Statement from Douglas B. Armentrout
CEO
NeuLevel, Inc.
October 11, 2001
Today, the Superior Court of Los Angeles, CA issued a preliminary injunction in
the case of Smiley vs. ICANN, et.al preventing the activation of certain .BIZ domain
names.
More than 80% of the domain names applied for during the .BIZ Domain Name
Application process are unaffected by this decision and will be "live" by October
23rd. This decision does not impact NeuLevel's schedule to launch the .BIZ registry
on October 23rd, at which time applicants will be notified of the status of their
application and new registrations for .BIZ domain names will be taken on a first
come, first serve basis.
This decision only affects those .BIZ domain names for
which there were multiple applicants for the same name during the Domain Name Application
process. These names - fewer than 20% applied for during the Domain Name Application
process -- will not resolve on Oct. 23rd as a result of the court's decision. These
names will go live upon resolution of the legal proceedings.
While we are disappointed
with the Court's decision and the impact it will have on some .BIZ applicants, we
strongly believe that the process we've set forth and developed in conjunction with
the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the most fair
and equitable way to distribute domain names. We fully intend to pursue this matter
in the courts and will work to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.
Over
the next couple of weeks, we will communicate with those applicants that are impacted
by today's decision through the .BIZ accredited registrars who processed their original
applications.