Some people who have tried to register domain names that they
previously enquired about have found those names taken between the
enquiry and the registration attempt. They have accused registrars
of reserving enquired-about names for profit, a process called
front running.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
commissioned research to discover if front running was really
taking place.
Internet security expert Benjamin Edelman made over 600 requests
to register domain names on three occasions over the course of a
year. His tests were carried out at a total of 200 domain name
registration sites. In none of those cases was a domain name
registered by someone else between the enquiry and Edelman's
attempt to register it.
"My tests offer no evidence of front-running," said Edelman's
report. "Not one of the domains I requested, in any of the three
rounds of testing, was registered during the seven day period
during which availability was checked twice each day."
"Furthermore, at the time of conclusion of the second round of
testing, not a single domain from the first round of testing was
registered. At the time of conclusion of the third round of
testing, not a single domain from the first round of testing was
registered," said Edelman.
Edelman said that his research did not prove that front running
did not happen, just that he did not find any.
"My methodology cannot prove that front running is not occurring
or that front running has not occurred in the past. Rather, I have
simply failed to find evidence of current front running via the
test scenario I used," he said. "It is possible that front running
occurs based on leads from web sites I did not test or based on
data sources other than web sites."
ICANN has previously investigated claims that front running was
taking place, but has also found in the past that there was no
evidence of it.
It had asked internet users to submit examples of the practice
and received just 120 examples.
"Of the 11.21% of cases involving domain name renewal
difficulties, several parties either claimed they did not receive
notice in advance of registration expiry or the details of a case
illustrated that the party did not understand the terms of
registration in general and the Redemption Grace Period in
particular," said the review.
"If the claims reviewed by [ICANN] are representative of all
claims, acts frequently interpreted as domain front running often
prove to be side effects of domain name tasting and other secondary
market activities," it said.
Disclaimer: We hope you find OUT-LAW’s content useful. It’s prepared by the lawyers at Pinsent Masons. Please remember, though, that it’s intended as general information only. It’s not legal advice. If that’s what you’re seeking, please
contact us. See also: our
full disclaimer
