News story from netimperative.com.info process should
be open, claims industry
by Philip Buxton on 22 October 2001 08:30:00 GMT
Following
news that up to a quarter of initial claims for domain names using the new .info
suffix could be false, calls are now increasing for the ruling .info registration
body to publish details of each claim and the progress of any disputes.
According
to Internetters, an ICANN domain name registrar, .info registry Afilias should be
required to publish challenges made to potentially false domain name registrations
to allow the internet community to assess claims.
Of claims registered in the
sunrise period when companies could secure their names before they were made available
to the general public, up to 25% have been made using false or incorrect trademark
details.
Internetters co-founder Ken Sorrie said: "It is a tragedy that what was
going to be a great new opportunity for domain name registration has turned into
a debacle. We painstakingly checked every trademark .info application that was made
with us to ensure that invalid applications were not submitted via Internetters-
costing us time and money.
"Some registrars appear to have even turned a blind
eye in submitting
applications with information that was obviously bogus.
One
registree Konrad Plankenstein, was found to have registered 4981 .info domain names
on behalf of Austrian travel website Tiscover, claiming he had trademarked all the
names.