Amazon Wins Domain Name Dispute Against Amazon States

By Richard Mann, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After years of dispute between several South American countries in the Amazon region and the online giant Amazon, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has now settled on the side of the US company, deciding that it has the right to use the domain extension “.amazon”.

Amazon had requested the domain extension as well as two versions of the name in 2012 for worldwide use. (Photo Alamy)In 2012 Amazon requested the domain extension as well as two versions of the name for its worldwide use. However, an alliance of states with Brazil at the front line, protested: “Because of its inseparable semantic relationship with the Amazon rain forest, this domain should not by any means become the monopoly of a company” argued the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.

For seven years, the alliance of states and Amazon strove for an amicable settlement.

In the end, ICANN lost patience: “the contending parties had not been able to find a mutually acceptable solution, nor had they agreed on an extension for further talks,” the organization said. So ICANN is now taking the next step.

The organization referred to the online retailer’s pledge not to use the extension “.amazon” if there is a clear connection with the Amazon. The states in the Amazon region can also use several endings derived from the word Amazon “for non-commercial purposes”.

The Brazilian Foreign Ministry deplored ICANN’s decision on Monday, claiming ICANN had not adequately considered the “public interest” of eight South American states, especially the need to protect and promote the cultural, symbolic and natural heritage of the Amazon region and its people.