ICANN lays down the law
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is calling a domain name registrar and a registry operator on the carpet in a dispute over the distribution of .pro domain names.
The Associated Press wrote up the spat between ICANN and EnCirca, a domain name registrar in Reading, Mass., that hawks its services particularly to trademark owners. The gist of the row? ICANN thinks EnCirca is exploiting a loophole in its rules to offer the tightly restricted .pro domains to nonprofessionals.
Documents posted to the ICANN Web site reveal that EnCirca isn't the only recipient of testy ICANN correspondence in the .pro controversy; RegistryPro, the Chicago-based company that operates the .pro registry, is also being asked to pony up data related to EnCirca's activities.
ICANN--which last week wrapped up its 22nd ICANN International Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina, by approving the .jobs and .travel domains--is looking into ways to close its .pro loopholes.
