The national registry for all domain names ending .uk, Nominet UK,
is in the middle of a two-month public consultation as part of its
review of procedures for dealing with domain name disputes.
Rejecting the rules that apply to .com, .org and .net disputes,
Nominet anticipates that its consultation will result in a new
dispute resolution service for .uk by autumn this year.
Nominet proposes introducing a new two-stage test in order to
substantiate whether a registration has been made in bad faith.
This new rule is intended to deal directly with the problem of
cybersquatting, where a domain name is registered with the
intention of disrupting another's business.
Nominet proposes to retain free mediation, as with its existing
dispute resolution service, in which parties are encouraged to come
to an agreement by means of the impartial intervention of Nominet's
staff. One-third of the 1,200 cases taken to Nominet have been
successfully mediated to date; it says that most others were
decided by its rules without challenge, and some were referred to
an independent legal expert for a decision.
Under the new proposals, if mediation is unsuccessful after 14
days, the case will be referred for a decision to an independent
legal expert on payment of a fee of between £500-1000 by the
complainant.
Most significantly, Nominet would have the power to transfer a
domain name under the new procedure. Currently, it can only suspend
or cancel a domain name that is registered in bad faith. This has
been one reason why many parties with .uk disputes have favoured
the UK courts over Nominet’s procedures, although it has handled
1,200 disputes.
One of the provisions of the proposals means that if the
appointed expert finds that the complaint was brought in bad faith,
for example in an attempt at reverse domain name hijacking, the
expert shall state this finding in his decision.
If the party bringing the case is found on three separate
occasions to have brought a complaint in bad faith, Nominet will
not accept any further complaints from that party – in effect,
three strikes and you’re out. Reverse domain name hijacking is
where a party relies on dispute procedures to take a domain name
from a legitimate owner.
Nominet plans to publish a timetable, the outcome of all
decisions, along with frequently asked questions about disputes,
model submissions and related articles and hyperlinks. This will
help it catch up with the information available regarding decisions
under the ICANN dispute resolution procedures that WIPO and others
follow for .com, .org and .net name disputes.
During the consultation, Nominet is canvassing the views of
businesses, consumers and other interested parties.
