Redirection Causes Host of Problems, Says ICANN

ICANN has suggested banning the practice of redirecting Internet users to a third-party Web site or portal when they misspell a Web address and type a nonexistent domain name, reports NetworkWorld.

According to ICANN, the practice has many drawbacks. For example, users could get longer response times if the site to which they're supposed to be redirected goes down. Not to mention, redirection sites are prime hunting ground for hackers who want to send users to their own servers. A draft memo also points to privacy issues:

If party A intended to send information to party B under certain privacy legislation relevant to A and B and NXDOMAIN substitution causes the information transit through or be delivered to party C (the redirection service), which may bound to a different jurisdiction and local law, there may be consequences for the sender or the registry.

ICANN wants domain owners who believe there is a legitimate use for redirection to justify its reasoning why security or stability issues will not be a problem.