Common Look and Feel for the Internet

Cybersquatting Section

Overview

Some private sector organizations are misrepresenting themselves as Government of Canada institutions or making unauthorized use of Government of Canada titles by registering Internet addresses - known as domain names - that resemble Government of Canada institutional titles.

These organizations then use the false, but similar domain names, to direct unsuspecting Internet users to misleading and sometimes offensive material. Some organizations also offer to sell the domain names resembling institutional titles that they have registered to anyone who is prepared to pay, including government institutions.

This is known as "cybersquatting". The adverse consequence of "cybersquatting" is the hindrance of legitimate access to Government of Canada Web sites.

Rationale

Institutions are finding instances of Internet sites which clients may equate with their programs and services and may cause embarrassment to the government and the department. This situation is creating confusion for our clients and preventing legitimate access to federal government programs and services.

Interpretation

Institutions are encouraged to consult with the various business lines and regional and local offices to develop a list of names. The names should be considered from the legal and business perspective as well as from the perspective of your clients and the names they commonly associate with your services - perhaps the most important consideration.

For example, an organization may register domain names such as NRCanada, NRCan, RNCan, ResourcesCanada and RessourcesCanada under the following generic top level domain names - .com, .net and .org.

Institutions can consult the Netcraft Web site for the list of domain names already registered under .com, .net and .org.

Institutions can consult InterNic for the list of companies accredited as registrars for .com, .net and .org.

Institutions are reminded that only the gc.ca domain names are to be used as the official identification of the departmental Web site(s). All other registered domain names must act as aliases or pathways to your site(s). To register gc.ca domain names, please contact registry@gc.ca

3.1 Best Practices

• Guidelines for Registration of Top Level Domain Names (July 2001)
• Guidelines for .ca (October 2000)

Guidelines for Registration of Top Level Domain Names (July 2001)

Background

This summer marks the first introduction of new worldwide generic top level domains (TLDs) since dot.com was created in 1985. There are seven new top level domains which have been approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), they are dot.aero, dot.coop, dot.biz, dot.info, dot.name and dot.pro. The most anticipated of these, dot.biz and dot.info, have had their launch times approved and are ready to go. These new registries will add to the already familiar registries such as dot.com, dot.org, dot.edu and dot.gov.

Dot.info will be an unrestricted TLD, open to any business, person or agency to register for any purpose. Afilias, a consortium of eighteen domain names registrars, was awarded the right to operate the dot.info registry following its application and approval by ICANN.

Dot.biz will be a restricted TLD, open only for bona fide commercial or business purposes excluding using or intending to use the domain name exclusively for personal non-commercial purposes or for the expression of non-commercial ideas, e.g. thiscompanysucks.biz and registering the domain name for the sole purpose of selling, trading or leasing the domain name. It would appear from the registration restrictions outlined by NeuLevel, the dot.biz Registry operator chosen by ICANN, that some government sites would qualify for a dot.biz name. For further details on registration restrictions and procedures and a list of accredited dot.biz registrars, please refer to the NeuLevel Web site.

Dot.museum is to be sponsored by the Museum Domain Management Association, and restricted to museums. ICANN's negotiations on agreements with the sponsoring organization are still in a formative stage. Information will be posted on the ICANN Web site as the negotiations progress.

Dot.info registration process

On July 25, 2001 the "Sunrise Period" for the registration of dot.info domain names will open.

The "Sunrise Period" of 30 days is from July 25 - August 27, 2001 during which owners of trademarks and service marks (registered as of October 2, 2000) may register their marks in the dot.info domain. The Sunrise Period is intended to prevent some of the problems of cybersquatting and domain name speculation. Government institutions with trademarks, service marks and official marks - registered prior to October 2, 2000 - are therefore advised to register their marks in the dot.info domain during the sunrise period, e.g. environmentcanada.info. This can be done with any ICANN's - accredited registrar as soon as the sunrise period opens. Refer to information below that links you to a list of ICANN's-accredited registrars.

During the Sunrise Period, Afilias will accept registrations in 5 rounds from the accredited registrars. A randomized, round-robin processing system will limit any one registrant or registrar's ability to gain in domain name submissions. A more detailed description of the round robin process can be found on the Afilias Web site.

On September 12, 2001, the dot.info domain will be open for general registration during what is termed the "Start-Up Period". Domain registrations submitted during the Start-Up Period will be processed with the same randomization process used during the sunrise period.

The majority of government institutions, i.e., those that do not hold registered trademarks, service marks or official marks, should register the names of their applied titles, acronyms and programs during the Start-Up Period - which follows the sunrise period, in the same fashion that they previously registered in such domains as dot.com, dot.org, etc.

Disputes regarding conflicting marks may be raised according to Afilias' Sunrise Challenge policy, which will be administered exclusively by the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center. The challenge process begins August 28, 2001 for 120 days.

List of accredited domain name registries

ICANN's maintains a list of accredited registrars for dot.com, dot.net and dot.org on its Web site, and it lists where they are based. You can find it at: http://www.icann.org/registrars/accredited-list.html

Another reference of accredited domain name registrars can be found at the Web site operated by the .info registry Afilias.

The selection of a domain registrar will be on a case-by-case basis. Each institution has different requirements that will need to be matched with the services being offered by each of the accredited registrars.

Wholesale and retail costs for registering a domain name

According to the Afilias dot.info registry, and to whom the registrars must pay a fee for each dot.info domain name that they register, Afilias will charge US$5.75 for each domain name registration per year.

Registrars will be required to register each domain name for a minimum of two years and a maximum of ten years in one-year increments. As such, registrars will be billed US$11.50 for each two-year initial registration. Afilias will collect registration fees for the total term at the time of registration.

The retail costs for registering a domain name will depend upon the package of services that the registrar is bundling with the domain name registration service. This might be as low as $29US per year for your basic registration to over $200US per year for a full service that includes the maintenance of your Web site, redirecting your e-mail and the registration of your domain name(s).

Domain Name Renewal Fees

Similarly, for registration renewals, Afilias will charge registrars $5.75 for each renewal year. If a registrant wishes to renew a registration, the renewal must be for a term of between one and ten years. These revenues will begin during the third year of operations when the first round of two-year registrations become due for renewal. Afilias will collect renewal fees for the total renewal term at the onset of the renewal term.

Afilias has chosen a flat annual registration and renewal fee revenue structure for two primary reasons. First, registrars have become accustomed to the annual-fee pricing structure developed by Verisign Global Registry Services in its relationships with ICANN's-accredited registrars. Second, Afilias believes that Internet-based commerce is currently not well-suited for discrete micro-payments based on specific transactions performed by the registry.

Guidelines for Registering .ca domain names (October 2000)

Institutions should consider registering its domain names under .ca - the country code top level domain name. For example, NRCan.ca. A list of accredited registrars is available at CIRA.

Issue

The purpose of this e-mail is to inform departments and agencies (institutions) of the changes to the rules and procedures for registering Internet domain names under the .ca designation and indicate how these changes may impact their institution, whether or not they hold an Internet .ca domain name now.

Background

The current rules for registering in the .ca domain permit only federally incorporated corporations, corporations with offices in more than one province, or Canadian registered trademark holders to register .ca domain names, and limits them to one domain name in English and one in French. Departments and agencies do not, as a rule, register directly under the .ca domain name but register their domain names in the gc.ca sub-domain with the PWGSC GoC registry that is accessible at http://registry.srv.gc.ca/.

On November 1, 2000, when the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), a not-for-profit, private sector corporation, assumes the responsibility for the administration of the .ca domain names from the University of British Columbia, these rules will be relaxed, and any individual or organization meeting certain Canadian requirements will be able to register any number of .ca domain names.

As a result, institutions will have to re-register any existing .ca domain names they want to maintain, and register any new institutional titles under .ca they want to protect against unauthorized use and cybersquatting.

New Registration Rules

By November 1, 2000, as part of this transition, all existing .ca institutional domain name holders who wish to keep their .ca domain name(s) must re-register the domain name with CIRA through one of CIRA's accredited registrars - a list can be found at: http://ro.cira.ca/re_choose_en.

After November 1, 2000, all institutions that want to protect their institutional titles against unauthorized use and cybersquatting must register new .ca domain names with CIRA through one of CIRA's accredited registrars - a list can be found at: http://ro.cira.ca/re_choose_en.

CIRA charges registrars $20 per domain name registration per year, and registrars are free to set their own prices for domain name registrants, subject to competitive marketplace forces. Departments and agencies are, therefore, encouraged to research the prices and other terms being offered by registrars and select the most appropriate and cost effective package for their needs.

Cybersquatting

These new registration rules will permit individuals and organizations to register .ca domain names that resemble Government of Canada institutional titles and then use the false but similar domain names to direct unsuspecting Internet users to misleading and sometimes offensive material. Some of these organizations also offer to sell the domain names resembling institutional titles that they have registered to anyone who is prepared to pay. This is known as "cybersquatting". The adverse consequence of "cybersquatting" is the hindrance of legitimate access to Government of Canada Web sites.

CIRA will also be implementing an on-line arbitration system that departments and agencies may wish to consider using for the recovery of .ca domain names that are registered by unauthorized parties. More information on this procedure will soon be available on the CIRA Web site at http://www.cira.ca.

Recommendations

Therefore, I encourage institutions, if they have not already done so, to re-register any .ca domain names they want to maintain, and to register the variations of their institutional title under .ca that could be registered and used by an unauthorized party to misrepresent the institution on the Internet, using the procedures mentioned above.

I would also ask you to advise us of the .ca domain names that the institution has registered by sending them to the Common Look and Feel Web site at clf-upe@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

This action is similar to that referenced in the letter of May 29, 2000 from the Secretary of the Treasury Board, Mr. Frank Claydon, to the head of your institution. This letter requested institutions to register its institutional titles under the .com, .net and .org domain names.

The preceding recommendations do not require institutions to re-register their gc.ca sub-domain names with the PWGSC GoC registry. However, institutions are reminded that domain names registered outside the gc.ca sub-domain are only to be used as aliases to direct your users to your bilingual Internet Welcome page in accordance with the Treasury Board Standards for Common Look and Feel on the Internet www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/clf-nsi/inter/inter-07-01_e.asp.

For further information on this registration process, please contact Ian Sinclair, Director, Chief Information Officer Branch at 613-957-2478 or by e-mail at sinclair.ian@tbs-sct.gc.ca.

Michelle d'Auray
Chief Information Officer
Treasury Board Secretariat
October 2000

Notes

• The organization now responsible for .ca is CIRA. Their Web site is: http://www.cira.ca
• You can do a search of all domains at Internic: http://www.internic.ca/. The cost per year would be approximately: $100+GST for .ca . Details at: https://www.internic.ca/payment.asp
• Web Hosting services: http://www.canadiandomain.ca/