ICANN, the organization at the heart of the internet, regulating domain names, has selected Hogan Lovells partner David Taylor as one of only two European members to serve on the Competition, Consumer Trust and Consumer Choice (CCT) Review Team. The other European member is the Principal Advisor responsible for internet governance issues and the Internet Governance Task Force at the European Commission.

David, who specializes in internet-related intellectual property, and in particular the protection of brands online covering trade mark and copyright issues, keywords and domain names, will be serving on the panel alongside 17 other team members from around the world.

David Taylor said:

“I am delighted and honored to have been selected to this significant review panel at the heart of internet governance.  With the continued growth of the internet and in particular the recent expansion of new gTLDs such as .LONDON, .PARIS, .SEARCH, and .CLUB, to name but a few of the 1000+ new gTLDs being introduced since 2012, it is becoming increasingly important to ensure that consumers are protected.  This panel has a crucial role to play in determining the success or not of the introduction of these names before any future rounds are commenced.”

The review is mandated by the Affirmation of Commitments with the United States Government and ICANN and the review team must “examine the extent to which the introduction or expansion of gTLDs has promoted competition, consumer trust and consumer choice, as well as effectiveness of (a) the application and evaluation process, and (b) safeguards put in place to mitigate issues involved in the introduction or expansion” with a report due in December 2016.