Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON: The company that manages the new ".info" Internet
domain said on Wednesday it would tighten up registration rules as it prepared
to challenge the validity of one out of every five names registered since the
summer.
Domain manager Afilias, whose .info Internet suffix joined .com, .net and
other established "top level" domains this fall, said it would modify
its rules to ensure that disputed domains could only be awarded to legitimate
trademark holders. Thousands of applicants abused a preregistration process for
trademark holders this summer in order to grab generic names like "finance.info"
before they were made available to the public.
Afilias said it would require other challengers to produce proof that they
owned a valid trademark, in order to prevent one dishonest applicant from taking
a domain name from another. The move comes as Afilias plans to file a "bulk
challenge" of 10,000 of the 50,000 names submitted so far, according to
Afilias Chief Marketing Officer Roland LaPlante. "We're trying to
strengthen the process," LaPlante said.
Afilias will also allow domain-name retailers to fix any errors in
application forms before the bulk challenge period and allow domain-name holders
who did not mean to file during the preregistration period to withdraw their
applications. At least one batch of names filed in the preregistration period
was due to an error by the retailer.
Afilias allowed trademark holders an opportunity to preregister names like
"disney.info" when it rolled out its domain this summer. But it soon
became apparent that thousands of applicants had abused the process, using
questionable trademark claims to register generic terms like "sports.info."
Afilias said early in the fall that it would allow legitimate trademark
holders to challenge the registrations before the company itself mounted a
"bulk challenge" of remaining suspect names.
The rule change will avoid a scenario in which one fraudulent claimant could
win a generic name like "computer.info" from another fraudulent
claimant, said Robert Connor, a professor at the University of Minnesota's
Carlson School of Management. "They've at least stopped this musical chairs
kind of effect," Connor said. Connor said Afilias should also give priority
to applicants who played by the rules and waited to apply for a domain name
until the preregistration period was over.
Roughly 700 challenges have been filed so far, LaPlante said. Most cases
listed on the Web site of the World Intellectual Property Organization, which is
hearing the disputes, show that the challengers have won their cases and had
domains such as "google.info" and "portfolio.info"
transferred to them. The challenge period will remain open until December 26,
LaPlante said, at which point Afilias will file its challenge. Trademark claims
would be verified by WIPO, LaPlante said.