George gave me permission to forward his email to this list.
Erik
--- Begin Message --- It has been stated quite clearly that the problem of spoofing TLD tags should not exist because the authority for a given TLD can (and should) accept only one coding for a TLD tag. However, where the TLD tag is a country code, second-level TLD tags can (and should) also be unique (eg, .co.uk, .net.au). I don't think that has been stated clearly before.
For the second-level (or third-level where the top is a country code) domain tag, it should be the legal responsibility of the name authorities for the domain above to ensure that spoofed names cannot be registered (or if registered, all belong to one owner). In the Western world, if that is not already the case, then I'm sure that the first time a spoof of, say Coca-Cola (or Pepsi â let's be even-handed) is registered, then we can be certain that afterwards, the issuing authority will never do it again.
In the case of countries whose law systems are still a bit wild and wooly (The former Soviet Union?), then I suspect that for the time being it will remain âCaveat Emptorâ. In either case, a domain name holder should be able to license all spoofs for free, in order to limit its exposure to spoofing, whether or not there is adequate legal recourse.
The point I'm making is that while the authorities for .com.au or .com.ru may do what they like, we can at least give them advice plus some tables that will detect many, if not most, spoofs. In the case where the authority allows (for whatever reason) a name with mixed orthographies, then clearly the first to apply whose signature is not a spoof for an (already well-established) trade-marked name or domain name, should get the license, and all other applicants with a similar name be refused. The name authority should be protected by the laws of the countries in which it operates from being sued for refusing to register confusable names.
Thus, our rÃle reduces to providing some automatic methods to help the authorities deal with the homograph problem, and we can quit discussing the question of how to enforce authorities to adopt sensible naming conventions: that ultimately belongs to the realm of law and regulation.
George
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