******** Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2001 08:20:17 -0400 To: declanat_private From: Michael Geist <mgeistat_private> Subject: ICANN UDRP Study Raises Panelist Allocation Bias Concerns Declan, I have just completed a study on the ICANN UDRP that may be of interest to you and your readers. Study is at http://aix1.uottawa.ca/~geist/geistudrp.pdf It reviewed all 3094 ICANN UDRP decisions (through July 7, 2001) and found that when providers control who decides a case (which they do for all single panel cases), complainants win just over 83 percent of the time. When provider influence over panelists diminishes, which occurs in three-member panel cases, the complainant winning percentage drops to 60 percent. In addition to the dramatic difference in outcome between single and three-member panels, the study finds that case allocation appears to be heavily biased toward ensuring that a majority of cases are steered toward complainant-friendly panelists. As of July 7, 2001, an astonishing 53% of all NAF single panel cases (512 of 966) were decided by only six people. The complainant winning percentage in those cases was an astounding 94%. WIPO, meanwhile, has failed to assign even one of its 1629 single panel cases to at least two panelists perceived to be pro-respondent. Of the 104 WIPO panelists to have decided five or more cases, all but one have complainants winning at least 50% of the time. In conjunction with the release of the study, I have ported much of the collected data to the Web. Udrpinfo.com features a searchable database of the track record of individual panel members with more features to come. Beta version of the site is at http://www.udrpinfo.com. Media coverage this morning includes Do Cyberspace Court Panels Favor Trademark Holders? (sub required) http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB998251965684550590.htm Web Arbitration Biased: Study <http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/GIS.Servlets.HTMLTemplate?tf=tgam/common/FullStory.html&cf=tgam/common/FullStory.cfg&configFileLoc=tgam/config&vg=BigAdVariableGenerator&date=20010820&dateOffset=&hub=headdex&title=Headlines&cache_key=headdexBusiness¤t_row=15&start_row=15&num_rows=1> Regards, MG -- ********************************************************************** Professor Michael A. Geist University of Ottawa Law School, Common Law Section 57 Louis Pasteur St., P.O. Box 450, Stn. A, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5 Tel: 613-562-5800, x3319 Fax: 613-562-5124 e-mail: mgeistat_private URL: http://www.lawbytes.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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