Re: [ga] UDRP dead? Is the dot-biz registry typosquatting on AT&T'strademarks?

[Karl Auerbach <karl@CaveBear.com>]

On Tue, 20 May 2003, Stephane Bortzmeyer wrote:

> > As reported on ICANNWatch, the dot-biz registry is redirecting ALL
> > unregistered domains to money-making webpages (pay-per-click, powered
> > by Looksmart).
 
> It is outrageous but do note that Verisign GRS started the trend with
> the answer to non-existing Unicode domain names in '.com' and '.net'.
> ICANN did nothing
> <URL:http://www.iab.org/Documents/icann-vgrs-response.html> so other
> registries step in.

The issue goes even deeper.

Clearly any TLD that uses these wildcard responses is not merely
"typosquatting" on all trademarks, but is also actually *using* all
trademarks not otherwise registered.  For example, I have some trademarks
that are not registered in .biz, yet Newlevel (and everyone else who
practices the technique) is responding both in DNS and via web servers as
if they were authorized to use my marks.  So we're not talking merely UDRP
level kind of things, we are talking about direct infringement and
misrepresentation.

Secondly, becuase of the timeout values associated with the records,
anyone who does register one of these previously unused names may find
that they have to wait a week (or longer) for the pollution intentionally
created to fade away.  This means that someone who wants to launch a
fast-breaking net-based campaign can not do so.  (Imagine, for example,
had this been in effect on Sept 11 - how would NewLevel explain why in
their TLD's it takes more than a week for an emergency domain name to
become effective, while it is immediate in other TLDs.)

Third, many user tools have mechanisms that let the user decide what to do
when the user picks a name that is invalid.  These DNS wildcard
mechanisms, because they make all names "valid" (in a twisted kinda way)  
do not let the user's choice prevail.

Many in the trademark and business communities have descried the damage to
internet "stability" when names do not resolve as expected.  While I
disagree that this is a technical matter (and thus believe that this is a
matter beyond ICANN's role), I do believe that consistent and predictable
name services are important.  I believe that this wildcarding severely 
damages the ability of consumers to trust DNS.

		--karl--



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