Domain Applicant Criticized for Abuse-Related Connections

The single most aggressive bidder for lucrative new Web domains is a little-known investment group with an intriguing name: Donuts Inc. Its $57 million play for 307 new domains — more than Google, Amazon and Allstate combined — has prompted alarm among industry groups and Internet watchdogs. They warn that Donuts has close ties to a company with a well-documented history of providing services to spammers and other perpetrators of Internet abuses.