ICANN sued over the .web new gTLD
Donuts, a gTLD portofolio registry, has filed a lawsuit against ICANN over the .web new gTLD, which is scheduled to go into auction this week. The company is seeking over $10 million in damages and a temporary restraining order to stop the auction going ahead. Donuts accuses ICANN of breach of contract negligence, and unfair competition, for not having fully investigated allegations that another applicant for .web has undergone a change of control and has a new owner. The registry also seeks a court decision that the convenient not to sue ICANN, signed by all new gTLD applicants, is unenforceable. According to Domain Incite, Donuts seems to imply that ICANN is forcing the auction on .web to go ahead because it stands to benefit financially. UPDATE: A US district judge denied Donuts’s request for a temporary restraining order aimed to postpone/prevent the auction for .web.
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