An World Wide Web committee investigating suspicious domain name transactions has found no evidence that insider info is being used to snatch desired Web addresses to produce money off the individual or business that actually wants to register them.

The committee said the 120 claims of “domain name front running” it reviewed generally resulted from misunderstandings about how the domain name industry works.

“When World Wide Web users are unable to distinguish among different market activities, they often seem to conclude that they have fallen victim to a domain name front runner,” the committee said in a new report.

In some cases, however, the committee found that a separate practice of domain name tasting may be causing problems. That refers to someone analyzing the financial viability of a name for up to five days and next returning it for a full refund, using a loophole in registration policies. Domain tasting can tie up millions of Web addresses, including ones someone checks but

The defense and Stability Advisory Committee of the World Wide Web Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which has oversight of domain name policies and is known by its acronym ICANN, recommended better education so consumers know what to expect.

The report, brought before the ICANN board in New Delhi on Friday, did not examine a controversial practice by domain name seller Network Solutions LLC of grabbing names that humans search for on its Web site but don’t immediately register.

The company said it did that to keep the names from front runners. But the practice shared similarities with what Network Solutions was trying to prevent. It has made some changes in response to complaints, and its discussions with ICANN continue.

The ICANN committee said cases suspected of front running often turned out to be coincidence, with multiple parties interested in the same names.

Separately, ICANN has floated a…

Orginal post by Top Tech News