I think that the Afilias .INFO rollout fiasco was planned to make a lot of money
- but I suspect that even those responsible are still pinching themselves over how
many frauds they were able to attract and the scale of the fortune they have made
to date.Has anyone tried to do the sums on what sort of money that the registrars
are holding from the 5 year fraudsters and the bunnies who thought that the game
was straight and bought Landrush applications for the same names that proved so popular
with those prepared to break TM laws and the Afilias rules governing Sunrise applications.
I think the figures on fraudulent registrations that have surfaced in the last
few days and others that are not yet in the public domain would indicate the booty
being held by the registrars would make even Midas or Croesus blush - and that's
before the the registrars skim US$5 or more from every Landrush application, whether
or not it is given a chance in the Landrush draw.
The only satisfaction I am enjoying
at the moment is that if Afilias stays true to form and purges the Landrush applicants,
Afilias and ICANN will be surprised at who is prepared to take the stand against
them with privileged information that will damn the bastards for ever.
Great shame
that ICANN and Afilias appear to favour the lose-lose option.
Only a week to go
- still time enough for an Afilias announcement containing an assurance they have
not forgotten they wrote or authorised hundreds of thousands of Landrush agreements,
and that these applicants will get what they bought in good faith - a chance to win
a name at Landrush, with all the names in the barrel.