John Demco
Network Solutions Sued Over Domain Front Running – A class action lawsuit has been filed against Network Solutions for domain front running. ICANN is also named in the suit filed by Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP. According to the law firm’s press release: “Whenever someone searches for the availability of a domain name through Network Solutions’ website, the company immediately registers the name for itself, preventing other companies from selling it and forcing consumers to pay Network Solutions’ expensive fees.” .
AU Registry To Relax Domain Transfer Rules – The Board of auDA, the Australian domain name administrator, has approved an implementation plan for its new Transfers Policy, which allows a registrant to transfer their .au domain name to another eligible entity, for any reason. Although it will still not be allowable to register a domain name for the sole purpose of resale or transfer, once a domain is registered for at least six months registrants will be able to offer the name for sale/transfer by any means, including brokerage and advertising. The policy change could cause a .au property boom. .
Picks To Click
- Two postings by John Levine on the front running class action suit.
- The lead plaintiff in the front running suit, Chris McElroy, responds on CircleID to John Levine.
- Whistle-blowing site Wikileaks.org is accessible again, after a court dissolves the injuction that had disabled Wikileaks’ domain name.
- Nat Cohen (DomainNameNews) comments on the DOC/ICANN mid-term review meeting held on February 28.
- The .mobi registry is requesting ICANN’s permission to accept IDN registrations, in anticipation of a roll-out during Q3/4 2008.
- Registration is open for the ICANN meeting to be held June 22-27 in Paris.
Timeline
- Fri, Mar 7: last day for comments on the effect of new gTLDs on the DNS
- Wed, Mar 26: .asia domain first-come-first-served registrations begin
- Tue, Apr 15: last day for applications to the ICANN Nominating Comittee
- Sun, Jun 22 – Fri, Jun 27: ICANN meetings in Paris, France