German net industry wants right to settle its own disputes

UN body WIPO believes arbitration schemes, which have already proven successful in other European countries, such as the UK, are becoming necessary as more top level domain name owners clash across national boundaries.

But Germany is keen to resolve its disputes without the intervention of a third party. Klaus Herzig, spokesman for Denic, said: "We are doing OK with the current system. Our administration of justice is established and the courts reach a decision quickly."

There are around 5,000 disputes about dot-de domains per year which Denic believes is insignificant alongside the fact that over four million dot-de domain names have been registered.

By Irene Binal, reporter, silicon.de