Hong Kong’sThreadAgent.com domain registrar is facing tough ICANN sanctions. Its accreditation was suspended for three months after the company failed to comply with a WIPO decision. In July 2021, WIPO ruled on a UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) case, filed by German automotive giant BMW, concerning the bmwgroup-identity.net domain, which is filled with porn content.
The decision was predictable. Panelist Rachel Tan ordered that the domain be transferred to BMW within a ten-day period. However, the ThreadAgent.com domain registrar that had registered the domain failed to comply with the ruling. In late December 2021, ICANN notified the registrar that it had violated contract obligations and initiated a compliance check. BMW gained control over the bmwgroup-identity.net domain name last week. However, the check revealed other violations, including inadequate support for the Whois service.
From January 28 through April 28, ThreadAgent.com will not be allowed to register new domain names or accept inbound transfers. During this period, the registrar must resolve all issues that have been identified, and it also must explain why the UDRP was not processed on time. According to Domain Incite, ThreadAgent.com now manages about 32,000 .COM and .NET domain names.
