ICANN

An Equal Seat at the Table: My Journey Into Multi-Stakeholder Internet Governance at ICANN 53

ICANN 53, in beautiful Buenos Aires, was the first time I experienced multi-stakeholder Internet governance Back then, I represented, as chair, the Latin American Forum of Telecommunications Regulators (REGULATEL), an observer org in GAC. I remember my amazement... more

Maintaining Trust, Respecting Privacy and Due Process

In order for the Internet to function properly, there has to be "trust". Trust in "online" is something that has ebbed and flowed over the years, but over the past two decades more and more of our daily lives are linked closely to "digital". Our banks encourage us to use online banking and their mobile apps. Government agencies share (and collect) information from private citizens and businesses online. And of course we all do more and more of our shopping online... more

Applicant Auction Announces Suggested Schedule for 8 Future Private gTLD Auctions

The Applicant Auction team is getting an increasing number of requests from applicants who are scheduled for ICANN's Last Resort auction and would prefer to participate in the Applicant Auction instead. A common question is: What is my last chance to participate in an Applicant Auction? To be able to give a clear answer for this, we are suggesting a schedule for future Applicant Auctions. more

ICANN Announces Newly Created Organization to Replace IANA

ICANN has announced the name of the newly incorporated organization, Public Technical Identifiers (PTI), as a nonprofit entity to begin operation as 'Post-Transition IANA'. more

IANA Transition Under Further Attack, Now Officially Blocked by Republican Policy

"Handover of US internet control to ICANN now officially blocked by Republican policy," Kieren McCarthy reporting today in The Register: "The planned transition of the internet's critical technical functions from the US government to a technical body may come under further attack after the Republican Party officially agreed to block it on Monday. more

Tough Choices Two Years In

At the start of my term as New TLD Applicant Group (NTAG) Chair, I wrote about the importance of the 50th ICANN meeting for applicants. The meeting is significant, not only as a milestone for ICANN, but also because it marks two years since ICANN began processing new gTLD applications. Two years in, the program is at an inflection point. The final initial evaluation result was published two weeks ago and the first ICANN auction will take place this week. more

Fifth Applicant Auction Concluded, 28 Contention Sets Resolved

After the successful conclusion of our fifth auction last week, the Applicant Auction has now resolved contention for a total of 28 strings. More than 20 gTLD applicants have participated in our auctions, ranging from many smaller companies with only one gTLD application in contention to large, publicly traded portfolio applicants like TLDH and Demand Media. more

ICANN Website Breached, Passwords Obtained by an Unauthorized Person

Usernames/email addresses and encrypted passwords for profile accounts created on the ICANN.org public website have been obtained by an unauthorized person, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers announced Wednesday night. more

ICANN Getting More Control Could Mean Major Reform

Kieren McCarthy reporting in the Register: "Domain name overseer ICANN is likely to go through a radical reorganization if it wants to be given more control of critical internet functions, currently run under contract from the US government. Two recent papers -- one from independent legal experts hired by a group looking into the contract's transitioning, and a second from an internet governance think-tank -- have both highlighted the benefit to making ICANN a true member-led organization, with the internet community given real powers to effect change." more

ICANN Postpones 52nd Meeting in Marrakech Due of Ebola

Morocco World News reports today that ICANN has decided to postpone its 52 meeting initially scheduled to take place in Marrakech. The meeting was due to be held in Morocco’s main tourist destination on February 8-12 however, according to sources, the postponing decision was made by the organization due to the spread of the Ebola virus and after the Moroccan government stressed the need to avoid organizing major gatherings of people coming from different countries. more

Stop the Presses! No Consensus at NetMundial!

We could see it as a victory for those advocating changes and adjustments in the system of internet governance. Au contraire... we could consider it as the debacle of the good intentions... all ending up in not knowing if it was worth it. I say and maintain, that the effort and the earned contributions were worth it. The final result is that ICANN should be strengthened to recognize its merits and achievements, not underestimate what this organization has accomplished in fifteen years of hard and continuous work. more

Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group Releases Statement on ICANN Staff’s Accountability Plan

Non-Commercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG) today released the following statement on ICANN staff's accountability plan... "A number of public comments and discussions in London focused on the inherent conflict of interest behind staff developing its own accountability and transparency mechanisms, so it was surprising to see that input had not been taken into account in the development of this proposal..." more

NTAG Chair Blog: Singapore Mid-term Update

While the media spotlights the US role in Internet governance, the NTAG Executive Committee has been focussed on the daily business of ensuring the New gTLD programme is moving forward in the best interests of applicants. There are signs that ICANN is becoming more responsive to applicant needs. Quick action implementing GAC Advice once it was resolved by the New gTLD Program Committee, the recent name collision webinar, and an ongoing dialogue on new gTLD auctions procedures are all positive steps. more

First .emarat Arabic Script Domain Name is Live!

The .emarat Arabic script Internationalised Domain Name (IDN) ccTLD for the United Arab Emirates has been entered into the DNS Root Zone and is therefore now resolving. This is a truly historic moment in the development of the Internet in the United Arab Emirates and the wider Arabic-speaking world as it removes the last hurdle preventing people without English-language skills from enjoying the full benefits that the Internet has to offer. more

Court Refuses Injunction in .africa TLD Case

"DotConnectAfrica's attempt to have ICANN legally blocked from delegating the .africa gTLD to rival applicant ZACR has been denied," Kevin Murphy reporting in Domain Incite. more