While there are still months in which to lodge a challenge, to date there have only
been a few hundred - one assumes from individuals with qualifying TM registrations
against those with none.The big losers have not been the bona fide Sunrise applicants,
but the Landrushers, who until SpyProductions' announcement that the registry and
most registrars would be accomplices to trademark fraud, had every right to believe
that the challenge process might accommodate a few dozen disputes between qualifying
TM holders and that the most prized 10,000 generics would be available come Landrush.
Afilias
and ICANN could have precluded and halted the 10,000 plus incidents of cybersquatting,
but chose not to do so.
In the absence of any meaningful communication from Afilias
and ICANN regarding an acknowledgement that 10,000 plus instances of cybersquatting
represents gross mismanagement and a problem requiring immediate action, it would
appear that both are in denial, and not about to start behaving responsibly.
What
hope the Landrushers when the performance of the executive of Afilias during the
rollout would indicate they are incompetent or corrupt, and the regularity authority
continues its three monkeys act.
I think we should assume that given the acumen
that Afilias has shown to date - an Afilias challenge to disputed names not dealt
with through WIPO will be bungled and the fraudsters will have smiles all over their
faces.
It would not surprise me if Afilias plans to wait until the end of the Challenge
period before commencing any of its own challenges to those names not already in
the WIPO process. As some fraudsters are already showcasing for sale their
ill-gotten gains, an incomplete Afilias challenge at the time the freeze on transfers
expires will see a landrush of .info names going to new owners.
I think the question
now is - what steps do concerned citizens like the posters at this forum have to
take to have an independent auditor take responsibility for the checking of all .info
Sunrise applications in order that instances of fraud can be referred to the courts
and the freed names released to the original Landrushers?