From: "Larry Seltzer" <larry@larryseltzer.com>
To: <DNSTransition@ntia.doc.gov>
Date: Mon, Jul 3, 2006 7:27 AM
Subject: Registrant Interests

Dear NTIA,

I would like to address just one issue I hope you would consider: the interests of private registrants of domain names. While it doesn't seem strictly within the four primary functions defined in the DNS white paper, ICANN also accredits domain registrars and defines rules for arbitration of disputes over trademark infringements in domain names. But the interests of domain owners whose property is taken through registrar abuse and fraud by third parties are ignored by ICANN.

As an analyst who has written often on domain theft I hear from readers who have had their domains taken from them, and there have been some public examples of domain theft, the most famous being the panix.com incident (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1751981,00.asp). When a small company or individual is dealt with unfairly by the domain name registration process they have essentially no recourse but to hire a lawyer, go searching for the appropriate jurisdiction and hope that the law there provides some recourse and interest. Of course they don't do this because it would take years and more money than they could spend.

I hope that when considering the future structure of authorities in this area you would task someone with protecting the interests of domain registrants. Perhaps all registration transfers and lapses should be cc'd to an independent body that can hold records for some period of time. I'm not sure if that's a good idea, I just know that the current situation serves registrants badly.

Thank you.

Larry Seltzer
eWEEK.com Security Center Editor
<blocked::http://security.eweek.com/> http://security.eweek.com/
http://blog.eweek.com/blogs/larry%5Fseltzer/
<http://blog.ziffdavis.com/seltzer>
Contributing Editor, PC Magazine
larryseltzer@ziffdavis.com