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The Lowdown
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Jan. 31, 2008 Post
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Here's the The Lowdown
from DNJournal.com! Updated daily to
fill you in on the latest buzz going around the domain name
industry!
Compiled
by Ron Jackson (Editor/Publisher)
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The
Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA)
has issued a new report
on domain tasting calling, as we, the Internet
Commerce Association (ICA) and others have,
for ICANN to take action to end the practice.
The CADNA report comes out just days after the ICANN |
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Domain
tasters wolf down everything in
sight but the gravy train will end soon. |
board passed a resolution
suggesting that a .20 per name fee be imposed on
domains returned within the 5-day grace period (AGP).
Most experts acknowledge that this would effectively end
the practice. An even smaller fee of .05 per
name accomplished the same goal with the .org
registry. Those fees work because of the millions of
domains scooped up by tasters, only a handful
produce enough profit (via monetizable traffic) to make
the names worth keeping. If tasters had to pay .20 on
every domain they grabbed they would soon be out of
business.
While we have the same
objective as CADNA, an organization that represents
trademark owners, we have a big problem with a proposal
in their |
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new report. They
want ICANN to impose a 50% re-stocking
fee on any domain returned within the grace
period. That's not going to happen and I
think CADNA knows that. The grace period is
there so that people who make an honest
mistake when registering a domain (such as
mis-typing a name) can get their money back
within five days. There is a need for the
AGP to be there and to work in the way it was
intended. Unfortunately domain tasters have abused
that privilege mercilessly to taste names for
traffic before throwing them back for a full
refund. |
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We have long been
dismayed by this rampant exploitation of a
loophole, but CADNA's "throw out the baby
with the bathwater" approach is not the way
to solve the problem. ICANN's proposal is a proven,
sensible method that will get the job done and
we would like to see it enacted as soon as
possible. |
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By claiming that the ICANN
recommendation will not work before it has even been
implemented (when the .org record already shows that
it will work) we can only assume that there is an
ulterior motive to CADNA's proposal that we are
confident ICANN will (rightfully) reject. When their
proposal is rebuffed, I expect CADNA to then claim that
ICANN is not being responsive to the problem and that changes
to current trademark laws are needed - changes that
would make it easier for take away domain owner's
assets, whether or not they are guilty of trademark
abuse. In a nutshell - to make reverse hijacking
legal. I believe that is the ultimate end
game here.
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Many industry
leaders have been warning about this as has the
ICA. The kind of overkill CADNA
repeatedly suggests to solve TM issues would
harm many ethical business owners - not just
the bad guys. It's why I think domain owners
need to support the ICA so that the organization
will have the resources necessary |
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to fight for laws
and ICANN policies that are fair to all sides,
including trademark and domain owners alike.
Let's implement the ICANN proposal and see if it
solves the problem. If it does, it will also
prove that CADNA's preferred approach - using
a nuclear weapon where a rifle would suffice
- is unnecessary and indeed harmful to honest
business people. |
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For
those who think the assault on domain owners
will go away if they just continue to ignore
the problem, here is another piece of news
for you. Nominet, who runs Great
Britain's .co.uk registry has just taken the
domain name myspace.co.uk away from its
owner and given it to the owner and operator or myspace.com.
Looks like a clear case of trademark
infringement on the surface doesn't it?
But the .co.uk owner happened to register the
domain six years before MySpace.com even
existed! Now, the UK uses different
standards than the UDRP - standards that
make it much easier for TM holders to take
away domains they should not be able to take.
There are people who want to make the same
kinds of changes to the UDRP so that taking
away your assets would be as easy as taking
candy from a baby. Unless these threats are
met head on, this form of domain name
abuse will be unstoppable. If you haven't
already, do yourself and your business a
favor and join
the ICA.
Posted (
Jan.
31, 2008) |
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