Issue 156 - 21st May

Update on launch of .pro domains

RegistryPro, the official registry operator for the .pro domain, have finally announced the dates for live registrations to begin.

• 1 June 2004 for 3rd-level (.law.pro, .med.pro and .cpa.pro)
• 12 July 2004 for 2nd-level (.pro)

From launch on 1 June, qualified professionals will be able to purchase from the following three 'profession-specific' .pro domains:

• .law.pro (Legal and Legal-related services)
• .cpa.pro (Accountancy and accountancy-related services)
• .med.pro (Medical and health-related services)

From 12 July, qualified professionals will be able to purchase a 2nd-level domain as long as they qualify and purchase any two of the available 3rd-level domains shown above.

Orders can be placed on the NetNames website at www.netnames.com now and will be processed from 1 June and 12 July respectively.

Defensive registration orders have closed but will be made available again from 1 June 2004 for trademark holders and non-US jurisdiction professionals. If you are interested in obtaining a defensive registration of your trademark, then please call NetNames at the following numbers:

UK: +44 20 7549 5355
US: +1 212 627 4599

More information on .pro and a full explanation of qualification criteria is available from www.gtld.com

ICANN wins first round of Verisign lawsuit

Verisign Inc. has been given until June 7 to bolster and re-file its lawsuit against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), after a US Federal Judge ruled this week that it had failed to support its antitrust claims.

The dispute involves Verisign's controversial decision last year to launch its Site Finder service, which re-directs web users who incorrectly type a .com or .net domain name or try to visit a domain name that does not exist. Site Finder caused some spam filters and rival search services to stop working properly and ICANN threatened legal action if Verisign did not take it down. Critics said VeriSign was trying to make millions from its management of what is essentially a public resource.

Although Verisign reluctantly agreed to suspend the service, it decided to sue ICANN over Site Finder and what the company considers unnecessary delays and conditions placed on other planned offerings, including domain names in foreign languages.

The company complains ICANN decisions have been inconsistent. It also says services like Site Finder aren't covered by its ICANN contract, while ICANN considers them fundamental to VeriSign's role on the Internet.

ICANN to double budget in 2004-05

ICANN have this week released its proposed budget for 2004-05. The figures show a near-doubling of its overall budget for the next year, with spending leaping from $8.3 million to $15.8 million. The organisation said the huge increase was necessary because of international travel and "political, governmental and environmental factors such as litigation."

More information is available from www.icann.org