Internet dispute center set up

Agence France-Presse, Beijing

Asia's first official body to sort out wrangles over Internet domain names, jointly run by organizations in Beijing and Hong Kong, will begin work in February, state media said Monday.

The Asian Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Center will be set up by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, the China Daily said.

The center will be the fourth in the world authorized by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the international body responsible for Internet site naming, to settle domain-name disputes for top-level brands.

The other centers -- two in the United States and one in Geneva -- have previously handled some 7,000 disputes, the report said.

The new center will deal with 20 to 200 cases each month in its first year, said Wang Shengchang, deputy chairman of the commission in Beijing, and will expand its remit to all Asia if the project proves successful.

Currently, the bulk of domain name disputes in China are battled out in court, with a rash of cases filed over recent months.

Soft drink giant Pepsi Cola and sports mogul Nike were each awarded 5,000 yuan (US$600) by a Beijing court to cover their legal costs after winning domain name disputes, state press said last week.

The two US companies separately brought suits against the Guangzhou Yuejing Information Company for using and registering the two domain names "pepsi.com.cn" and "nike.com.cn.," the Xinhua news agency reported.