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ICANN Asked to Shut Down Chinese Registrar

By: Sherri L. Shaulis

Posted: 06/23/2008

KnujOn project founder Garth Bruen has formally requested that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers shut down a Beijing-based registrar.

 

KnujOn, an organization dedicated to fighting spam, claims that ICANN has done little to fight spam and bogus websites. The group claims that most spam-related websites are funneled through 20 ICANN-approved registrars based in the United States and other countries.

 

In the complaint, KnujOn said Xinnet Bei Gong Da Software, known as Xin Net, does not follow ICANN's rules for "Whois" compliance.

 

According to a document sent to ICANN by Bruen, Xinnet does not have "any Whois record data for review while the sites are still active."

Bruen claims that Xinnet still allows spam sites to be registered - "typically, about 100 per day," according to the KnujOn document.

 

Bruen recommended that ICANN issue a breach notice to Xin Net and prevent the organization from registering new domains until an investigation is complete.

 

"We believe that this situation poses an immediate health risk to Internet consumers," the complaint states, "and since Xin Net will not take proactive steps to prevent repeat offenders from registering fake pharmacy sites, stopping all new registrations is the only way to break this cycle of illicit site registration and faux compliance."

 

ICANN representatives said the complaint is under investigation and declined to comment further.