Afnic has announced a change to the rules of its Syreli procedure. These procedures offer an extrajudicial means for users who consider that a third party has infringed their rights by registering a .fr domain name or an overseas TLD (.re, .pm, .tf, .wf and .yt).
A feature of the Syreli procedure is that filing a complaint with all supporting documents is carried out only online. The verdict is issued by a panel of Afnic staff members. This procedure allows you to ensure the speed of the procedure and significantly reduces the cost of its cost. Filing a complaint under Syreli costs the complainant 250 euros. Moreover, if the panel decides in his favor, the plaintiff has the right to apply for reimbursement of expenses in the amount of 150 euros. Thus, if successful, the plaintiff receives the infringing domain name for only 100 euros.
However, this will change from next year. As reported by Online Domain, from January 1, 2023, Afnic will cancel the possibility of reimbursement of expenses. This is due to the increased number of complaints and the need to spend significant resources and funds on their consideration. However, representatives of the registry emphasize that the amount of 350 euros is still significantly lower than the costs that the plaintiff will have to incur by referring to other procedures for resolving domain disputes - as a rule, these costs are at least 1,500 euros.
