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A Business and Human Rights expert has questioned an international body鈥檚 decision to rule in favour of the internet retailer Amazon when awarding rights to the .amazon domain name.

Dr Tara Van Ho, of the at the Human Rights Centre, had previously co-authored a to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), alerting the domain name administrator to concerns in relation to international human rights law.

This letter, written with Dr Cathal Doyle from Middlesex University, suggested that the Amazon corporation had failed to consult with, and gain informed consent from, indigenous peoples living in the Amazon region, regarding the corporation鈥檚 attempts to secure exclusive rights to .amazon domains.

It alleged that an interim ruling from an ICANN official failed to recognise the competing rights of these peoples in relation to the economic exploitation of the 鈥渁mazon鈥� name.

In May, ICANN ruled in favour of the Amazon corporation.

Writing in in response to the latest , Dr Van Ho questions ICANN鈥檚 capacity for even-handedness, given the transactional nature of domain name purchasing.

Dr Van Ho said: 鈥淚CANN now charges USD$185,000 for a top-level domain name like .amazon, so it is not that surprising that Amazon was able to purchase the domain before an indigenous community in Brazil. By prioritising the interests of corporations over other social actors, ICANN risks turning what was the global commons into an economically exclusive field where those who have the most can acquire more, while those who have the least lose even the right to use the name of their homeland.鈥�

ICANN had initially accepted the recommendation of an intergovernmental body that it was inappropriate to grant Amazon exclusive rights over the domain names. The Amazon corporation then won backing, however, from an arbitration panel, subsequently accepting a number of conditions regarding the use of specific domain names, and offering $5 million of Amazon goods as compensation to the people of the region.

Dr Van Ho argues that ICANN鈥檚 decision to accept the outcome of the arbitration process, conducted by American lawyers in California, rather than be guided by an intergovernmental body, shows there is insufficient oversight over the organisation鈥檚 work.

The Amazon region covers the territory of eight different states - Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela. Under ICANN rules, the registration by companies of certain geographic names is restricted, but this process is complicated by the decision to provide the highest level protection to states, but less protection to 鈥榮ub-divisions鈥� and regions, like the Amazon.