Leave it to the Chinese top-level domain authority, CNNIC, to come up with a reasonable definition of what a cybersquatter is. Someone who registers a domain name “for the purpose of selling or renting it” is no longer a bad person unless they “sell it or rent it to competitors of a company whose rights are infringed upon.”

CNNIC is the creature of the Chinese government (how unlike .US, which bravely stands up to stupid government directives!). This is the same government that spends millions on a major initiative to prevent spitting on the street. Not to mention trying to censor the Internet….

So how is that CNNIC came up with a definition that seems commonsensical while such guardians of international law as WIPO publicly flaunt their bias?

Fact is, domainers do a lot to keep many domain registrars (and ICANN) afloat in dollars. And unless they are violating someone else’s rights, what’s wrong with that?

With thanks to Frank

Posted by Antony in: Domains, Internet Governance