Afilias tries to cancel fraudulent .info registrations

The registry went live in October and .info names are now sold on a first come, first served basis. Although the pre-registration period was intended for use only by trade mark owners, it was also exploited by opportunists who recognised that no checks were in place to guard against the registration of generic, potentially valuable names which are unprotected by trade marks. To pre-register, for example, travel.info, an individual could put any information in the on-line form which requested trade mark details, because this information was not validated when the names was assigned to the claimant.

Afilias believes that approximately 20% of registrations were made under false pretences. The company told Reuters that it will now give legitimate trade mark owners a chance to correct any mistakes in the details they submitted at the time of registration, without the expense of arbitration by inviting them to edit their pre-registration forms, provided they do not change their company names.

Those who registered under false pretences will be given an opportunity to withdraw their registrations (without refund) or face arbitration proceedings, which will be brought by Afilias after the expiry later this month of a period during which other trade mark owners can bring their own challenge. In another change to the rules, challengers will need to first show that they are a legitimate trade mark owner before bringing a claim against another registrant. Afilias expects to challenge around 10,000 names, according to Reuters.