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by geezerjay 2971 days ago
No, they have not. Each country can manage country-code top level donains, but that's just it: a specific top-level domain they are free to use. That doesn't negate them the right of using other domains, just like if you buy a domain name you don't lose the right of using a second or a third one.

It boggles the mind how anyone in their right mind can believe that a cyber-squatter shoud somehow have the right to hold the domain name of a sovereign nation for ransom.
4 comments
ada1981 2971 days ago
Except he wasn’t a cyber squatter — he built a business around it.

It’s seems uncommon for countries to actually own COUNTRY.com - UnitedStates.com, America.com, Germany.com and many more are privately held.

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thaumasiotes 2971 days ago
germany.com isn't in the same class as the other examples; France's claim on france.com is arguably more similar to Germany's hypothetical claim on deutschland.com . Why assume that what governments really care about is the English name for their country?
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ada1981 2971 days ago
Germany doesn’t care about deutschland.com either.

So, unclear what your point is.

Mine, is that countries generally don’t seem to care about the .com (of any variation) of the country name.

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Shinkei 2971 days ago
"It boggles the mind how anyone in their right mind can believe that a cyber-squatter shoud somehow have the right to hold the domain name of a sovereign nation for ransom."

I... just don't know how to respond to this. Do you have any proof that it was 'being held for ransom'? It sounds like it wasn't for sale at any price... it was hosting the man's business.

And I definitely don't agree with cyber-squatting... in fact I personally think that 'parked' domains should be returned to the public domain after some X years. I hate that there are people holding vast numbers of potentially useful domain names and not using them for anything.

I just don't understand how you drew that conclusion in this particular case... it sounds like the opposite actually.

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Karunamon 2971 days ago
The guy who owned the domain wasn’t “cyber squatting”. If he was, there is a process for that.. which wasn’t followed here.
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gattafrettolosa 2971 days ago
Individuals should have more rights and more freedoms than nations.
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SiempreViernes 2971 days ago
The UN having any such powers is a long way off, for now you get your rights ensured by your country.
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icebraining 2971 days ago
In 47 countries, people can appeal to the ECHR: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Court_of_Human_Rights

Though I don't think they deal with domain names.

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