The European Commission has launched a “call for evidence” for the “EU Toolbox Against Counterfeiting”. What that means in practical terms is that they’re expecting feedback and input from a variety of stakeholders on the subject. However the call is very broad and open, so I suspect they’ll get a very big wishlist from IP interests.
At the moment the official page for this project simply says:
The trade of counterfeit goods harms consumers’ health & safety, results in losses of companies’ sales & tax revenues, and relates to organised crime.
To step up the fight against counterfeiting, this initiative will clarify the roles & responsibilities of right holders, intermediaries (e.g. online platforms, payment and transport services, domain name registries/registrars) and public authorities.
It will find ways to improve cooperation and data sharing and encourage the use of new technologies.
While this kind of thing will definitely attract attention from IP interests it would be good to see registrars, registries and hosting providers engaging. And of course getting input from civil society interests could help.
Of course as the feedback is very much “open” there isn’t a concrete proposal for anyone to react to, however the final line could hint at where this is going. This sounds a lot like a push towards automated decision making on what should or should not be allowed online, which in the context of the DNS will essentially mean domain names themselves.
They’re taking input until March 3rd 2022.
Edit: The EC has also got a more detailed background document that outlines some of the drivers behind their interest in this. It also hints at the general direction they’d like to move this. Grab it here (PDF).
