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As spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica Campaign, I recently wrote a letter on behalf of DCA, to the Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Senator Jay Rockefeller which was also copied to other U.S. leaders and officials to express support for the present status quo on Global Internet Goverenance and a Reaffirmation of the Mult-stakeholder model. The full text of the letter is published in this post. more
We have been taking an active interest in the development of the new TLD program by ICANN and excited by the many opportunities and challenges that this "opening up" will bring to us, our customers and the internet ecosystem as a whole. However, we also have our concerns about how some entities wish to use generic domain name extensions as "walled gardens". more
What's going to happen this week on .XXX? Nairobi is the first public board meeting since the independent review panel's nonbinding declaration in February that ICANN acted against its own rules in refusing to go ahead with .XXX. Reports that ICANN is going to 'do something' about .XXX have gone around the world via BBC news, and even surfaced on the radio in rural Ireland. The ICM team are out in force here in Nairobi, and there is endless speculation about what will happen at the Board's meeting on Friday. more
A few early technical hiccups with the system streaming it live did not prevent ICANN's prioritization draw from running smoothly yesterday, December 17, 2012. All 1917 remaining applications (out of initial 1930 announced last June) were processed in one of the meeting rooms at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton, starting at 13:00 local time. Shortly before midnight, or more than 10 hours later, Google's Dot MBA was the last application to be pulled out of the box. more
I recently came across a chart of the most popular top-level domains (TLDs), compiled by Stephane Van Gelder. Although I keep track of country code TLD registrations for the Country Codes of the World map (see also related CircleID post), Stephane tracks all domains, including .com, .net., etc. And when I saw it I got to thinking... more
ICANN has started its historic and controversial program to expand the number of generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs). This essay outlines the factors needed for the program to create economic value, warns against a cognitive trap that complicates selection of a new gTLD and considers the value contribution of the registries. I will not go into relevant macro measures, but I examine the problems associated with the popular measure of simply counting the number of registrations. more
Two sides can oppose each other strenuously and still be wrong in exactly the same way. For or against, too much of the debate about the new ICANN top-level domains (TLDs) ignores TLD signaling and uses inappropriate TLD success measures. Here I spotlight the key mistakes by concentrating on ".biz" registrations, and I put forward some possible remedies. more
Last week, the much-anticipated Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) Early Warnings on new gTLD applications were finally issued. And the GAC didn't disappoint. A total of 242 warnings were issued on 163 strings (including 31 strings applied for by Radix). The GAC warnings yet again show that Africa is perfectly capable of being at the top of league tables -- for the wrong reasons. more
The process for ICANN's new TLDs says that if there are several equally qualified applicants for a TLD, and they can't agree which one gets it, ICANN will hold an auction to decide. Recently some people have suggested that the applicants could use a private auction instead. Well, of course. In a situation like this, the question isn't whether there will be an auction, but only who will keep the money. more
A week ago, ICANN announced the latest delay in the New gTLD Program: the so-called "contention sets" will only be published March 1, 2013. The original deadline was July 2012, postponed serially in two-month intervals. The gTLD program is lost in confusing similarity. What went wrong? In order to determine which TLD applications are in contention, it is necessary to say which TLD strings are confusingly similar to one another. more
There have been a lot of complaints leveled at companies like Amazon and Google who have applied to register a number of new gTLDs. The criticism is that the public will not benefit from having Amazon own .book, .store, .you, and .grocery if they only use it for their own purposes and don't open them up to sell domains to the broader public, and that allowing these companies to own generic registries will hurt their competitors in that space. Although these arguments are not without merit, there are also positive aspects to having established companies own gTLDs. more
With the launch of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) expected to occur early next year, many are closely examining the opportunities and risks associated with ICANN's Program. Although still in draft format and subject to change, keep these gotchas in mind as you think through your strategy. more
This week, I had the privilege of presenting at NamesCon on behalf of the Domain Name Association (DNA) -- in my position as Chair of the Board -- to provide an update on our activities and an assessment of our progress as an industry in light of the goals of the DNA. In summary, there is still a long way to go with many challenges to address. Despite this, there is much to be excited about and incredible opportunity for our combined success. Included here is a transcript of my speech. I welcome feedback and comments. more
ICANN's proposed final applicant guidebook unraveled some new policies that would disqualify applicants from the new TLD program. ICANN states that if you lose 3 UDRP cases, you will be disqualified from being a major shareholder, partner, officer, director of a new top-level domain registry... Has ICANN opened a new can of worms with the 3-strike rule? more
If you would like to help guide the future of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit operator of the .ORG, .NGO and .ONG domains, the deadline for nominations is MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2015! After reading the information about the PIR Board requirements, you are welcome to nominate either yourself or anyone else using the PIR Nomination Form. Nominations close at 23:00 UTC on November 30, 2015, so don't delay! more
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