WLS lawsuit dropped

The lawsuit filed by a large group of registrars to prevent the launch of the controversial Wait List Service has been dropped. The complainants simply do not believe WLS will ever be put into action!

Domain name system regulatory body and Icann and .COM registry Verisign were the entities being sued by a group of registrars intent on preventing WLS from being implemented.

The system, which is designed to snatch expiring domains before they are put back into the pool of available names, was thought up by Verisign and given the go-ahead by Icann in 2004.

Because WLS is centralised by the registry, it effectively puts an end to a prolific domain name backordering industry. At the moment, it is up to each registrar to offer their customers a way to get expiring domains, should the registrar want to. Those that have launched back-ordering tools and services don't want them to be made obsolete by WLS.

Waiting on Icann

But the chances of that happening seem to be getting more and more remote. Since green lighting WLS last year, Icann hasn't carried out the necessary steps to get the system to market. This includes making a formal request to the US Department of Commerce and such a request has yet to be sent.

The registrars in the lawsuit against Icann and Verisign dropped the case last month, admitting that they simply no longer felt there was a threat of WLS every becoming a "practical reality" at this stage.

With even the system's opponents under the impression that WLS is doomed, there now seems to be very little chance of Verisign's baby ever being born.