Domain Tasting: Hard to Swallow - Will it Continue?
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As I’ve mentioned, VeriSign has been disinclined to clamp down on the practice of domain tasting. ICANN claims that it is not its place to unilaterally change the policy. Tim Cole, chief registrar liaison for ICANN, says that its constituents should make a proposal to change the policy, at which point the organization’s board of directors will look into modifying it. “We’re definitely taking action to inform the community about the issues involved, and it’s up to them to decide what they want to do,” he said. Those aren’t hollow words. The ICANNWiki is independent from ICANN itself, but does a good job of keeping the ICANN community informed; it includes excellent resources for those looking for information about domain tasting.
Domain tasting has even inspired a lawsuit. In June 2006, Neiman Marcus Group brought a federal suit against Dotster, charging that the domain name registrar engaged in the practice and targeted companies such as Google, Playboy and Walt Disney. Verizon lawyer Sarah B. Deutsch is also steaming about the practice, which is hardly surprising since her company is often a taster target. A Business Week article quotes her as saying that “Tasters aren’t adding anything to the Internet but instability,” but does not mention whether her company plans to sue.
It may take some kind of concerted action to change the status quo. For example, VeriSign believes that the five-day grace period can sometimes be legitimate, though it doesn’t support any abuse of it. In the meantime, VeriSign critics point out that the float from all those $6 fees piles up even when they’re eventually refunded. Additionally, the registry launched an expensive new service that in part helps companies protect their brand against tasters and similar threats. A true cynic would point out that VeriSign is actually profiting from domain tasters.
Still, now that large companies are pressuring ICANN and VeriSign, we may see some action. Some have proposed a nominal “restocking” fee when a domain name is returned. I’ve seen proposals for the fee to be as low as two cents to as high as a quarter. The point isn’t to make it impossible to take advantage of the grace period for companies just starting out, but to make it less profitable (and more risky) for domain tasting companies to buy up hundreds of thousands of domain names and then return the ones they don’t want to use. As one reader of the aforementioned Business Week article commented, “How do you stop tasting? By making the experience very bitter.”
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