Question: The famous names or acronyms of public organizations, including the oldest European universities and schools, are registered for sale under .com/.org/net, or already sold. It seems quite possible that speculators are using queries of ccTLD whois databases for such registrations. Shall ICANN be concerned by such speculations ?

Nominee Replies

Jeanette Hofmann - posted on 2000-10-08 07:16:26 I don't mind if ICANN is concerned about domain name speculation. What really matters is that ICANN has no jurisdiction in cyberspace. It is not ICANN's job to cope with problems like domain name squatting or its reverse version. Btw, in the US the DNS is regarded as a private resource and candidates like Karl Auerbach argue that domain name speculation is as legitimate and legal as any other form of speculation. Personally, I don't like domain name speculation. The easiest way to get rid of this business is to expand the name space. At the same, this would ensure that the rules and interests of Intellectual Property and Trademark stakeholders don't get the upper hand over cyberspace. Needless to say, the expansion of the name space is ICANN's job. Alf Hansen - posted on 2000-10-07 08:42:22 ICANN should be concerned, but ICANN can and should do nothing about it. In the gTLD-case, speculation is done because the naming-policies for com/net/org allow such speculation to happen. The TLD management is responsible for the naming-policy, not ICANN, as long as RFC-1591 is followed. The UDRP is the tool for Universities and others who want their names back. It the ccTLD case, there are a variety of naming-policies. In Norway as an example, we require that registrants sign a self declaration form, declaring that the registrant is aware of that he gets no more rights to use the name than he had before, and that he should check that he is not violating someone else's right to use the name, before the application is sent. This procedure prevents speculation, but it is up to the ccTLD management to decide which procedures to use, not ICANN. Local law applies, and Universities and others can get their names back by suing the people speculating the way you are describing.