The Freename Forum

The .fr administrator AFNIC has drawn a positive conclusion one year after the launch of the voluntary ‘mediation service’. Since 3 July 2023, AFNIC has been offering an out-of-court dispute resolution procedure for .fr and all French overseas TLDs; it gives the parties, accompanied by a mediator, a period of seven working days to find a negotiated solution. Between July 2023 and July 2024, 108 mediation requests were received. 42 per cent of the requests led to mediation, i.e. the domain holder agreed to participate in the mediation process; 58 per cent of the proceedings opened ended with a final agreement. 95 per cent of the agreements reached led to the transfer of the disputed domain, while the remaining five per cent resulted in cancellation. On average, the parties only needed four working days to reach an agreement. According to AFNIC, the parties emphasised the simplicity and effectiveness of the mediation, the clarity of the information provided and the availability of the mediator. Many disputes could have been resolved that would otherwise have had to be settled in longer and more costly proceedings. In addition to the mediation service, AFNIC's ADR procedure, which is divided into ‘Syreli’ and ‘Parl Expert’, offers two further options for settling disputes out of court.

The AFNIC report on one year of the mediation service can be found at:
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