Comments on: UDRP Panel Is Barred From Deciding Credit Disputes Forever, Why Is it Still Honest Enough to Decide Domain Disputes?

By: New Report: 1 NAF Panelist Out Of 141, Was Assigned To 10% of the Cases: What Is Going On? | Domaining Manual

Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:57:05 +0000

[...] The NAF is already fraught with questionable practices, admitting to dirty dealings in Minnesota. [...]

By: UDRP – A Guest Post EVERY DOMAINER MUST READ | DirectNavigation.com

UDRP – A Guest Post EVERY DOMAINER MUST READ | DirectNavigation.com — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 16:43:41 +0000

[...] to a steep drop in the number of Complainants who selected eResolution as an arbitration venue. The NAF has been found to be biased in favor of credit card companies and has been banned from deciding credit card disputes, yet ICANN still empowers them to decide [...]

By: MHB

MHB — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:22:12 +0000

Mpls

I never thought Ms. Swanson or any other AG is going to do anything for domainers.

However, for us, the NAF is the issue here, not Ms. Swanson.

The NAF is making decisions on the ownership our property after settling for this case a week after suit was filed.

The charges bought and not fought by the NAF go to the heart of their ability to render fair, impartial decisions.

By: Mpls Atty

Mpls Atty — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 02:17:08 +0000

Ms. Swanson is not your knight in shining armor, and she won’t care about domainers because it won’t get her any good press. First, the Minnesota AG’s office has been ignoring consumer complaints about NAF for the last 7 years. Swanson only files suits when other states have already done so, and is confident that she can make a huge splash in the press before immediately settling the suit. Second, Swanson is a bad apple. She busted a union in her office, and a legislative auditor’s investigation into her office confirmed that she ordered attorneys to falsify affidavits, file meritless suits to generate good press, etc. Swanson is a democratic version of Sarah Palin. Until protecting domainers will get her some good press, she’s not going to care at all.

By: MHB

MHB — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:46:32 +0000

J-

No problem

Go get em

By: jblack

jblack — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:44:04 +0000

Maybe, but these (a) are not mutually exclusive actions and (b) ICANN is less responsive than states’ attorney generals. (ICANN makes money from NAF, like many past sound arguments to ICANN, they will ignore the issue because they have the power to do so.)

If phrased well, the letters to the states’ AGs could emphasize the revenues to the states (via state income taxes) could be at stake. Besides, the Min AG took the issue on for more than economic motives–it appears they did so for basic justice and consumer transparency reasons too.

By: MHB

MHB — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:06:09 +0000

J-

Good idea, but not sure anyone AG is going to get too excited about a bunch of domainers getting screwed.

I think the better shot is to write to ICANN and get them to take away The NAF accreditation to server as an arbitrator.

By: jblack

jblack — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:01:04 +0000

How about people writing a simple letter to their state’s attorney general asking the same question as your headline? With 50 letters there may be just one state attorney general willing to take the issue on. The letter is just as easy as writing a comment here, but drives more gears.

By: Jon Schultz

Jon Schultz — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:18:07 +0000

Great reporting and comments, too. Thanks.

By: Chris Beach

Chris Beach — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:51:35 +0000

Hey Michael,

Thanks for bringing this to the public’s attention. I guess my question was rhetorical; with the URS handing more power to corporations, and cases to be arbitrated by an entity that can clearly be bought for the right price, it’s practically criminal. How long are we going to tolerate ICANN’s corrupt junket-monkeys and their equally dodgy buddies at the NAF?

Clearly the dollars have corrupted the people in power and it’s high time they were made accountable. As domain owners, what are we going to do about it, or are we all going to fiddle while Rome burns like we usually do?

We pay these bastard’s salaries. Let’s take them out of the equation once and for all; make ICANN transparent and representative of the people it derives it’s money from.