Australian Search Engine in Dodgy Domain Reg Scandal
Searcher twists name rules
Australian Search engine Ansearch finds itself in hot water over some particularly ill thought out domain name purchases.
Australian IT report that the fledgling search engine have registered a long listed of trademarked, branded domain names by using the .com.au tld - examples include abcnews.com.au and microsoftoutlook.com.au
Ansearch chief executive Dean Jones said the company had registered most of the names during its launch phase last year in a fit of "youthful exuberance", hoping to direct extra traffic to the search engine.
"They didn't go very well, so we are concentrating on generic names," he said.
"We have had discussions with some (trademark holders) and if there is ever a dispute, we're happy to hand it over."
Youthful exuberance? Outright stupidity more like - needless to say the brand holders and some webmasters are not best pleased:
"This is a blatant attempt to exploit our brands and to siphon traffic that is clearly intended for our sites, and as such we take this very seriously," said Nic Jones, managing director of News Interactive
You have to wonder what the hell they were thinking of don't you?
What surprises me
is that it is extremely hard to get a .com.au domain name. You generally need to be registered as an Australian business or company or hold an Australian trademark. Means they went doubly out of their way to get these names...
I'm actually surprised they could get half of the ones I've seen.
Yep.
We've been following this for a while. I also fail to see how they could register so many domains without corresponding legal entities. They would claim product names I suppose, but that would be really stretching it somewhat. I suspect heads will roll over this one.
Registrar needs looking at
tpp is the registrar for most of the domains owned by ansearch - I can only imagine that AUDA will be questioning them about their compliance to the guidelines! It's a worry.
Co-incidentally the Ansearch search box appears on domains parked by TPP!
TPP?
Sorry lost me excell - good to see you BTW.
I'm suprised they could even register a name/trademark - even with a product name. I'm sure M$ won't be happy someone has a product named "Microsoft Outlook". Definitely agree heads will roll.
auDA Accredited Registrars
http://www.auda.org.au/registrars/accredited-registrars/
Registrars are meant to uphold policy.
http://www.auda.org.au/policies/auda-2005-01/
4.2. "It is the responsibility of all auDA accredited registrars, in accordance with the Registrar Agreement, to apply the policy rules set out in this document. Each domain name application must be checked for compliance with the relevant policy rules by the registrar before it is submitted to the registry for inclusion in the registry database. auDA has published guidelines for registrars to assist them in interpreting the policy rules outlined in this document."
http://www.auda.org.au/policies/auda-2005-02/
Look at 10. ALLOCATION CRITERIA - MEANING OF "CLOSE AND SUBSTANTIAL CONNECTION
In particular - 10.4 Please note that registrars are expected to act with integrity and use their common sense in determining whether the registrant's warranty is bona fide.
Got that
just couldn't figure out who TPP were...
auDA investigating
Just a note to say that auDA are investigating the domains and requiring bona fide warranties (within a specific time frame) - we will hear more soon, no doubt.
More..
Pretty detailed write up of Ansearch's exploits here...
More than just a Dodgy Domain Name Reg Question
What are folks thoughts about Ansearch.? Is it a viable Search Engine? Does the traffic reported to the ASX mean anything? (even if it is measured by Hitwise). Is this a popular search engine? Does it have functionality when tested that is useful? What say you?