Internet naming system in danger

[TheEnforcer]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...src=rss&rpc=22

Internet name system in growing danger: U.N. agency
Mon Mar 12, 2007 3:50pm ET


By Robert Evans

GENEVA (Reuters) - The Internet's key site identity system is in mounting danger from new techniques that could cause havoc by turning it into a free-for-all market, the World Intellectual Property Organization WIPO warned on Monday.

And the United Nations' agency said the latest trends in registering top-level domain names (TLDs) -- like www.reuters.com -- could undermine dispute procedures under which patent holders can pursue "cybersquatters."

"Domain names used to be primarily specific identifiers of businesses and other Internet users, but many names nowadays are mere commodities for speculative gain," senior WIPO official Francis Gurry told a news conference.