To date, applications have been made for more than 500,000 .biz names. Before the names went on a first-come, first-served basis, trade mark owners were given an opportunity to stake claims to names in advance. However, the rules provided that multiple applications could be made for the same domain name. This increased an applicant’s chances of securing the name because the “winner” was to be chosen at random from all duplicate applications. NeuLevel was sued by aggrieved applicants for operating an illegal lottery under Californian laws.
Most .biz names went live on 1st October, but 39,000 applications were put on hold as a result of the legal action. In a statement this week, the company said:
“NeuLevel believes that there is a strong likelihood that the litigation could tie up the Affected Names for many months, if not years. In the interest of having the Affected Names available as soon as possible, regardless of the final outcome of the litigation, NeuLevel has developed an alternative method for the distribution of the Affected Names.”
It has set out a series of steps for a new “round-robin selection process,” due to begin in February 2002 which will involve the re-submission of applications by interested parties with refunds for unsuccessful applications.