NeuLevel, the registry for all domain names ending .biz, has
announced that it is changing the way in which it will allocate
39,000 names which became the subject of a legal action accusing
the US company of operating an illegal lottery.
To date, applications have been made for more than 500,000 .biz
names. Before the names went on a first-come, first-served basis,
trade mark owners were given an opportunity to stake claims to
names in advance. However, the rules provided that multiple
applications could be made for the same domain name. This increased
an applicant’s chances of securing the name because the “winner”
was to be chosen at random from all duplicate applications.
NeuLevel was sued by aggrieved applicants for operating an illegal
lottery under Californian laws.
Most .biz names went live on 1st October, but 39,000
applications were put on hold as a result of the legal action. In a
statement this week, the company said:
“NeuLevel believes that there is a strong
likelihood that the litigation could tie up the Affected Names for
many months, if not years. In the interest of having the Affected
Names available as soon as possible, regardless of the final
outcome of the litigation, NeuLevel has developed an alternative
method for the distribution of the Affected Names.”
It has set out a series of steps for a new “round-robin
selection process,” due to begin in February 2002 which will
involve the re-submission of applications by interested parties
with refunds for unsuccessful applications.
