Following rumors last week on the leading candidate for ICANN's new CEO position, an official announcement has been released by ICANN confirming that the board may indeed announce its selection during its meeting in Sydney next week. more
Sources indicate former director of the US Homeland Security Department's National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), Rod Beckstrom, will be replacing the current ICANN CEO, Paul Twomey, who announced his resignation earlier this year. Milton Mueller in a blog post on the IGP website writes: "This is still unconfirmed by ICANN but comes from well-informed sources. We also hear that David Eisner, the CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service under G.W. Bush and former VP at AOL, was also in the running." Beckstrom recently made headlines for his sudden resignation from his post at NCSC, criticizing the lack of funding from the NSA and its move to try to "rule over" the NCSC. more
According the the report, a survey of 1,000 consumers found that the majority believe the Internet will become full of pointless domain names (65% of those polled), messy and confusing (57%), too complex to navigate (46%) and out of control (41%). Two-thirds of the 100 UK businesses surveyed are still unaware that liberalization is happening, which is a concern, considering the opportunities and potential risks that it presents." more
According to the latest update from ICANN related to the introduction of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs), Dr. Dennis Carlton has reiterated that the planned introduction of new gTLDs will not burden trademark owners with additional defensive registrations. Carlton writes: "I conclude that ICANN's proposed framework for introducing new gTLDs is likely to facilitate entry and create new competition to the major gTLDs such as .com, .net, and .org. Like other actions that remove artificial restrictions on entry, the likely effect of ICANN's proposal is to increase output, lower price and increase innovation. This conclusion is based on the fundamental principles that competition promotes consumer welfare and restrictions on entry impede competition." more
Rick Boucher, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Communications Subcommittee, will hold a hearing on June 4th to examine the future of U.S. government's relationship with ICANN. Tech Daily Dose of the National Journal reports: "Boucher has previously expressed interest in holding an ICANN hearing, particularly since a joint project agreement that has allowed Commerce Department oversight of ICANN is slated to sunset on Sept. 30 amid accountability and transparency concerns." more
In a video posted on her website this morning, Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, has called for greater transparency and accountability in Internet Governance. She outlines a new Internet Governance model which includes a fully private and accountable ICANN, accompanied by an independent judicial body, as well as a "G12 for Internet Governance" -- a multilateral forum for governments to discuss general internet governance policy and security issues... more
The Technology Policy Institute (TPI), an IT and communications policy think tank, has just released a paper proposing that "ICANN's governance structure should be dramatically reformed to make it more accountable before the current tie with the U.S. Department of Commerce is allowed to expire." The paper titled "ICANN At a Crossroads: a Proposal for Better Governance and Performance" is written by Thomas M. Lenard, President and Senior Fellow at TPI, along with Lawrence J. White, Professor of Economics at the NYU Stern School of Business. The 52-page study also asserts that ICANN must have a clear focus on encouraging competition with minimal role as a regulator with respect to the creation of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs). more
According to latest reports from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), allegations of cybersquatting by trademark holders continued to rise in 2008, with a record 2,329 complaints filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). This represented an 8% increase over 2007 in the number of generic and country code Top-Level Domain (gTLDs and ccTLDs) disputes handled and brings the total number of WIPO cases filed under the UDRP since it was launched ten years ago to over 14,000. To improve efficiency and respond to growing demand, WIPO has proposed an "eUDRP Initiative" to render the UDRP paperless... more
The National Arbitration Forum today announced that a total of 1,770 cases were filed in its domain name dispute resolution program in 2008. The National Arbitration Forum, approved by ICANN, provides domain name dispute resolution services under policies like the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). Nearly all 1,770 cases filed (98%) in 2008 involved UDRP domain names, like .com and .org and the rest involved usDRP domain names with the .us extension, according to the announcement... more
The former US vice president, Al Gore, is backing the creation of a new green .eco domain name. Dot Eco LLC, the applicant for the new .eco Top-Level Domain (TLD), announced during the ICANN meetings in Mexico City that it has entered into an integrated partnership with former Vice President Al Gore and his philanthropy, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to secure and promote the .eco TLD. "We fully support Dot Eco LLC in its efforts to secure the .eco top level domain through the ICANN application process and look forward to working with Dot Eco LLC to promote .eco. This is a truly exciting opportunity for the environmental movement and for the internet as a whole," said Al Gore. more
ICM Registry (proponents of the .xxx initiative) and Stuart Lawley, Chairman and President of the organization, have filed a 522-page brief in the ongoing Independent Review Process that began last June. "In what may prove to be the biggest sleeper Internet governance issue of the year, ICM Registry has publicly posted its filings for the Independent Review Panel that will decide whether ICANN acted improperly in rejecting its application for a .xxx domain," writes Brenden Kuerbis in a post on the IGP blog. more
Continued exploitation of the financial crisis to scam users with fake financial transactions services, fake investment firms, and fake legal services is the top trend to emerge for 2009 according threat predictions by McAfee. "Computer users face a dangerous one-two punch today," said Jeff Green, senior vice president of McAfee Avert Labs, McAfee's research group. "The current economic crisis is delivering a blow to our financial well-being, while malware authors are taking advantage of our distraction to deliver a roundhouse strike." more
We'd like to congratulate our long time CircleID participants, Susan Crawford and Kevin Werbach for being named today as Obama-Biden FCC Transition Team Leads. Susan Crawford, is a professor at the University of Michigan Law School who recently ended her term as a member of the Board of Directors of ICANN and is the founder of OneWebDay. Kevin Werbach, is an Assistant Professor of Legal Studies at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He is also the founder of the Supernova Group and the organizer of Supernova, a leading executive technology conference. more
In follow up to reports on ICANN's termination of notorious domain name registrar, EstDomains due to fraudulent activities, the Internet oversight agency is now preparing to transfer domain names of its customers to other registrars... However the question asked by experts is whether any other registrar would have an interest in inheriting EstDomains questionable domain names. more
Alternate DNS root server, the Open Root Server Network (ORSN) is shutting down. The project which began almost six years ago, is set to close at midnight on the last day of 2008. The following is part of the official statement released for the closure: Since start of operation in 2002 ORSN was a political alternative to ICANN/IANA operated root server network. It was also well known for technical innovation by providing IPv6 support before it was introduced in the ICANN/IANA operated root servers..." more
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