions on a piecemeal basis,
without a holistic understanding of the Internet landscape that they were
creating.

Also among the speakers was Martin Sutton, a representative for prominent
CADNA member HSBC. HSBC represents the type of global company that can
contribute to and benefit from an international coalition aimed at raising
awareness and combating online abuse. "The Internet is young, and online
abuse will continue to occur," said Sutton. "It is key to have an effective
strategy and policy, as well as the type of industry collaboration that CADNA
offers, in order to protect brands and consumers." Member representatives of
Bacardi & Company Limited and DIRECTV, Inc. also shared their views on domain
name system challenges and solutions.

CADNA's education forums are hosted to provide brand owners with the
knowledge they need to take full advantage of the name space and reduce brand
abuses. The second international forum will be held in Paris on June 25, and
will continue the discussion on the importance of an international business
coalition and the possibilities of cooperative enforcement options for brand
owners. Featured speakers at the Paris Forum will include Frederick Mostert
of Richemont, David Roache-Turner of the World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) and Sylvain Hirsch of Paris-based IP Twins.

The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse ("CADNA") is a 501(c)(6)
non-profit organization dedicated to ending the systemic domain name abuses
that plague the Internet today. Its members include the following global
corporations: American International Group, Inc.; Bacardi & Company Limited;
Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA; Dell Inc.; DIRECTV, Inc.; Eli Lilly and
Company; Hilton Hotels Corporation; HSBC Holdings plc; Marriott
International, Inc.; Verizon Communications Inc.; and Wyndham Worldwide
Corporation. For more information, please visit www.cadna.org.

Web site: http://www.cadna.org