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
An independent review of the .XXX Top-Level Domain application by ICM Reegistry was held in Washington DC last month, September 2009. All the documents from the hearing have now been posted online including witness statements from Vint Cerf, VP and chief Internet evangelist for Google and former Chairman of ICANN; Milton Meuller, Professor and Director of the Telecommunications Network Management Program at the Syracuse University School of Information Studies; Stuart Lawley, Chairman and President of ICM Registry and others. more
Joly MacFie writes: The Internet Society's New York Chapter (ISOC-NY) will be holding a public forum at NYU on Oct 8 2009 to discuss, in the post JPA world, civic representation in ICANN. Specific concerns are the current restructuring of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council, and the replacement of the At-Large Liaison to the ICANN Board by a seated member. Will the creation of new constituencies serve to balkanize the Noncommercial users and dilute their influence? Will an At-large board member be less answerable to the rank and file? These questions and more will be discussed. The public are welcome to attend and the event will be webcast live. more
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has reached a major milestone today with a new agreement in place with the U.S. Department of Commerce allowing the organization greater independence and giving more countries oversight of the organization. more
At the end of this month, September 30th, the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) will come to an end. While ICANN has affirmed its commitment in maintaining a long-term, formal relationship with the United States, talks of new changes and a more independent ICANN is intensifying as the expiration date is quickly approaching. For the next upcoming days, this page will be frequently updated with related news and updates. more
An open letter signed by various members of the domain name industry, including heads of some of the top domain name registries and registrars, was sent today to ICANN CEO and Board of Directors urging them to direct their staff to implement the introduction of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) without further delay. "The time to act is now," says the letter for "many reason" including: Consumer Demand; Safety Considerations; Internet Stability; Innovation; ICANN’s own credibility more
An open letter from nearly 150 individual and organizational members of ICANN's Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC) has been submitted to ICANN's board of directors and CEO. The letter has expresses serious concern over a recent ICANN Board decision regarding the restructuring of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO). From the letter: "We believe that the Noncommercial Stakeholder Group (NCSG) chartering process has been seriously flawed on both procedural and substantive grounds. We appeal to you to address these problems before permanent damage is done to ICANN's reputation, to the GNSO reform process, and to the interests of noncommercial users of the Internet." more
Milton Mueller, reporting today on the Internet Governance Project (IGP) website: "Although you may not have heard about it yet, there are plans afoot for an Internet Governance Forum for the U.S. The location has been set for Washington, DC at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The date is set at October 2. The purpose of the affair is to debate, discuss and seek out common ground on some of the issues facing the global Internet Governance Forum operated by the United Nations, which will be held in Egypt November 15-18." more
Philip Corwin of the Internet Commerce Associations reports: "In a stunning rebuke of ICANN's assertion that it had achieved sufficient accountability and professional stature to justify termination of its unique relationship with the U.S. government, the Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce as well as the Chairman of its Internet Subcommittee, along with eight other Committee members, dispatched a joint letter on August 4th to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke urging that the relationship between ICANN and the U.S. be made permanent and strengthened." more
Andrew Colley of Australian IT reports the AusRegistry, the operator of Australia's Top-Level Domain (.au), has revealed that it has been approached by various groups planning to submit applications to ICANN for the creation of adult-themed generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .xxx and .sex. According to the report, the Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has opposed the idea syaing: "The government does not support the creation of the .xxx TLD." As it has been reported extensively on CircleID, previous attempts to create adult related TLDs (such as .xxx) have so far been rejected by ICANN. more
China is to delay a controversial plan requiring all new computers sold in the country to be equipped with an internet filtering software, state media says. The filter, called Green Dam Youth Escort, was to have been required from Wednesday, but the industry ministry said computer makers needed more time. more
During its board meeting today in Sydney, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced Rod Beckstrom, the former U.S. cybersecurity chief, as the new President and CEO. Beckstrom will be replacing Dr. Paul Twomey who had been serving this position since March 2003 and announced his resignation earlier this year. Dr Twomey has lately been reported as the primary candidate for heading Australian Government's proposed A$43 billion investment in a new National Broadband Network. more
Voice of America reporting: "U.S. lawmakers say they plan legislation that would fund efforts to help Iranians receive and send information despite government restrictions. Independent Senator Joe Lieberman said Thursday that the bill intends to help the Iranian people stay 'one step ahead of the Iranian regime.'" Also a related report by AFP. more
Iran's political filtering during the recent 2009 presidential campaign and the role of the Internet in the post-election turmoil has brought a heightened level of attention to the country's Internet filtering system. According to a status report just updated by the OpenNet Initiative, the Internet censorship system in Iran has become one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated in the world. Iran and China are the only countries that aggressively filter the Internet using their own technology. Iran's aggressive filtering measures "have contributed to the implementation of a centralized filtering strategy and a reduced reliance on Western technologies," says OpenNet. more
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
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