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Follow on Google News | ![]() US Court GRANTS DCA Trust's Motion for Preliminary Injunction on .Africa gTLDThe Court thus finds that without relief, DCA will likely suffer irreparable harm.
By: DotConnectAfrica For the following reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff's Motion for Preliminary Injunction. In summary the Court ruled: (April 12, 2016) A. Likelihood of Success on the Merits 1. The Release Does Not Bar DCA's Claim at This Time. The evidence suggests that ICANN intended to deny DCA's application based on pretext. Defendants have not introduced any controverting facts. As such, the Court finds serious questions regarding the enforceability of the Release due to California Civil Code § 1668. Because the Court finds serious questions regarding the enforceability of the Release due to California Civil Code § 1668, the Court need not address DCA's arguments regarding unconscionability or procurement by fraud. 2. There Are Serious Questions as to the Merits of DCA's Ninth Claim. ... DCA contends that ICANN violated the IRP Decision by restarting the geographic name evaluation, which it had already passed, rather than permitting the application to resume at the delegation phase....[Cont'd] B. Likelihood of Irreparable Harm, The Court thus finds that without relief, DCA will likely suffer irreparable harm. C. Balance of Equities The balance of equities tips in favor of granting the preliminary injunction. Without a preliminary injunction, DCA will lose the opportunity to obtain rights to .Africa because ICANN will likely delegate the rights to ZACR prior to the conclusion of this action, and these rights can be delegated only once. DCA has invested much time and money in the application process under the representation that the process would be unbiased and fair. Although DCA may be able to recover certain funds through litigation, such as the application fee, the opportunity to obtain the rights to .Africa would be forever gone. ICANN's position, however, will be no different if it delays delegating the rights to .Africa. Thus, the balance of equities tips sharply in DCA's favor. D. The Public Interest Favors Granting Preliminary Injunction The public interest favors granting a preliminary injunction ....[Cont'd] For the reasons stated, the Court finds the public interest favors granting the preliminary injunction. E. Implementing the "Sliding Scale" Approach ...the Court finds "serious questions" going toward DCA's likelihood of success on the merits and a balance of hardships that tips sharply in DCA's favour.....[Cont'd] *** On March 4 2016, the court granted Interim Relief for DotConnectAfrica by issuing a decision [PDF Case No: CV 16-00862 RGK (JCx)] (https://www.icann.org/ DCA Trust submitted its first Amended Complaint ("FAC") on 26 February 2016, Plaintiff DotConnectAfrica Trust ("DCA") filed a against Defendants Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN"), and ZA Central Registry ("ZACR") (collectively "Defendants") DotConnectAfrica Trust is represented in this legal proceeding by Brown, Neri, Smith and Khan LLP, 11766 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1670 Los Angeles, CA 90025. End
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