Internet naming body writes Canadian, US authorities to check legality of '.sucks' domain

The body that regulates Internet addresses is checking to see if it can crack down on a Canadian company accused of using the new ".sucks" domain name to extract exorbitant sums from celebrities and companies seeking to protect their public brands.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN (EYE-can), on Thursday sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs to see if the actions of company Vox Populi are illegal.

ICANN initially approved of the so-called top-level domain name but is backtracking after an advisory panel made up of industry groups and companies like Microsoft, Verizon and eBay complained last month.