Afilias and WIPO to Collaborate in Rollout of .INFO Dispute Resolution Services; WIPO Will Be The Exclusive Provider of Dispute Resolution Services for .INFO

Business Wire, May 3, 2001

Business & Technology Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2001

Afilias, the registry selected by ICANN to operate the new .INFO top-level domain (TLD), and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) today announced an agreement whereby WIPO will provide dispute resolution services for .INFO during the Sunrise Period.

The Sunrise Period is a 30-day period, prior to the opening of public registration, where trademark and service mark holders will be able to reserve their exact marks in the .INFO domain.

WIPO will be the exclusive provider of dispute resolution services for Afilias during the Sunrise Challenge process, which is the period in which parties have the opportunity to resolve challenges to Sunrise registrations.

"We are pleased to have WIPO, a global leader in intellectual property policy, working with us on dispute resolution as we bring .INFO to market," said Kent Jordan, Afilias executive committee member. "WIPO's experience and recognition as an impartial protector of IP rights ensures that Afilias will have outstanding dispute resolution services available for those who register during the Sunrise Period."

".INFO is a truly global TLD, and we are pleased to collaborate with Afilias given their commitment to the IP community," said Francis Gurry, Director of the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. "Through this association, we feel the roll-out of .INFO will significantly reduce the potential for trademark abuse in the .INFO domain."

Afilias, which was awarded the right to operate the registry for .INFO in November, has completed contract negotiations, and expects final approval from ICANN in May. Additional news about the rollout of .INFO will be forthcoming.

About Afilias

Afilias, the registry selected by ICANN to operate the new .INFO top-level domain, is comprised of eighteen ICANN-accredited domain name registrars located across ten countries. In the aggregate, the company's member registrars registered more than 10 million domain names in their last fiscal year. In addition to their strong position in the domain name registration market for the .com, .net, and .org top level domains, the member registrars collectively offer a wide range of related Internet services, including country-code domain name registrations, country-code registry operations, Web hosting, and ISP services.

Afilias' member registrars include: 1stDomain.net, a division of G D International LLC; Corporate Domains, Inc.; Domain Bank, Inc.; DomainInfo AB; DomainPeople, Inc.; Domain Registration Services; Enter-Price Multimedia AG (EPAG); Internet Council of Registrars (CORE); interQ, Inc.; Netnames International Ltd; Network Solutions, Inc. Registrar Operations; Polar Software Ltd. d/b/a Signdomains.com; Procurement Services International (Japan), Inc.; Register.com; Schlund Partner AG; Sitename; Speednames, Inc.; Tucows, Inc.

For more information about Afilias or the .INFO top-level domain, please visit the Afilias web site at http://www.afilias.com.

Note to editors and attendees of the International Trademark Association's 123rd annual meeting: Afilias will be addressing its intellectual property policies during a panel discussion at the INTA meeting on May 7, 2001 entitled: "ICANN and Trademark Protection in the new gTLDs." For additional information, please contact Heather Carle at 212-885-0380 or hcarle@hillandknowlton.com.