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As I've written before, the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) - the domain name dispute policy applicable to the new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) - is just not catching on. Whether because of its limited suspension remedy, high burden of proof or other reasons, the URS remains unpopular among trademark owners. However, there's one interesting use to which the URS can be put. more
Paul observed that most new domain names are malicious. Are they? Since the "dawn of tasting", some 30 million domain names have been created for the purposes of interposition on existing name to resource mappings. That is a third of the .COM historical growth, and mostly in the last five years. ... It is difficult not to conclude that interposition on persistent, public referents is without malice, and that the malicious parties are advertisers seeking to transform public referents into private property, as promotional devices... more
Nearly one year ago, I asked Will .CN become the next .COM? And perhaps I was right in more ways than one. Because now it appears that .CN is experiencing its very own .COM bust. Just a year ago Chinese domain registrations were booming, so quickly in fact that .CN had surpassed .DE to become the most-registered ccTLD. more
Would you be interested in helping guide the future of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit operator of the .ORG, .NGO and .ONG domains? If so, the Internet Society is seeking nominations for three positions on the PIR Board of Directors. The nominations deadline is Monday, November 30, 2015. Find out more information about the positions and the required qualifications. more
CENTR has published the latest edition of its CENTRstats Global TLD report, a quarterly publication that presents statistics and trends in domain name registrations of European country-code domains and the wider global market. more
In pursuit of continued domain name industry success, the Domain Name Association (DNA) is delighted to announce the launch of the next industry resource -- the DNA University. The aim of the DNA University is to establish a dedicated education platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas, best-practice methodologies and continued development of the industry's combined expertise. To this end, the DNA University will offer stakeholders an opportunity to share their experiences, learn from each other and provide a forum to incubate concepts that will advance the domain name industry. more
Register.com has not taken a position for or against WLS. If and when the registry launches this service, Register.com will consider whether to offer it based on the price and conditions attached to the service. We are committed to delivering to our customers the best in class services available. Therefore, the registry's price will be an important factor. Moreover, we are concerned about some of the conditions currently being considered by ICANN - primarily, the "black out period." This is a period of time prior to the final deletion of a name, during which a registrar would be prohibited from selling a WLS subscription on a domain name that it sponsors. We consider this a condition that could confuse consumers and dampen domain name competition. more
Offensive domain-name registrations require strategic corporate decisions. Second, they require different strategic and tactical remedies when third parties register desired names. Thus, different organizational approaches are necessary to manage domain name risks and rewards. The essay identifies the strategic differences and remedies for the two types of domain names, and outlines the implications for internal work-flow organizational structures. more
A triumph by the Internet Commerce Association (ICA) over tactics and legislation detrimental to domain name owners might end up being a case of winner's curse, a triumph bought at the expense of the industry. In picking this one battle to win, the association ignores a broader war, the range of issues our industry needs to address. more
This morning I read a catchy titled article on CircleID "China Closing the Door to New Technologies". I was trying to make sense of what all the fuss is about... So I called up my friends in Ministry of Industry and Information (MIIT) for lunch to find out what's going. more
I'm often baffled by lawsuits over domain names and keywords because they just don't seem to make any economic sense. This lawsuit is especially perplexing given the plaintiff's delays and the seeming impossibility of the plaintiff reaching a profitable outcome, even if it won in court. What was the plaintiff thinking? more
Following our previous article on the Euro 2020 football tournament that looked retrospectively at domain name registrations relating to the competition, this article considers activity on eCommerce marketplaces. For this study, our Discovery Engine technology was used to conduct a regular series of scans across key international online marketplaces. We monitored for listings (offers of sale) relating to Euro 2020 clothing and merchandise. more
On February 16, 2012 ICANN took the new step of suspending the Registrar Alantron's ability to register new names or accept inbound domain transfers. This new compliance tool was used following Alantron's apparently inadequate response to a breach notice issued November 7, 2011. The issue in part concerns Alantron's perpetual problems with Port 43 WHOIS access which is required by the Registrar Accreditation Agreement. more
Where outcomes depend on a word’s meaning, the first task is to define it. “Registers” which is one of the keywords in the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), is still in the process of definition. Its statutory context provides that a domain name registrant is liable to the owner of a mark if “it has a bad faith intent to profit from that mark … and (ii) registers, traffics in, or uses a domain name [corresponding to a mark] that … is distinctive at the time of registration of the domain name [and] is identical or confusingly similar to that mark. more
Legal trademark issues related to domain names will take a long time to resolve. Meanwhile, using a statistical model to determine infringement benefits all parties. The legal system has not yet established comprehensive and easy to understand rules under which a domain name is considered to infringe on a third party's trademark. The vacuum allows trademark owners and their agents, such as the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA), to sue domain name owners pretty much at will, but doing so is not always in the best interest of trademark holders. more