The Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) continued declining in importance in 2019, with the fewest number of cases — 138 — decided in the six-year history of the domain name dispute policy.
Click for chart of URS Determinations, 2014-2019
The steep drop — nearly 15 percent since the previous year and more than 38 percent since its peak in 2016 — stands in contrast to the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), which saw a 7 percent increase in 2019, reaching an all-time high.
The URS was envisioned as a popular alternative to the UDRP for new gTLDs — those top-level domain names that were approved by ICANN in recent years. But, it has never attracted much interest.
The URS is losing traction for many reasons (as I have previously noted), including because it has a limited remedy (temporary suspension of a domain name) and a high burden of proof (clear and convincing evidence). Its advantages (including a lower filing fee and a quicker timeline) obviously have been more than offset by its challenges.
Although the URS never attracted much interest, some thought it would rise in popularity along with the growth of new gTLDs, which have increased 4.0 percent to 24.0 million domain names (led by .top, .xyz, .icu, .site and .online), according to the most recent Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief.
Despite the growth in new gTLDs, the UDRP — not the URS — is proving to be the most popular option to deal with cybersquatters. For example, WIPO (the leading provider of UDRP services) handled 652 UDRP cases in 2019 for new gTLDs, while the Forum (the leading provider of URS services) handled only 128 URS cases in the same year. (Disputes involving new gTLDs can be brought under either the UDRP or the URS.)
The other URS providers — MFSD (an Italian provider) and the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Centre (ADNDRC) — continue to account for a tiny portion of the overall number of URS disputes. MFSD issued only 10 URS determinations in 2019 (the same as in 2018), representing just 7.2 percent of all URS cases, while ADNDRC has yet to issue any determinations.
