NamesCon, the largest domain business conference taking place these days in Austin, Texas (USA), announced the creation of the NameBlock AS service. It is designed to help copyright holders protect their trademark names in the domain space. This is a very serious problem, since cases of cybersquatting and fraud using domain names that are extremely similar or identical to the names of well-known brands are unfortunately not uncommon.
Some registries offer rights holders services to block names that match brand names in domain zones they manage. But not all registries have this service, and the number of gTLD has long exceeded a thousand, which makes the task of protecting trademark names in the domain space very difficult. To facilitate it, the NameBlock AS service is called. It is positioned as a kind of "marketplace" for blocking brand names. The service offers registries the ability to create their own blocking mechanisms, and right holders a kind of “one-stop shop” to protect their brands in multiple domain zones at once.
Of course, the success of the project will directly depend on how many registries choose to join it. But, according to the Domain Name Wire, Rolf Larsen, a specialist with vast experience in the domain business and an excellent reputation, is behind the creation of the service. Previously, he was among the leaders of the CloudNames Registry, which managed the new .GLOBAL gTLD. Larsen also created IQ Global brand protection service. Thus, he has both the necessary experience and connections in the domain business, which allows experts to evaluate the prospects of NameBlock AS very optimistically.
