ICANN Investigates United Domains’ Pre-Registration of Fresh TLDs
Domain registrar upsets group regarding its plans for .lac TLD.
There are a number of web sites accepting “pre-registrations” for fresh top level domain names. Since no one can apply for these fresh TLDs yet, it’s all speculative on the part of the services.
But domain name registrar United Domains recently launched a program that drew the ire of one possible fresh gTLD applicant.
The firm’s pre-registration system offered .LAC and stated it was being supported by Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry (LACNIC).
LACNIC subsequently emailed ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom, stating:
Yesterday, United Domains Inc, an ICANN accredited registrar, published on its website an notice of preregistration under the domain .LAC This notice suggests that LACNIC will apply for that domain and has used our name and logo without our authorization.
This information is incorrect and has created a lot of confusion within the community. LACNIC is analyzing legal responsibilities related to this situation. So far, we have sent a Cease and Desist letter to United Domains Inc. (attached).
This kind of irresponsible actions on the part of a formal player of the ICANN system have a very negative impact on the community as they affect the system’s prestige.
We suggest that ICANN evaluate the situation and determine whether any action is required.
Beckstrom responded that ICANN was investigating.
As of today the United Domains page resolves to information regarding .web instead of .lac. But you can see the original page here.
Honestly, it seems more like a situation where LACNIC ought to have just asked United Domains to take it down. It seems like an honest mistake.
