This is a call to arms.Afilias needs to be sued so
that they can be ordered
to put .info domain names obtained by fraudulent
trademark
registrations back in the lottery "pool".
Instead of challenging each individual
registration,
lets challenge all fraudulent registrations by suing Afilias.
Let everyone know.
Contact as many websites and pre-registrants as you
can.
Have pre-registrants send their email address to
sbfeibish@aol.com
I'll
get estimates for the cost of the lawsuit,
divide the amount by the number of
emails
and get back to everyone with a
"cost-per-preregistrant" figure.
I've
been asked, by Mr. Froomkin, to explain
"... more clearly what duty you think
Afilias
breached, and to whom it was owed, and how
one might figure the resulting
damages ..." .
What duty did Afilias breach?
Afilias had a duty to see that .info
names went
to applicants legally seeking .info domain names;
without
any unnecessary added expense.
Afilias breached this obligation when they
failed
to check for and delete fraudulent
sunrise trademark registrations.
Afilias
did not take the most elementary of
steps to throw out invalid applications:
Afilias
did not:
- ask for proof of trademark registration
- check for registrations
with dates past the
cutoff date of Oct. 2, 2000
- check if the
trademark name matched the
domain name being applied for
- check
for ill-formed trademark registration
numbers. For example;
if a country doesn't
use characters in a registration number and
the registration number contains characters.
- check for non-existent
trademarks (i.e., blank
trademark fields in applications)
- return
names to the pool when they were
informed that applications were
submitted
by mistake and that the successful applications
were more than happy to have the names
returned to the pool (hearsay
so far)
- check for identical trademark numbers on
separate applications
(from the same country).
- etc. etc. etc.
These checks could have been implemented
with
a minor amount of programming.
The result is that legal pre-registrants
will not
get what they contracted for. A chance at obtaining
a .info
domain name thru the lottery process.
The result is that legal pre-registrants
will be
forced to incur needless expenses by
challenging fraudulent registrations.
"... to whom it was owed ..."
Afilias breached a duty it had to two groups.
Registrars
and applicants who sought .info
domain names legally.
Registrars who submitted
legal sunrise requests
were deprived of the registration fees they would
have
charged for successful applications.
Pre-registrants who submitted valid applications
will not get a chance at obtaining a .info domain
name thru the sunrise or
landrush lotteries - as
contracted for.
"... how one might figure the resulting
damages ..."
I'm only seeking re-instatement of the names back
into the lottery
process.
However, I'll try to quantify the losses.
For registrars the damages
are lost registration fees.
That's just as a start. I won't get into loss
of good will, etc.
For applicants, the damages are loss of the chance to
obtain a valuable name, any paid pre-registration fees,
and the cost of a
challenging the fraudlent registrations.
That's just a start. I won't get
into the time lost in
pursuing these names. In my case since 1999;
for others,
since 1997.
The cost of a sunrise or other challenge, and monies
lost
in pre-registering names are easily quantifiable. If any of
these
name go up for sale, the amount collected thru selling
the name could be used,
or the amount people are currently
offering for a name on AfterNic could be used.
Although,
using AfterNic prices has inherent problems -- anyone can
probably
place a false bid that's rather high.
Steve Feibish
P.S. This is my private
rant.
Afilias screwed up in two ways. One, by granting
trademark holders
first crack at the names; and two,
by then not asking applicants for proof
of trademark.
If Afilias had made that simple request, registrars
would
probably have received very few fraudulent
applications.