The Canadian International Internet Dispute Resolution Centre (CIIDRC) has opened for business and is accepting domain name disputes with the launch of its new website.

“Conflicts unfortunately arise”

CIIDRC has recently been approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the internet's governing body, as only their second operating provider of domain name dispute resolution services in the Western Hemisphere, and their first in Canada. “We are pleased to have been selected by ICANN to oversee this important work,” said Barry Penner, QC, managing director of the CIIDRC. “Disputes over the rightful ownership and use of domain names have been increasing and the value of website address can be very significant. With more than 350 million individual domain names now registered worldwide, conflicts unfortunately arise as the importance of e-commerce continues to increase.” Last month, the Vancouver Sun newspaper reported that the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia in Canada placed a value of $10 million on their web address. “We've developed a leading edge, online interactive platform that's available 24/7 to anyone wishing to make a domain name complaint, seeking information, or looking for updates on their case including decisions,” said Mr Penner.

“Impressive” arbitration roster

Mr Penner said, “This site also provides detailed information about our impressive roster of impartial and highly experienced arbitrators.” More than 60,000 disputes have been brought under ICANN's uniform domain name dispute resolution policy (UDRP) since 1999, which applies to all generic top-level domain (gTLD) names including .com, .org, and .net. CIIDRC is only the sixth UDRP service provider worldwide and is a division of Vancouver-based British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre (BCICAC). BCICAC itself was established in 1986 as a non-profit foundation administering arbitrations covering a wide array of subjects, including construction and shareholder disputes, underinsured motorist claims involving ICBC and .ca domain name disputes for the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) since 2002.