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Chinese Woman Faces Legal Action From eu Authorities
EURid, the registry organization responsible for the .eu domain, has frozen more than 10,000 domain names registered to a Chinese woman, Zheng Qingyin, and has filed a lawsuit requesting that the registration of the domain names be removed. In response, Qingyin has retaliated by bringing her own legal complaint against the Belgium-based organization, objecting to the suspension of the domain names.
EURid’s suit is based on alleged misrepresentation to the organization, as the organization does not have standing to argue cybersquatting. According to EURid’s legal adviser, Herman Sobrie, Qingyin, "is not really living where she says she is (London) so there is a question about the paperwork she has filed”. While EURid has the right to strip the ownership of the domain names, they have indicated a preference for the court to rule on this matter, which may take more than a year. By contrast, the action to release the domain names has been fast-tracked, and is expected to be heard next month.
This lawsuit by EURid follows last year’s suspension of more than 74,000 domain names and lawsuits against over 400 registrars for breach of contract relating to re-selling of domain names. The .eu domain was launched in December 2005 and has so far registered more than 2.5 million names.
For additional information, visit:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/10/eu_domain_cybersquatting_allegation/