The ICANN .info contract was clear.Registrars were not allowed to submit applications
unless there was qualifying data in the four Trademark data fields - for TM name,
date, country, and number.
Registrars did not have to be sure that the details
were genuine (this was allowed to be "checked later") but they could not submit applications
with "NONE" or "Don't know" or "11111111" or an ineligible date in the field.
What
is absolutely clear is not only did the registrars breach that contract, but the
registry Afilias then ACCEPTED these facially ineligible applications, in breach
of the contract rules.
That was staggeringly irresponsible.
Afilias was not just
the "victim" of some naughty registrants. They were "participants" in the fraud,
because they chose to break the contract rules.
Even when their attention was drawn
to facially ineligible names, or when the original applicant requested deletion,
they refused to act (though the contract also allowed the to do so). Therefore the
names were deprived to Landrush applicants because Afilias broke its own rules.
Afilias
chose to break the rules.
The Registrars chose to break the rules.
They have
all benefited financially as a result.