An Internet committee investigating suspicious domain name transactions has found no evidence that insider information is being used to snatch desired Internet addresses to make money off the individual or business that actually wants to register them.The committee said the 120 claims of "domain name front running" it reviewed generally resulted from misunderstandings about how the domain name industry works.
"When Internet users are unable to distinguish among different market activities, they often appear to conclude that they have fallen victim to a domain name front runner," the committee said in a new report.
ICANN: Domain Front Running Generally "Misunderstandings" [ap.google.com]
Related:
ICANN: Domain Tasting "May Be Causing Problems"
[webmasterworld.com...]
"Its all in your head. There is no collusion. Go back to sleep."
With claims like that it undermines the public integrity in that organization.
Me: "Any sufficiently advanced scam is indistinguishable from marketing".
They are right that tasting is a bigger problem, hopefully their 20c fee will stop that. It should do given that tasting relies on it being free, although maybe it will still be profitable for more selective tasting.
- I do understand how the domainname business works, and I have personally seen the following:
So it's very clear:
- tasting of domains related to those being registered (at a major registrar).
- done by those capable of getting near real time registration data
But it's all our imagination. They're going to make more money on .pdf, .exe, ...
It seems to me that the reason for the existence of domain names seems to have been forgotten. Domain names are supposed to facilitate access to websites, they are not supposed to be a commodity in themselves.
If an individual or organization cannot afford $5.00 for a domain name, they are surely incapable of publishing unique content - in that case they have no legitimate entitlement to the domain name (other than protection of trademark rights, etc.)
A $5.00 non-refundable minimum charge for registration would kill this loathsome practice dead.
Kaled.
Domain names are supposed to facilitate access to websites
Even ICANN doesn't state what domain names are "supposed to do" except to
resolve to an IP address.
Basically, ICANN said they don't see evidence of third parties "eavesdropping"
on a user who is searching for a possibly available domain name in a registrar.
It is rather hard to make such a conclusion without "proof" to back it up.
OTOH, they are aware that this is becoming a problem that can't be ignored.
One of their committees recommended making the $0.20 fee nonrefundable to
a registrar availing of the Add/Grace Period, which is/was intended to address
misspellings that do happen. (handled some of that myself...)
There'll be more to come. Keep checking this saga.
David
Tasting and kiting are speculative tactics that interfere with/leech from honest business practices; if they won't be penalised, at least they shouldn't be free.
[edited by: Josefu at 7:45 am (utc) on Feb. 18, 2008]
As for the 20c fee, PIR's action on .org last year really closed down the domain tasters and auction registrars who were effectively buying the complete drop for .org. I can't post the hoster stats here due to the charter but the difference between some hosters before and after the fee went into effect is amazing. These hosters each went from over 100K or so .orgs to a few thousand in the space of a month.
Regards...jmcc
Just my experience...
"Its all in your head. There is no collusion. Go back to sleep."
Basically, ICANN said they don't see evidence of third parties "eavesdropping"
on a user who is searching for a possibly available domain name in a registrar.
It is rather hard to make such a conclusion without "proof" to back it up.
Okay, I log into GoodRegistrar.com. "Hmmm... those are taken. Where are you looking?"
"I'm at EvilRegistrar.com."
"Oh, never use EvilRegistrar.com. They are a major hassle, not to mention $35/domain name compared to less than $10 at GoodRegistrar.com. Anyway, let's look at the Whois info."
Tappety tap click tappety tap click tap click
"Hmm... the registrar is EvilRegistrar.com. Oh, and the registrant is EvilRegistrar.com, creation date, 18 Feb 2008. Expiration date, 18 Feb 2009."
No, I'm sure nothing bad is going on here. I mean, I can still get the domains if I just pony up to EvilRegistrar.com who still allows me to register as long as it's through them. I'm sure it's a "service" where they are protecting their customer (wife) against interlopers (me), not trying to look people into reserving with them.
Of course this isn't like offering the domain up for $2500, but still something seems amiss.
Okay, I log into GoodRegistrar.com. "Hmmm... those are taken. Where are you looking?"
"I'm at EvilRegistrar.com."
"Oh, never use EvilRegistrar.com. They are a major hassle, not to mention $$/domain name compared to less than $ at GoodRegistrar.com. Anyway, let's look at the Whois info."
Tappety tap click tappety tap click tap click
"Hmm... the registrar is EvilRegistrar.com. Oh, and the registrant is EvilRegistrar.com, creation date, 18 Feb 2008. Expiration date, 18 Feb 2009."
No, I'm sure nothing bad is going on here. I mean, I can still get the domains if I just pony up to EvilRegistrar.com who still allows me to register as long as it's through them. I'm sure it's a "service" where they are protecting their customer (wife) against interlopers (me), not trying to lock people into reserving with them.
Of course this isn't like offering the domain up for $2500, but still something seems amiss.
An Internet committee investigating suspicious domain name transactions has found no evidence that insider information is being used to snatch desired Internet addresses to make money off the individual or business that actually wants to register them.
Err...isn't this exactly what Network Solutions is doing? I know this horse has been beaten to death but that sentence seems to perfectly describe their modus operandi here. You can't seriously tell me that ICANN buys the whole "We're doing it for your protection" claim?!
"When Internet users are unable to distinguish among different market activities, they often appear to conclude that they have fallen victim to a domain name front runner," the committee said in a new report.
In other words, we are all idiots so stop being paranoid, right ICANN? That has to be one of the most insulting things I've ever heard come from a company's mouth.
This really compromises the integrity of that organization to me. I think basically they just had to come out and say "Hey we investigated it. Not really, but we're tired and going back to bed. Now get off my lawn!"
many parties complained that the fee would penalize legitimate returns, such as ones to correct for typos
If you have someone registering that many typos that they can't pay the 20 cents for each one, you've got a much more serious problem on your hand.
