The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has officially notified major domain name registrar Web Commerce Communications Limited (WebNIC) of breaching its contractual commitments. The Malaysia-registered company manages about 500,000 domain names in the .COM TLD zone alone, as well as multiple names in other TLD zones.
According to the breach notice, WebNIC is lax when investigating and responding to domain name system (DNS) abuse complaints. For instance, the registrar requires applicants to submit evidence of such actions, although the complaints already contain such data. Nor does it act accordingly after obtaining such evidence once again. In many cases, WebNIC responded only after applicants were forced to contact ICANN directly.
In other situations, the registrar requests evidence even if the complaint is not relevant. All this gives an impression that no one at WebNIC thoroughly investigates these complaints.
Moreover, the company has repeatedly violated ICANN deadlines for curing specific violations. Not does its website contain essential information stipulated by contractual provisions, including the details of the registrar’s deletion and auto-renewal policies, renewal costs, and data on top WebNIC managers and employees. According to Domain Name Wire, ICANN has ordered the registrar to cure all violations until August 19; otherwise, it will begin the contract termination process.
