A draft agreement aimed at creating uniform trade rules throughout the Western hemisphere has been released by the US Trade Representative’s office. The Federal Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) trade agreement includes a proposal that will force operators of ccTLD such as “.br” (Brazil) and “.ca” (Canada) to settle domain name and trademark disputes through the ICANN procedure.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been operating a domain name dispute service since 1998. The FTAA proposal would oblige ccTLD operators in North and South American excluding Cuba to follow the Uniform Dispute Resolution Procedure developed by ICANN for settling domain name disputes.

US Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick said that the publication of the FTAA draft text was an “unprecedented effort to make international trade and its economic and social benefits more understandable to the public”.

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