PIR, the registry operator for .org, has sent notices to registrars that it is implementing an anti-abuse policy that offers no due process for innocent domain registrants. See discussions here, here, here and here for background information.
While it\'s good intentioned, there is great potential for innocent domain registrants to suffer harm, given the lack of appropriate safeguards, the lack of precision and open-ended definition of \"abuse\", the sole discretion of the registry operator to delete domains, and the general lack of due process.
For example, Google was just ranked the third worst spam service provider. If a similar policy was in place for .com, would VeriSign have the sole discretion to delete Google.com?
Wikipedia.org was blacklisted in the UK recently (and temporarily) for allegations of hosting child pornography, due to a hosted image of an album cover.
There are numerous other \"false positives\" stories that we\'ve discussed previously in the fast-flux working group.
PIR has proceeded unilaterally without the input of the public, and also without regard to the GNSO which is contemplating a PDP for abuse policies, one that would likely lead to a far more balanced policy that protects registrants while still permitting the worst abusers to be targeted. Graduated measures like suspension make more sense than domain deletions, for example. The age of the domain should be taken into account (the most abuse comes from freshly registered domains). With registry operators actively seeking tiered-pricing for domains, their first goal would be to get it for new registrations, as opposed to renewals. If they were allowed to get tiered-pricing for new registrations, there would be a financial incentive to delete the domains of innocent registrants, as it would be a backdoor way of increasing their income from the best already-registered domains.
This represents a failure of ICANN when registry operators proceed in an ad hoc manner, rather than looking out for the interests and safety of millions of legitimate registrants.
Written by George Kirikos, President, Leap of Faith Financial Services Inc.. Visit the blog maintained by George Kirikos here.
