ICANN

CircleID’s Top 10 Posts of 2009

Looking back at the year that just ended, here are the top ten most popular news, blogs, and industry news on CircleID in 2009 based on the overall readership of the posts. Congratulations to all the participants whose posts reached top readership in 2009 and best wishes to the entire community in 2010. more

Google Loses Another Domain Name Dispute

For the benefit of trademark owners, ICANN has something called the UDRP (Uniform Dispute Resolution Process) that allows the owner to file a complaint against an allegedly infringing domain name, to be resolved by one of a small set of arbitrators. About 90% of UDRP cases that proceed to a decision are decided in favor of the complainant; opinions differ as to whether that's because of the merit of the complaints or the institutional bias of the arbitrators. more

Russians Not So Eager to Embrace Cyrillic Domain Names

Clifford J. Levy of the New York Times reports: "[Russian] computer users are worried that Cyrillic domains will give rise to a hermetic Russian Web, a sort of cyberghetto, and that the push for Cyrillic amounts to a plot by the security services to restrict access to the Internet. Russian companies are also resisting Cyrillic Web addresses, complaining about costs and threats to online security." more

Letter from EU to UN Secretary General

Today the Swedish IT Minister Åsa Torstensson together with the Commissioner Viviane Reding sent a letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. I think the letter is extremely well written, but when I twittered about it, some people contacted me and asked what was so special with it? Let me try to explain... more

Expressions of Interest Move Ahead: New TLDs Get Closer

It looks as if new top-level domains are getting ever closer to the opening bell. Preliminary minutes from the December 9 2009 ICANN Board of Directors meeting suggest that the Board may authorize Expressions of Interest (EOI) at their February 10th meeting. The vote was unanimous. more

ICANN Signs Agreement Giving UPU Managing Authority Over .Post Domain

ICANN and the Swiss-based Universal Postal Union (UPU) have signed an agreement giving the UPU managing authority over .post as a top-level domain (TLD). At the highest conceptual level, the agreement represents linking the TLD with the real-world physical networks of the postal system, with 600,000 global physical offices and proximity to most humans. To enable its customers to take advantage of the services the UPU envisions for .post, the UPU is already installing the first computers in many villages in their local post offices to provide those services, says the announcement. more

Online Drug Traffic and Registrar Policy

Last month I published an article called "What's Driving Spam and Domain Fraud? Illicit Drug Traffic" which explained how the many of the troublesome online crime issues are related to the online sale of narcotics and dodgy pharmaceuticals. Since this article was published we have witnessed one of the largest international law enforcement efforts against online drug traffic (Operation Pangea II)... more

2009 Domain Name Year in Review

To say that it's been quite a year in the world of domain names would be an understatement. From compromised country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD) registries, to the delay of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs), some of the events of the past year have been surprising, while others could easily have been predicted. Regardless of whether you could have seen these coming, please find below my list of 2009's most important domain name events...at least, as I see them. more

Applications Processing for IDN ccTLDs Fast Track

Since 16th Nov 09 Applications Processing for IDN ccTLDs Fast Track has been started. The countries and territories who are using non-English Language (nationwide) for official documentation or for community, are eligible to apply for a new country code top level domain name (ccTLD) in their own Native Language through a designated manager... Native Language Community will be able to register their domain names within the next 6 months. more

Announcement: Critical Internet Infrastructure WG is Now Open to Public Participation

ISOTF Critical Internet Infrastructure WG is now open to public participation. The group holds top experts on internet technology, critical infrastructure, and internet governance, from around the globe. Together, we discuss definitions, problems, challenges and solutions in securing and assuring the reliability of the global internet infrastructure, which is critical infrastructure for a growing number of nations, corporations and indeed, individuals -- world wide. more

Brand Owners, Representatives of WIPO and ICANN Discuss New gTLD Concerns

Managing Intellectual Property, in association with Finnegan, has released an article based on a recently hosted discussion regarding ICANN's approved plans to open the domain name system to an unlimited number of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) and how the Implementation Recommendation Team's (IRT) recommendation will affect brand owners. Topics included the main concerns with new gTLDs from a brand owner's perspective, the role of IRT, enforcement issues, and navigating the new domain name space. Finnegan partners David Kelly and Jonathan Gelchinsky participated with J Scott Evans of Yahoo! Inc., Elisabeth Roth Escobar of Marriott International, Inc., Erik Wilbers of WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, and Kurt Pritz of ICANN for the roundtable. more

A Recap of the 36th ICANN Conference in Seoul, Korea

The recently completed ICANN Conference in Seoul, Korea will be remembered for a unique accomplishment -- the first definitive step towards the addition of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) to the Internet root... As the announcement states, the applicants, at this time, are limited to nations and territories; the first IDNs will be in country code top level domains (ccTLDs). The generic TLDs, (the gTLDs, e.g., .org, .com and .info) will have to wait for their opportunity to apply for IDNs... more

Are Auctions the Last Resort to Determine gTLD Winners? I Vote Open Business Plan Competitions

I have been reading through the last gTLD applicant guidebook and have wondered whether all my efforts, traveling, attending all major music conference and lobbying come with any merit. How do you define a community? What is the difference between a dotGreece, dotGay or dotMusic community? ...Whether we like it or not, the point system is what ICANN has set up to determine the winners. If you were to ask me I would create a different method of scoring. It is one of open competition. more

Why WIPO’s Proposed Fast-Track UDRP Process is Flawed

In the midst of ICANN's decision to ask the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) to create proposals on trademark protection mechanisms, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced that it will launch a fast-track UDRP process... The WIPO move is flawed and creates various problems. Here is an account. more

ICANN to Start Accepting Non-Latin TLD Applications as Early as Next Month

During its board meeting today in Seoul, South Koria, the ICANN board has approved the Fast Track Process for Internationalized Domain Names which will enable Internet addresses to be completely made up of non-Latin characters -- including Top-Level Domains (TLDs). The process is set to launch next month, November 16, 2009, after which nations and territories can apply for TLDs in their national language to be approved by ICANN. more