They say late converts are the most passionate believers. Until now I haven't supported the Expression of Interest (EOI) for new TLDs, the proposed mechanism to measure the number and type of likely applications. Not because it won't work (I think it'll work fine) but because I didn't think it was necessary. I've changed my mind. Here's why. more
On April 20, 2017, an 8-person delegation led by Göran Marby, President & CEO of ICANN, visited China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT). Madam Liu Duo, President of CAICT met with Mr. Göran Marby and the delegation. After the meeting, Mr. Marby attended the Chinese Internet Community Seminar held jointly by CAICT and ICANN Beijing Engagement Center. more
Daniel Marti was nominated to become the new White House "IP Czar" in August 2014 to replace Victoria Espinel. His predecessor, in yet another illustration of Washington's "revolving door" shuffling key individuals between the government and private sector, departed the post a year earlier to become head of BSA/The Software Alliance, the leading trade group for the software industry. more
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
Reading the policy proposal of Nominet, I get the feeling that something is overseen here. Putting all the jurisdictional hassle aside for a moment, cyber crime is international, cross-border. So what happens if a UK domain is used for criminal activity outside the UK only? more
ICANN's Nominating Committee (NomCom) is both a strange animal and a precious resource. Having a committee charged with first recruiting, then selecting suitable candidates to hold key positions within ICANN is something that is often little, or even mis, understood. Within the ICANN community itself. By the very nature of its recruitment role, the NomCom has to remain secretive. About who the candidates are, at any rate. But that doesn't mean the rest of the NomCom's processes must remain so. more
Five years after ICANN approved the new gTLD policy in Paris, two years after it approved the implementation plan in Singapore, and a year after the application window closed and some concrete steps were taken toward delegation of new gTLDs, a series of scary-sounding "what if" scenarios have mysteriously taken over discussions at ICANN. From colliding names and failing life support systems to mass confusion and technological outages, the profusion of horror stories has rivaled the hype for the Y2K conversion, with about as much basis in fact. more
The curtain rises on January 12th 2012 but key players are still singing different tunes. Let's peek into their performance as they start taking center stage. FTC, the Federal Trade Commission, has sent a letter to ICANN on December 16th 2011. Re: Consumer Protection Concerns Regarding New gTLDs. They write; "We write now to highlight again the potential for significant consumer harm resulting from the unprecedented increase in new gTLDs." The following paragraph clearly highlights the lack of information about the ICANN gTLD platform. more
In an interesting move several members of the ICANN community formed an "informal" Working Group to discuss the concept of "expressions of interest" in new Top-Level Domains (TLDs). This all happened very quickly, which is more or less the opposite to how most ICANN related activities progress. ...The report, which runs to about 11 pages, is concise and seems to have covered most of the areas of interest. more
My attention was drawn to the recent African Telecom Union (ATU)'s proposal for the modification and expansion of Resolution 47... As an affected party to the proposal, I feel obliged to make a comment: Recalling my last article to The Hill titled "ICANN is already under the influence of Foreign Governments", I drew an example of how ICANN allowed the African Union Commission, an Intergovernmental body to heavily interfere in the .Africa application so as to delegate it to itself, which led me to take ICANN to Court. more
I think it's fair to say that ICANN is in a state of near meltdown at the moment. With less than a week to go before the new gTLD program's first application window is opened, on Thursday January 12, 2012, the amount of work being done is mind-bending. The ICANN Board held a special meeting on January 5 to determine the program's state of readiness ahead of the launch. more
Having been passed over by the "old guard" Board Governance Committee of ICANN Board of Directors, I took the occasion to speak from my heart to provide the "new guard" with the observations of a 16-year ICANN volunteer. For those of you in the community who are wondering what happened, what follows is word for word what I shared with the Board of ICANN at my closed door proceedings. more
ICANN reports that Google paid over $25 million for .APP in the February 25 domain auction. They were willing to bid $30M, but it's a second bid auction so that was just enough to beat out whoever the second highest bidder was. The auction proceeds piggy bank just nearly doubled from $34M to about $59M dollars, and ICANN still has no idea what to do with it. more
With much fanfare last month, Uniregistry announced that proposals for dispute resolution between New TLD applicants in lieu of ICANN's so-called "Auction of Last Resort" posed significant antitrust risks. Their claim of concern was not based on any critical antitrust analysis, but rather on the fact that they had sought a "Business Review" letter from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and, according to Uniregistry, the DOJ failed to provide them a positive response and discussed the issue with them. more
I've mentioned the IANA transition in several posts over the last year or so. Personally I'd love to not have to mention it ever again, as it's not the kind of topic that we should be spending too much time thinking about or worrying about. There are plenty of other things out there that cause us all headaches without adding to the list. However the IANA transition is a topic that is of fundamental importance for the global internet community. more