A controversy over the .asia land rush has erupted. It started when a German bidder in the land rush auctions put up a website - DotAsia-ComPlot.org - alleging that most of the prize domains in the land rush wound up in the hands of Pool.com CEO Richard Shreier, whose

company has been enlisted by the .asia registry to run the auctions. The complainant's website claims that Schreier set up companies overseas to acquire multiple domains on his own behalf. The uproar prompted registry CEO Edmon Chung to send out a letter last night denying any irregularities. DomainNews.com posted the story today, including the full text of Mr. Chung's letter. 

It seems that every new extension rollout is plagued with allegations of abuse. Last year's botched introduction of the European Union's .eu created a firestorm of criticism against the registry after many of the best domains ended up in the hands of speculators outside the EU. Thousands of domains wound up being cancelled by the registry as a result. It is too early to say where this flare up with .asia is headed but its obviously not the kind of publicity any new registry wants when they are just coming out of the gate. 
(Posted May 14, 2008)