[Editor's note...but first read on to hear about some problems with the survey... -mf]"

The discussion began when Alexander Svensson questioned the quality of the survey:

And what a bad survey it is.
You cannot send it if you don't check at least one of the following options:

-- International Non-propietary Names of medical substances should not be registered as domain name
-- Country names and abbreviations should not be registered
-- International organization's names should not be registered

That should of course *not* be mandatory!

In addition, you cannot state whether you think a sunrise period is good or not -- only for how long it should last.

Best regards,
/// Alexander

Hi Alexander and all,

Perhaps the Commission can correct these errors? Is there anyone from the Commission who deals with .eu on this list these days?

Regards

Steve Dyer

Dear All,

I am sorry about the problems experienced with the question related to
"exclusions from registration". To my regret, these problems cannot be
solved and, thus, the answers to this question will not be taken into
account when evaluating the results of the survey.

As regards Mr.Svensson's comment regarding the sunrise period, I would like
to mention that, first, the sunrise period is already foreseen in Article
5(1)(b) of the .eu Regulation and, second, it is possible to make whatever
comments you want to make in the box provided for that purpose at the end of
the survey.

Best regards,

Víctor Sáez
European Commission - Industrial Property Unit

Aren't surveys supposed to produce neutral, unbiased results? Alexander's findings raise the question whether this questionnaire really meets general standards of survey design.

Article 5(1)(b) states that public policy shall include:

public policy on speculative and abusive registration of domain names including the possibility of registrations of domain names in a phased manner to ensure appropriate temporary opportunities for the holders of prior rights recognised or established by national and/or Community law and for public bodies to register their names;

I read this as *possibility* of a sunrise period. Similarly, the survey question starts with the following phrase:

When a new domain such as .eu is launched the Registry can allow owners of intellectual property and other rights a priority period [...]

It can, but must not. I hope that people are sufficiently aware of the sunrise period problems during the launch of the new generic TLDs and fill in comments in the box at the end of the survey.