On 26 January 2011 the CC’s Board extra meeting was held to review findings of the Commission on Examination of the Current Situation with the Open Registration of Domain Names in IND TLD .РФ. The next day, on 27 January 2011, at the press conference held by the Coordination CENTR for ccTLD .RU the Conclusion of the Commission and the rulings of the CC’s Board meeting were announced. The Commission comprised representatives from the CC, the Internet community and deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.
The Commission’s findings emphasize that measures taken to restrict resale of domains were in the interests of both final consumers and the market on the whole. Nevertheless, the commission has considered these measures insufficient to ensure complete prevention of abuse by registrars, in particular, purchase and subsequent sale of domains at surcharge. While noting certain minor drawbacks in the launch of the open registration of domain names in IDN TLD .РФ, the Commission recognized registration of several thousand domain names by RU-CENTR inconsistent with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Terms and Conditions of registration of domain names in IDN TLD .РФ and explicitly labeled it as cybersquatting.
“The main challenge we faced was that due to RU-CENTR activities which contradict the CC’s Terms and Conditions, about 62 thousand domain names have so far remained registered on RU-CENTR’s name, and they actually belong to RU-CENTR. The Coordination Center has no information on so called “owners”, nor has it any relations with them and in no way can make a stand for them, for example, in the event ZAO ‘RCIZ” goes out of business or in case of disputes between these users, - notes Andrey Kolesnikov, the CC’s director,. – At the same time, one can not dare annul registration of these thousands domains, as the commission recommends. First of all, due to the conflict with interests of private end-users who purchased these domains at an auction and paid good money for them.”
To find a sound solution, the Board has ruled to task the CC’s director with developing and submitting to the Board by 1 March 2011 recommendations aimed at elimination of violations of the Terms and Conditions of registration of domain names in IDN TLD .РФ. Andrey Kolesnikov has also noted that RU-CENTR has all necessary technical capacities to reregister these domains on real administrators and expressed regret that instead of remedying the flank, RU-CENTR keep further confusing the situation and misguiding its customers. On the face of it the Board recognized facts of violation of the Terms and Conditions of registration of domain names in ccTLD .РФ, as per the Conclusion of the Commission on Examination of the Current Situation with the Open Registration of Domain Names in IDN TLD .РФ.
“The Commission has done a huge work. Not only has it established facts of abuse, but provided unequivocal recommendations regarding CC’s subsequent actions. We took them into account and will be further working on the situation, - said Marina Nikerova, the CC’s Board chairwoman. – It’s clear that it is a rather well-oiled statement, but given the circumstances, it is the only correct one. Now we’ll be developing specific solutions and procedures with a special emphasis on the end-users’ interests.”
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Alexander Hinshtein, MP and a member of the Commission, noted that despite certain problems, the launch of IDN TLD .РФ can be considered a successful one. “I dare say a due credit for the successful launch of IDN TLD .РФ should first of all go to the CC’, the MP says. –The project was initiated directly by the President of the Russian Federation and enthusiasts from the CC have been working on it very intensively for several years Mr.Hinshtein noted that affiliation of three members of the CC’s Board -namely, A. Soldatov, representative of the telecom authority, , A. Lesnikov, director of RU-CENTR, , and A. Platonov, director of ZAO “TZI”, with the registrar RU-CENTR at the launch of the open registration has given rise to a chain of events which resulted in the gross infringement of established procedures.
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“You can agree or disagree with the fact that with his actions or inaction the representative of the Ministry of Telecommunications and Mass Media has contributed to a string of problems, in particular, with the registrar RU-CENTR,” said Andrey Kolesnikov. “However, you cannot help noting direct participation and assistance of Mr. Igor Schegolev, the Minister of Telecommunications and Mass Media, in the project implementation. First it was support of the Coordination Center for IDN TLD .РФ in ICANN. Secondly, he directly contributed to various events jointly held by the Ministry and the CC to promote IDN TLD .РФ. The Ministry of Telecom and the Minister’s stance, their comprehensive support and assistance with the launch of ccTLD .РФ make it possible to reckon today that IDN TLD .РФ is a success. The overwhelming majority of our compatriots are aware of it and no problems can affect its positive advancement and growth.”
