Company that offered pseudo-domains loses objections to IDN top level domains.
Verisign and Public Interest Registry have successfully defended applications for internationalized domain names that are transliterations of existing top level domain names.
Regtime Ltd. and Legato Ltd filed legal rights objections against Verisign’s application for .ком and PIR’s application for .орг. These are transliterations of .com and .org, respectively, in Cyrillic.
The objectors have offered these as pseudo domain names for over a decade. Of course, they weren’t official top level domain names. For customers to get them to work, they had to install a browser plugin.
Panelist Assen Alexiev determined that operating these as a sort of alt-root domain and getting trademarks on them was not enough to block the new top level domain name applications. He also noted that the trademarks did not cover offering domain name registrations.
Alexiev ruled that the acquisition of the trademarks wasn’t bona fide, since they were marketed as alternative’s to .com and .org, which the objectors did not control:
Taking the above into account, the Panel is inclined to accept that the conduct of Regtime actually shows an attempt to secure for itself exclusive rights in relation to domain name registration services to the Cyrillic transliteration of the .com gTLD, the popularity of which domain has been established by others without the contribution of Regtime. In the Panel’s view, such use of rights would not be legitimate.
So from a technical standpoint, once VeriSign launches .ком – would the domains that Regtime have already in their system become legitimate domains? For those that have already paid them for these, now what?
@ Paul – no, the ones registered with Regtime wouldn’t become legitimate domains. I assume if you have the browser pluging they’ll still work and perhaps override “legitimate” domains registered under the new TLD. But if you don’t have the browser extension, you’ll never see them.
It means anyone who bought alternate root .ком нет орг “domains” from regtime has no rights of any kind to Verisign’s ASCII or IDN’s com/ком and PIR’s org/орг
Only the current registrant of the domain домен.com and/or домен.org can register/activate the domains домен.ком and домен.орг once these gTLD’s are active. http://blogs.verisigninc.com/blog/entry/update_on_verisign_s_idn
I would suggest that regtime will have to switch off their altroot servers and disable any plugins, if they want to remain ICANN accredited registrars.
Why ICANN haven’t made them do so already is a mystery. ICP3 and all.
Great news!!!!!!!!!!!