Domain transfer rules are a cyber squatter charter

SECURITY AND network services outfit Netcraft has warned that the new rules for domain transfers that will come into effect on Friday, are a cyber squatter's charter.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), has changed the rules so that requests for transferring a domain will be automatically approved in five days unless they are denied by the owner of the domain.

The current rule is that domain and the nameservers names are kept even if a request for a transfer evokes no response.

The problem is that if you the contact addresses given in the records are incorrect then a request for transfer would go to a wrong address and after five days of no response, the transfer would become effective. A Netcraft spokesman said that the new domain rules would make it far easier for cybersquatters to take over sites. It said some prominent domains which had lapsed without being renewed included The Washingon Post and the Gawker weblog.

More famously PR outfit Ogilvy Mather, which looks after our friends in IBM, forgot to register their www.oglivy.co.uk address this week and found that the site had been hijaked by viral marketers ASABAILEY.

ASABAILEY took control of the domain and promptly uploaded a picture of what appear to be dead feet, to make a point about brand protection.

The image states: "If you understood the modern brand, you'd understand how to protect it."

ICANN said it is anticipating more disputes as it has appointed staff to manage its domain dispute resolution policy. µ