Many domain name registrars offer a service to give consumers access to domain names that are about to expire. A fee is paid, but no guarantee is given, and the end result is that consumers often use several registrars to back-order the same name. This secondary domain name market is very competitive, and prices are relatively low.
However, the WLS was recently proposed by VeriSign, the company that controls the database of all .com and .net domain name registrations, and approved by ICANN in federal court in Los Angeles. This, say those forming the coalition, would kill their secondary domain name business model.
Under the ICANN-approved scheme, all registrars must apply for expiring domain names through VeriSign. According to the Domain Justice Coalition this will cost $24 for registration, with the registrars' costs on top of that and a further payment needed to actually purchase the domain name.
The lawsuit challenges ICANN's failure to comply with its own internal decision-making process requirements when it approved implementation of the WLS in the face of opposition from domain name registrars, resellers and consumers.
The lawsuit also claims that the scheduled WLS launch date of 11th October is already harming members of the coalition by creating doubt among secondary market consumers who are concerned about the viability of the services they currently use.
"The WLS will have a devastating impact on consumer choice in the secondary domain registration marketplace by creating one centralised service for the acquisition of expired domains," said Clint Page, Coalition spokesperson and president of Dotster, a domain name registrar.
"In addition to the increased cost to consumers, the WLS will recreate the type of monopoly that VeriSign once had in the domain name market. It is our hope that the lawsuit filed today will result in an injunction against ICANN and the prevention of implementation of the WLS."