I have been following the .Wine/ .Vin issue for what seems like years now.
I get why Wine makers from Napa and France and Italy and Germany are concerned about the .Wine New gTLD and .Vin New gTLD.
Like any other business on earth, the new gTLD program has the potential to verticalize the internet providing a new gTLD for each business sector, class of products, professions or services.
Having said that the some in the Wine industry is seeking to make the granting of a .Wine and or .Vin new gTLD into an international incident today after France said it may threaten talks on the much larger transatlantic trade deal.
France has been particular vocal that some may use the new gTLD’s domains under .Wine or .Vin to mislead consumers on products like Champagne which France says can only be Champagne if it comes from that certain region in France .
As someone who had a very short lived career as a bottle turner for Taittinger in Reims, I understand that France thinks its the only place where Champagne is made and everywhere else the same product is just sparking Wine.
Likewise the Napa wine growers have been up in arms for a long time over someone other than there association or a member having control over domains like Napa.Wine.
So I understand all of the concern but still have no idea of why Wine should be treated differently than anything else on the planet.
ICANN has carved out certain privileges for organizations like the Red Cross and Olympics but they arguably are non-profit global organizations.
Wine is not.
Wine is just another product produced around the world.
It sucks that no one in the Wine business including the world’s largest producers or one of their trade organizations didn’t apply for .Wine and/or .Vin but they didn’t.
Debeers.com, which regulates, what some would say controls the world’s Diamonds market, didn’t apply for .Diamonds didn’t try to block its delegation.
The French economy may generate as much money in the clothing and fashion business as the Wine business but no one from the industry applied for the new gTLD’s .clothing or .fashion which were delegated without any fight.
I understand that some types of Wine are only grown in certain regions like Bordeaux wine only is “real’ Bordeaux is it comes from that certain region of France.
There is nothing in the new gTLD program that says all other rules of law are thrown out.
If some company represents they are selling Bordeaux wine and that wine doesn’t come from that region of France I assume complaints could be made to Federal agencies like in the the FTC for false or misleading advertising, regardless whether the company passing off “fake” Champagne or Bordeaux wine the trade associations, governments and other rights holders would have the same grounds to go after the company whether they are selling the “fake’ stuff on domains like Real-Cheap-French-champagne .com or CheapChampagne.wine
In a letter from the Napa Valley Vintners sent to ICANN last August we noted that Mr. Cakebread writing on behalf of the association told ICANN in part:
“”If the applications for .wine and .vin are allowed to move forward, our 5o0 winery members and legitimate wine producers worldwide, would undoubtedly face cases of cybersquatting, damages to their regional brand ; lack of customer trust and potential loss of brand value overall.”
Consider the clear importance of that the names “Napa” and Napa Valley” have for brand. region, and industry, and given the lack of tools that would allow our industry to protect our names..””
Well my issue is the same as it was last August, these 500 + members of the Napa Valley Wineries could have come up with the $1K each or less than the price of a case of wine they produced and filed a new gTLD application for .Wine and control the Right of the dot for their industry, protect their products and their brand like any other business or industry.
Likewise the growers and associations in France could have applied as well for a new gTLD but didn’t.
It would have been much more interesting if those in the wine industry in France and the US both applied for .Wine and then wanted to complain about the string going to the highest bidder, instead of in a way that represented where each variety of Wine is produced, it could have been known as the Great Merlot War of 2014.
“”If the applications for .wine and .vin are allowed to move forward, our 5o0 winery members and legitimate wine producers worldwide, would undoubtedly face cases of cybersquatting, damages to their regional brand ; lack of customer trust and potential loss of brand value overall.”
Consider the clear importance of that the names “Napa” and Napa Valley” have for brand. region, and industry, and given the lack of tools that would allow our industry to protect our names..””
Well my issue is the same as it was last August, these 500 + members of the Napa Valley Wineries could have come up with the $1K each or less than the price of a case of wine they produced and filed a new gTLD application for .Wine and control the Right of the dot for their industry, protect their products and their brand like any other business or industry.
Likewise the growers and associations in France could have applied as well for a new gTLD but didn’t.
It would have been much more interesting if those in the wine industry in France and the US both applied for .Wine and then wanted to complain about the string going to the highest bidder, instead of in a way that represented where each variety of Wine is produced, it could have been known as the Great Merlot War of 2014.
