Category: Domain names

COVID19.com – The domain name registered by a third party redirects to the website of the World Health Organization (WHO)

COVID19 domain name
Image source: geralt via Pixabay

“Domainers” are always a step ahead when it comes to taking advantage of a good or bad situation. For example, some will anticipate elections by registering the names of political figures, others by taking advantage of a sport or cultural event. Consequently, regarding domain names, there will be opportunities for speculative registrations.

In the case of “COVID19.com“, it seems clear that at the time of this domain name registration on February 11, 2020, the holder obviously wants to speculate on the “COVID 19” virus, a term that can generate multiple requests in any language. The name is available for sale for $10,000 USD.

However, instead of simply redirecting the domain name to commercial links, the holder chose to redirect this strategic name to the World Health Organization (WHO) website. Is this a citizen’s initiative? Unlikely, because given the current context, using such a name to make a direct profit through commercial links could lead to a violation of the Registrar’s registration conditions.

If the holder does not immediately benefit from this domain name, he will at least have the merit to draw our attention to him for the time of an article.

.ZA websites will have to propose a link towards the COVID-19 official website implemented by the government

South Africa - .ZA domain names - dot ZA
Image source: 12019 via Pixabay

Since last Thursday, the South African government has imposed to all websites using domain names in .ZA to propose a link that redirects towards the official Covid-19 information website implemented by the government:  www.sacoronavirus.co.za

This new rule applies to all .ZA websites, regardless of their content.

The two other extensions managed by ZADNA registry, JOBURG and .CAPETOWN are also affected by this rule.

In the same logic, the registry also invites Internet services providers to block any websites which spread fake news.

Lastly, it is interesting to note that the government’s COVID information website is not www.coronavirus.co.za but www.sacoronavirus.co.za. This is because the domain name www.coronavirus.co.za has been registered by a domainer who proposes on his website to resell the name in question.

Like all crisis or news, COVID-19 led to a massive registration of domain names containing the associated terms, some unscrupulous players seeking to take advantage of the situation.

Unsurprisingly, during this unprecedented and complicated period, there has been a high increase in the number of cybercriminal attacks of all kinds.

.ORG news – NGOs against the .ORG registry’s sale to Ethos Capital

Sale of .ORG registry - PIR Public Interest Registry - dot ORG - Nameshield

At the end of 2019, the announcement of the .org registry’s sale, Public Interest Registry (PIR) by Internet Society to Ethos Capital, a private equity firm, created a debate, which was also the subject of a previous article on this blog.

For reminder, this announcement caused several concerns from NGOs, such as the increase of .ORG prices and the implementation of rights protection policies that could lead to a form of censorship, as is already the practice in some countries. These fears led Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) to launch the SaveDotOrg campaign to raise awareness about the potential impact of this sale. To date, 846 organizations and 25 119 people have signed this petition demanding Internet Society to stop the sale.

In front of these many complaints, ICANN postponed the approval of the .ORG registry’s sale to Ethos Capital and requested additional information from Internet Society.

« Public Interest Commitments »: The measures proposed to address the .ORG community’s concerns

In response to these criticisms, Ethos Capital and Public Interest Registry try to reassure by proposing the implementation of “Public Interest Commitments” (PIC), binding commitments which would ensure that the .org prices’ increase would be limited.

Among these commitments, they also propose the creation of a “Stewardship Council” (a council for the .org management) which could influence decisions taken by PIR and thus ensure the preservation of freedom of expression.

These PIC would be added to the Registry Agreement, the contract between the registry and ICANN regarding the functioning of the registry.

A for-profit registry to defend non-profit organizations?

During the last ICANN summit, organized remotely from 7 to 12 March 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, several NGOs, including EFF, mentioned this .ORG registry’s acquisition by Ethos Capital and asked ICANN about how it plans to review the change of control of the .ORG registry.

According to EFF, forming a “Stewardship Council” will not resolve the NGOs’ concerns. Indeed, the initial members of this council will directly or indirectly be selected by PIR and PIR will have the ability to veto new council members, which would thus ensure that the council will stay in lockstep with PIR.

Regarding the .ORG prices, according to NGOs, the implementation of the PIC doesn’t ensure a limitation of the prices increase. An amending of the Registry agreement can be negotiated at any time by the registry’s owner and ICANN, despite a public opposition. That’s what happened in June 2019, when the .ORG Registry Agreement was revised to diminish registrants’ rights and remove price caps. Furthermore, ICANN indicated in 2019, its interest in exiting the role of price regulation, but the PIC implementation would place ICANN back into that role.

Therefore, according to NGOs, these “Public Interest Commitments” would not protect adequately the .org community.

The NGOs’ questions remained without answer during the last ICANN summit, and this acquisition is still under review by ICANN.

“We acknowledge the questions and concerns that are being raised” says ICANN. “To ease those concerns and maintain trust in the .ORG community, we urge PIR, ISOC, and Ethos Capital to act in an open and transparent manner throughout this process. […] We will thoughtfully and thoroughly evaluate the proposed acquisition to ensure that the .ORG registry remains secure, reliable, and stable.”

To be continued.

The launch of 8 new extensions for India

Domain Names - Extensions India - IDN in Indian Language - Nameshield
Image source: 0426xgds via Pixabay

.IN Registry launches new Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) in Indian Language.

IDN registrations will begin on March 16th 2020 and listed as below:

Internationalized Domain Name (IDN)

.ಭಾರತ

.ଭାରତ  

.ভাৰত   

.भारतम्  

.भारोत 

.بارت    

.ڀارت       

.ഭാരതം     

Language

Kannada

Oriya

Assamese

Sanskrit

Santali

Kashmiri

Sindhi

Malayalam

The launch schedule would be as follows:

  • Sunrise A (Indian Registrant holding Indian Trademarks) : starts 16/03/2020 ends 15/05/2020
  • Sunrise B (Overseas Registrant holding Indian Trademarks) : starts 16/04/2020 ends 15/05/2020
  • Sunrise C (Existing Registrant holding ASCII domain name .in) : starts 01/06/2020 ends 30/06/2020
  • General Availability: 15/07/2020

Note that the possibility of registration during the priority phase of SUNRISE for foreign holders starts a beat later.

For more information on the conditions for registration, don’t hesitate to contact us.

Municipal elections 2020: buzyn2020.fr and buzyn2020.paris domain names redirect towards Anne Hidalgo’s campaign

Municipal elections 2020: buzyn2020.fr and buzyn2020.paris domain names redirect towards Anne Hidalgo’s campaign
Image source: Sadnos via Pixabay

Following the announcement on Sunday February 16, of Agnès Buzyn’s candidacy to Paris municipal elections, several political journalists discovered on Monday that the domain name buzyn2020.fr was registered but redirected towards “Paris en commun”, the campaign website of another candidate, Anne Hidalgo.

Several other names were registered on Sunday night, also redirecting towards Paris en commun’s homepage like buzyn2020.paris, agnesbuzyn2020.fr and agnesbuzyn2020.com.

If several of these names were anonymously registered, two of them were registered by the association “Montreuil en Commun”, a group of “four municipal councilors” who claims to be “without any political label” and explains to Numerama the fact that these names were available “indicates the improvisation of her candidacy and LREM’s lightness regarding a serious matter such as a candidacy to run for Paris’ mayor”.

Raising awareness to cybersquatting risks

The LREM candidate will not be able to use the domain name buzyn2020.com either, which was registered on Monday by Crisalyde, a risk and crisis management consulting company.

“I took the opportunity to raise awareness. It’s my job, I saw a risk and I took advantage of it”, explains Selim Miled, Crisalyde’s CEO, to the Parisien.

Cybersquatting is a practice that consists in taking a domain name by registering it, using or mentioning a trademark, a business name, a patronym or any name on which the applicant has any right, in order to make material or moral profit from its current or future notoriety.

Thus, Crisalyde registered 6 domain names: buzyn.paris, agnesbuzyn2020.paris, buzynpourparis.com, buzynpourparis.fr, buzyn2020.info and buzyn2020.com. “As soon as Agnès Buzyn’s team contacts me, I will give them the domain name at the purchased price, with a friendly advice” adds Selim Miled.

What strategy to adopt against cybersquatting?

Agnès Buzyn’s team will have to contact the persons who registered these names, who may decide to graciously give them back or resell them at prices they will have set.

However, legal actions exist aiming to retrieve a cybersquatted domain name, like the UDRP procedure (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy). This procedure will allow to suppress or transfer the domain name.

And lastly, in order to prevent any cybersquatting risk, it is recommended to implement a domain names registration monitoring to be immediately alerted of any new domain names registration that can potentially infringe your notoriety or your business.

For more information on our online brand protection expertise and domain names recovery procedures, don’t hesitate to contact a Nameshield consultant.