[dextralt]

'Amazon' is an _English_ translation of a _Greek_ name given to an _Eurasian_ tribe. What claim do _South American_ nations have for it?

I loathe to defend Amazon and ICANN of all the fucking things, but come on now. There are plenty of reasons to shit on these two, but not this nonsense. 'Illegal', lmao.

[onion2k]

The etymology of a word is a silly reason to deny assigning ownership of a TLD. How the word originated is far less important than how it's used. The case Brazil et al are making is that the global common understanding of "Amazon" is more theirs than Bezos'.

In this case though it seems like the most common use for a .amazon domain would be to scam Amazon customers. Tourism could easily go under a .com. That'd be a good reason to assign it to Amazon. It'd be in the interests of people regardless of the company.

[fastball]

Even given your second point, I would argue with the first, given that I think that globally, the company is more thought of when someone sees the word "Amazon" in 2020 than the rainforest.

[peterwwillis]

That's not even the important point. Ownership of a domain name doesn't have to do with who is more of the owner of the name, nor whether the name is "etymologically pure", or whose use of the name is more popular. The entire right to own a domain (or TLD) is based solely upon ICANN's Uniform Dispute Resolution Process, and any established case law which exists in your particular jurisdiction. So this thing that the majority of the world's communication and commerce is dependent upon is adjudicated by a private entity in a single country that makes its own rules.

[celeritascelery]

That’s exactly the situation the South American countries what to fight against.

[fastball]

So it's not AMZN that wants to own the word, it's South American countries that want to do so, even though they have no more right to it than the company.

[onion2k]

They had the word first. That is a compelling argument.

Imagine I start a company today called "America" (I'm in the UK). My business is wildly successful and grows to the point of being a global unicorn that can afford gTLDs. Should ICANN allow me to own .america? A lot of people would argue I shouldn't..

[fastball]

They did not have the word first. Amazon was first used to describe warrior-women from Scythia.

[anoncake]

Of course they do simply by virtue of being sovereign countries rather than some corporation.

[neiman]

"the amazon": thought of the rainforest/river (only)

"amazon": thought of as either the rainforest/river or the company.

I really dunno what does the world population think of that though (no one knows really).

[vhvjkyhkogvv]

> the amazon

I think of tall female warriors

[anoncake]

If tall female legendary Greek warriors show up and make a claim to the .amazon TLD, we should consider their claim. So far they haven't.

[perl4ever]

The river was named due to a European associating it with the mythical warriors.

[neiman]

That's "The amazons", in plural.

[perl4ever]

In English, "the Amazon" could also be a valid phrase apart from the river. For instance, you might have a course called "The Amazon in Ancient Greek and Modern Culture".

[vhvjkyhkogvv]

Well it could refer to a specific one.

[perl4ever]

Is it wrong to think of the mythical warriors?

Also, maybe someone should make a modest proposal to Bezos to rename the company "Orellana".

[cortesoft]

I don't understand this argument at all. Do none of the Americas have any right to have trademarks on words, since none of the languages spoken here are native to the Americas?

Can we not trademark English words, since we aren't English?

[aguyfromnb]

The point is "Amazon" is just a word used by South Americans to name things in their culture, in the same way that Bezos names his company "Amazon".

The fact that they sold the TLD to the the company is a little sketchy, but the idea that South America has an inherent trademark on anything "Amazon" is ridiculous.

[cambalache]

So it should be a common name, like "water" or "air" and that domain should not be on private hands. But if I had to choose between a beautiful river and its surrounding rainforest and a company which forces some of its contractors to pee in bottles I know who I will choose.

[FDSGSG]

> common name, like "water" or "air" and that domain should not be on private hands

This seems like an entirely separate argument.

Domains like .earth and .country are privately owned, nobody cares. http://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt

[cambalache]

Well given the fact that Guyana is an English speaking country and a member of ACTO, it has as much right as US has over a hypothetical New York or California domain. Or it does not count because it is "South-American" and not proper English to you?

[zamadatix]

I think the choice of New York/California really muddies up this comparison. Maybe a Guyanese company named Rocky Mountain getting ".rockymountain" would be more apt. Otherwise you start to bring in comparison to geographic boundaries over many countries vs political boundaries which have historically been reserved in DNS as well as protection of existing domains when registering a new one which (I don't believe) is the case here as well as government vs other domains and possibly more "as well"s I'm not thinking of.

[cambalache]

Why does it muddies it up?

[zamadatix]

For the reasons I listed in my comment.

[perl4ever]

Baja California is in what country?

Also, most of the outrage I'm aware of over the commercial use of California by non-Americans is because some people name things "California" and then don't sell them in the US.

https://www.adventure-journal.com/2019/08/its-absurd-the-new...

[pera]

English is the de facto lingua franca on the internet. English is also the official language of both Guyana and the Falklands. I think that would give these nations a case for a claim.

[cambalache]

Guyana yes, Malvinas not. First, they are not a nation, they are a (disputed) British overseas territory (by own choice) and second, they are nowhere close to the Amazon.

[catalogia]

The company is named after the river, not the Eurasian tribe.