ICANN has officially notified the .PHARMACY gTLD registry for its breach of contractual obligations under its registry agreement. Controlled by the US National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), the .PHARMACY domain is restricted to licensed pharmacies and pharmacists. This strict rule is due to concerns that the TLD could be used by drug traffickers as well as counterfeit medication traders. NABP therefore protects public interests by ensuring transparency of the registration process and strict compliance with the regulations – as it is specified in the agreement with ICANN.
About a year ago, Canadawide Pharmacy Ltd. applied for canadawidepharmacy.pharmacy domain name registration. However, after lengthy consideration, their application was rejected. NABP claimed that until recently, Canadawide Pharmacy was allegedly involved in unlicensed trading of Canadian medication in the United States, hence the rejection. The sale of Canadian medication in the US is an extremely sensitive issue for the United States and American pharmacists. Many US drugs are seriously overpriced due to the dominance of local pharmaceutical companies. Domain Incite quotes a very telling example: the price of a Viagra pill in the United States is around $66. A similar generic drug will cost $2.15 on the Canadawide Pharmacy website.
Canadawide Pharmacy representatives found the decision unfair and filed a complaint. When registry agreements concern public interests, a special dispute procedure, Public Interest Commitments Dispute Resolution Process (PICDRP), is to be observed. The PICDRP panel unanimously ruled that NABP breached its own obligation and denied Canadian pharmacists registration without any convincing proof of their links to unlicensed trading. Now the registry has until August 11 to provide ICANN with a plan of corrective action and measures to ensure full transparency of the registration process. The registry was also ordered to finally register the canadawidepharmacy.pharmacy TLD or provide actual proof of violation on behalf of its Canadian neighbors.
