ICA files letter of comment on URS

The Internet Commerce Association (ICA), the peak body representing domain name investors and developers, has filed its letter of comment to ICANN concerning the revised Verisign contract for the operation of the .Net registry.

As part of the contract review process, ICANN is being lobbied by intellectual property owners to implement a draconian Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) system in the .Net space.

The URS has been proposed for new GTLDs, and there are now moves to introduce it into the .Net space by intellectual property holders.

The ICA is opposed to the implementation of the URS. In the ICA’s letter to ICANN it argues that (in relation to the URS):

The .Net registry is far too important to be a “guinea pig” for these incomplete, controversial, and thoroughly untested mechanisms.

Among its submissions the ICA also says:

It is not yet clear what the final form of the URS will be. In particular, it remains unclear whether the URS will be further amended to reduce the burden of proof on a complainant, and to provide a complainant with first option to acquire a suspended domain. The transfer option in particular would make this proposed $300, 500-word complaint, single examiner URS procedure the functional equivalent of the UDRP – which, despite its flaws, offers a far higher level of procedural and substantive due process to domain registrants.

To view a full copy of the ICA submissions click here.