Public Interest Registry Pausing Development of Copyright Dispute Resolution Policy

Public Interest Registry said it will indefinitely pause “further development” of its planned Systemic Copyright Infringement Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy (SCDRP) amid stakeholder scrutiny. PIR, the domain registry for the .org top-level domain, was developing SCDRP in concert with the Domain Name Association’s development of its Copyright Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy, a voluntary third-party mechanism akin to ICANN’s trademark-centric uniform dispute resolution policy that would address copyright infringement through the use of domain names (see 1702080085). The Electronic Frontier Foundation and Internet Commerce Association were among stakeholders criticizing DNA’s proposal and seeking further information on PIR’s plans (see 1702100054 and 1702170058). PIR said Thursday it paused development of SCDRP to “reflect on those concerns and consider forward steps.”