1. gTLD Update

Afilias to challenge questionable Sunrise registrations in .info

Afilias this week announced plans to directly challenge certain questionable registrations by using the established Sunrise Challenge process or other mechanisms already in place.

Hal Lubsen, Afilias' CEO, said, "It is unfortunate that some individuals have misused the Sunrise period in an attempt to abuse the process. However, Afilias is committed to doing its part to maintain the integrity of the .INFO domain, and believes that our direct challenge to questionable names will be in the best interest of both trademark holders and the general public."

Roland LaPlante, Afilias' Chief Marketing Officer added, "Afilias specifically adopted the Sunrise Process to ensure that legitimate trademark holders had an opportunity to register trademarks in the .INFO domain before the public. That process is working well. However, the absence of a globally coordinated trademark database precludes us from being able to pre-screen and verify the trademark information submitted, thus enabling some potentially illegitimate registrations. Recognizing this potential, we partnered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a leader in intellectual property protection, to design a Sunrise Challenge process to address this situation."

The Sunrise Challenge process offers trademark holders the opportunity to quickly and easily recapture their mark. In the process, anyone can challenge a registration through WIPO. When challenged, the registrant in question must provide proof of their eligibility or forfeit the name and their minimum 5-year registration fee. This is a streamlined approach versus the traditional UDRP process.

Under the plan, Afilias will allow the Challenge Process to take its course, enabling legitimate trademark owners to obtain their names. If suspicious names remain, they will be reviewed for challenge directly by Afilias. If successfully challenged, they will be equitably returned to public availability after the completion of the Sunrise Challenge period.

2. Industry News

Conservationists fight for WWF name

The World Wildlife Fund has won a judgement against the World Wrestling Federation over the use of the initials WWF. The decision in the High Court in London means that the wrestling group will no longer be able to promote itself using the WWF initials, and will be forced to abandon its wwf.com domain name. The wildlife group currently uses the wwf.org web site address.

Domain-name dealer puts porno link on hold

A Canadian businessman has temporarily shut down an Internet link that took viewers to pornographic Web sites after he learned he was using a domain name that once belonged to a Christian record label.

Brentwood Music Inc. has sued Christian Francoeur of Quebec in a U.S. District Court, alleging that his registration and use of the brentwoodmusic.com domain name was a trademark infringement.

3. NIC News

Whois for .pl

The Polish registry is now providing a Whois service. This search tool will provide information about the domain name owner (excluding private individuals) and the IP addresses of name servers.

4. NetNames News

80% of top brands grab their .info domain

~ NetNames research shows cybersquatters have a tough time with new domain ~

London – August 15, 2001 – 80% of the world’s top brands have successfully registered their .info domain name during the ‘Sunrise’ period. Research from NetNames, the domain name management specialists, has revealed that the majority of the world’s most valuable brands have now secured their .info name before the domain space goes live to the general public.

The Sunrise Period, which runs until August 27, 2001, was created so that the owners of registered trademarks and service marks could officially register their marks in the .info domain. The Sunrise Period is designed to protect intellectual property, prevent cybersquatting, and provide time for IP (intellectual property) dispute resolution.

NetNames analysed the Interbrand list of the world’s 100 most valuable brands and discovered that 80 had already been registered in the .info domain. .info domains will be opened to the general public on September 12 with no restrictions on who may register. The names are expected to go live and be accessible on Internet web browsers on September 19, 2001, offering companies and individuals the chance to create general information sites.

“This is great news and shows that companies have been getting the message about protecting their brands in the new generic Top Level Domains,” said Jonathan Robinson, CEO of NetNames, part of the NetBenefit Group. “There are always going to be cybersquatters trying to profiteer from new domain names, but the Sunrise process has shown that they are unlikely to have much success when attempting to register .info names.”

“A decade after the launch of dot-com and dot-net, it seems like the registration process has been refined and is a lot less problematic than last time around. Of course there are always going to be teething problems, but overall we are likely to see a lot less domain name disputes than on previous occasions,” continued Robinson.

5. Fact of the week

Top 10 domains in the UK, week ending August 5, 2001

Jupiter MMXI Top Ten domains by time spent. Based on home panels in the UK.

MSN.com – 3,614,000
Passport.com – 2,633,000
Yahoo.com – 2,572,000
MSN.co.uk – 2,233,000
AOL Proprietary – 2,099,000
Freeserve.com – 2,087,000
MSN Messenger Service – 1,940,000
Microsoft.com – 1,674,000
Yahoo.co.uk – 1,475,000
BTInternet.com - 1,214,000