Judge Allows Antitrust Lawsuit Against ICANN

In a closely watched case, a federal judge has ruled that the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers can be sued for alleged antitrust violations stemming from the new ".xxx" domain name. The antitrust lawsuit against ICANN -- filed last year by Luxembourg-based porn company Manwin Licensing International -- drew the attention of the Association of National Advertisers. It says the dispute raises some of the same issues about new domain names that trouble marketers. Manwin filed suit against ICANN last November, shortly before the rollout of a new ".xxx" top-level domain. ICANN said that companies or individuals could pay the registry ICM -- tapped to manage the .xxx domain -- to prevent their names from being registered with an .xxx at the end, but that doing so would cost $150. Manwin argued in court papers that companies or individuals who wanted to prevent their names being used by others in a .xxx domain should not have to pay a fee of $150. The company said the fee was artificially high and reflected price gouging, monopolistic conduct and other anti-competitive practices.