ICANN Free to Proceed with the Delegation of .AFRICA Following Court Decision

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that a California Superior Court has denied DotConnectAfrica’s (DCA’s) second Motion for Preliminary Injunction to stop the delegation of the .AFRICA generic top-level domain (gTLD) to ZA Central Registry (ZACR).  DCA’s first Motion for Preliminary Injunction was denied by the Superior Court in December 2016.

Among other things, the Judge found that it appears the "Covenant Not to Sue" found in the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook is enforceable, citing to the recent Federal District Court Order in the Ruby Glen, LLC v ICANN matter, wherein the Court held that the “covenant not to sue” in the Guidebook is enforceable.  Accordingly, the Superior Court Judge ruled that “DCA's claims against ICANNfor fraud and unfair business practices are likely to be barred.  As a result, DCA cannot establish that it is likely to succeed on the merits.”

View the Court Order on the ICANN Blog.

In accordance with the terms of its Registry Agreement with ZACR for .AFRICA, ICANNwill now follow its normal processes towards delegation.

Culled from ICANN Blog.