URS providers to get contracts
The companies handling Uniform Rapid Suspension domain name disputes will be bound to a contract, ICANN has said.
In a follow-up Q&A document (pdf) from the public forum session at the ICANN meeting in Beijing last month, posted Friday, ICANN said:
As regards Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) providers, will there be a contract developed that goes beyond the non-enforceable memorandum of understanding? Will there be other URS providers?
Yes, a contract is being developed and additional URS providers will be added.
That appears to be new information.
Domainers, and the Internet Commerce Association, which represents domainers, have long pressed for UDRP providers and, more recently, URS providers, to be bound by contracts.
The ICA, for example, has often said that no new UDRP providers should be approved until there’s a contractual way for ICANN to prevent mismanagement of disputes and “forum shopping”.
Soon, it seems, at least URS providers will have some contractual coverage.
The National Arbitration Forum and the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre have already been approved as URS providers.
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Those ICANN answers were in response to questions I asked on ICA’s behalf at the Beijing Public Forum. We are gratified by ICANN’s positive response.
We look forward to reviewing the draft contract for URS providers when it is put out for public comment, as we presume it will be under standard ICANN procedures.
This URS contract can be a very useful precedent for a standard contract for all UDRP providers, which will be more necessary to prevent forum shopping as ICANN inevitably expands the ranks of such providers.