WebProNews

Tag: ICANN

  • ICANN Gets New Independent Objector

    It was recently reported that The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) is finally set to be reopened on May 22, and the leadership has announced that Professor Alain Pellet will serve as the Independent Objector for the retooled program.

    For a bit of backstory, the ICANN application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN, who moderates the address system of the internet, also began accepting non-traditional domain name endings this year, including ‘.sport,’ ‘,food,’ and ‘.bank,’ in hopes to prompt innovation in web commerce. Though, some critics have stated that the new extensions might only confuse consumers and force established online storefronts to spend millions on securing new versions of their brand web addresses.

    According to ICANN, “acting solely in the best interests of global Internet users, the Independent Objector may lodge Limited Public Interest and Community objections in cases where no other objection is made to an application that the Independent Objector deems to be objectionable.” ICANN commenced looking for an Independent Objector last November, and interviewed numerous candidates. Pellet, who is widely published and represented governments as Counsel and Advocate in the International Court of Justice, was selected for the position.

    In related news, some parties think that ICANN’s expanding of the variety of top-level domain addresses could become a bit of a disaster for certain brands, with cybersquatters stepping in and opportunistically buying up all sorts of brand names with new domain extensions. The post of the Independent Objector appears to be one of the last lines of defense against these sorts of nefarious domain registrations.

  • Google Wins 750 Domains in Cybersquatting Case

    The National Arbitration Forum (NAF) has awarded Google the rights to over 750 domain names that a cybersquatter had purchased and tied to other known brands and celebrity names. Between February 29 and March 10 of this year, defendant Chris Gillespie registered hundreds of domains including googlechevron.com, googlecoors.com, googledonaldtrump.com and googlegaycruises.com.

    Google, who is currently embroiled in its own infringement trial with Oracle, called Gillespie’s tactics “one of the most aggressive campaigns of domain name infringement that [Google] has encountered.” Gillespie went on to claim that the word “google” has evolved into a generic verb and is not protected, and that he was merely using the domains to build a “affinity-based social networks that will allow users to interact with each other and obtain content, products, and services related to their affinity-community’s respective interests.” Gillespie had redirected some of the domains to a group of “gay interest websites, none of which have any association with Google or the other brands, individuals, or products that are included in Respondent’s domain names,” according to Google’s complaint.

    Interestingly, Gillespie went on to file a petition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to have Google’s trademarks voided in the U.S. The NAF found that even if Gillespie would somehow win, the search giant has enough patents worldwide to maintain rights to the 750+ domain names. It was found that Gillespie is a cybersquatter, and achieved the following indications of cybersquatting:

    – The domain name registered by Respondent is identical or confusingly similar to a trademark or service mark in which Complainant has rights; and
    – Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests in respect of the domain name; and
    – The domain name has been registered and is being used in bad faith.

    As of late, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains had been down, as the corporation was in the process of expanding the variety of top-level domain addresses. Some had warned that this could become a bit of a disaster for certain brands, with cybersquatters stepping in and opportunistically buying up all sorts of brand names with new domain extensions. Still, ICANN, who moderates the address system of the internet, which began accepting non-traditional domain name endings this year, including ‘.sport,’ ‘,food,’ and ‘.bank,’ believes this sort of thing will plainly foster innovation in web commerce. Stayed tuned for googlegaycruisespabstsnickers.sport.

  • ICANN System for New gTLDs to Reopen

    It was recently reported that The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) has been down as of late, and now ICANN engineers plan to reopen the application platform on May 22, with the new deadline for submitting applications being May 30.

    The application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN, who moderates the address system of the internet, also began accepting non-traditional domain name endings this year, including ‘.sport,’ ‘,food,’ and ‘.bank,’ in hopes to prompt innovation in web commerce. Though, some critics have stated that the new extensions might only confuse consumers and force established online storefronts to spend millions on securing new versions of their brand web addresses.

    ICANN had recently stated that the glitch in their system only affected a small number of users, and that there is no evidence that anyone exploited the security breach. ICANN has been in the process of notifying those who were affected by the problem, and should finally have the system running again after tying up loose ends.

  • What ICANN Should Do To Rebuild Trust After Security Breach

    During what was supposed to be the exciting early stages of an Internet domain name “revolution,” ICANN is finding itself in a heap of controversy over its new generic top-level domain program. In January, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers began rolling out its historic decision to open up the domain name market.

    The application process was supposed to end on April 12, but was shut down and postponed indefinitely after ICANN detected a technical issue in its TAS software. Furthermore, the glitch allowed some applicants to see the user or file names of other applicants.

    Does ICANN’s security glitch put the entire new gTLD program into question? What do you think?

    There have been many groups that have opposed ICANN’s decision from the start. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has been one of the biggest forces in speaking out against the move and, believes these recent developments are proof of the concerns they have raised all along.

    Dan Jaffe, Group Executive Vice President of Government Relations at ANA “It is of concern that the system that they said had to be moving forward rapidly has been closed down more than 18 days,” Dan Jaffe, the Group Executive Vice President of Government Relations at ANA, told WebProNews.

    ICANN has not been very forthcoming with the details about its glitch, which has raised even more concerns over the incident. Jaffe believes the issue is more than just a “glitch” since the system has been shut down for such a long time.

    ANA has reached out to ICANN requesting that it bring in a third party consultant to investigate the issue. It would like ICANN to release a full report explaining how the incident happened, who was impacted, and what ICANN is doing to make sure everyone involved is being treated fairly.

    “It’s a little hard, however, even if they extend the application period, if some groups have better information than all the others,” said Jaffe. “I don’t know they’re going to put everybody on the same footing.”

    Jaffe went on to say that ANA encouraged ICANN to ensure that its system was running effectively before the application process began. He pointed out that a program that was intended to transform the way people use the Internet needed to be handled with more “care and caution” than it was given.
    At this point, ICANN has not issued any type of response to ANA. The association, however, also reached out to the Commerce Department’s Larry Strickling asking that it get involved in addressing the concerns. Jaffe told us that he hopes the department presses ICANN for answers and doesn’t allow it to move forward with its plan until applicants are assured of protection.

    When asked if he thought the new gTLD program should be suspended as a result of these developments, Jaffe told us that he wasn’t sure if such a drastic measure was necessary. He would like to see ICANN take action on the “Do Not Sell” approach, which ANA has proposed, that would protect brands from applying for new top-level domains for defensive purposes, but, again, it has not received a response on it.

    “We think it’s inappropriate, and we are hopeful that ICANN would do something about it,” said Jaffe. “So far, they have not taken any steps to protect brand holders in that area either.”

    ICANN is currently notifying the applicants that were compromised and is expected to re-open the application process once everyone is informed, which is supposed to be by May 8. Here’s the latest statement from ICANN’s COO Akram Atallah on the issue that includes statistics of the breach:

    ICANN is in the process of notifying applicants whether they were affected by the software glitch that caused us to take the TLD Application System, or TAS, offline. As we announced earlier this week, we plan to complete this notification process on or before 8 May.

    As we notify applicants, we want to share some data that gives insight into the scope of the problem and the number of applicants affected.

    At the time we took the system offline, there were 1268 registered users and some 95,000 file attachments in the system. Of these, there were approximately 455 instances where a file name and the associated user name might have been viewed by another applicant. We are continuing to review system logs and packet-level traffic to confirm how many viewings actually did occur.

    Our review has determined that approximately:
    • 105 applicants might have had file names and user names viewed by another applicant.
    • 50 applicants might have viewed file names and user names from one or more other applicants.

    Work continues on enhancing system performance and testing the fix for the glitch.

    We recognize and regret the inconvenience to applicants as they try to plan their schedules and resources in anticipation of TAS reopening. As we have previously announced, we will keep the system open for at least five business days to allow applicants to assure themselves that their applications remain as they intended.

  • ICANN System for New gTLDs Still Down

    It was recently reported that The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) has been down as of late, and now ICANN engineers are saying that it will be at least another week before the system is back online.

    The application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN Chief Operating Officer Akram Atallah comments on the latest postponement – “No later than April 27, 2012 – we will provide an update on the reopening of the system and the publication of the applied-for new domain names.”

    ICANN head of media relations and chief security officer Jeff “The Dark Tangent” Moss adds, “Under certain circumstances that were hard to replicate users that had previously deleted files could end up seeing file names of users that had uploaded a file. Certain data was being revealed to users that were not seeking data, it was just showing up on their screen.”

    The Dark Tangent goes on to say, “We’re putting everyone on notice: we know what file names and user names were displayed to what people who were logged in and when. We want to do this very publicly because we want to prevent any monkey business. We are able to reconstruct what file names and user names were displayed.”

    So, ICANN is still fixing the glitch, and wants everyone to know that it has its eye on them. Check back soon for an update.

  • ICANN System for New gTLDs Still Offline

    ICANN System for New gTLDs Still Offline

    The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) has been down for almost a week, and ICANN is not yet sure when it will be back online.

    The application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN had said it would publish an updated list of domain names applied for no later than Friday.

    ICANN COO Akram Atallah had said, “We will update the target date for publication as part of our update on the timing of the reopening, no later than Friday, 20 April at 23.59 UTC,” in response to organizations seeking a list of applied-for domain names, which was initially set for April 30th. Now ICANN is saying that April 20th is no longer feasible, and is not exactly sure when the system will be back up. Regarding the technical issue affecting the system, Atallah states that there was a problem with how the TAS “handled interrupted deletions of file attachments.” ICANN is investigating an effective solution, as well as logging which applicants’ information became visible, and who saw what. After going over customer service tickets, ICANN says it is apparent that the problem began on March 19th.

    The ability to create new TLDs via ICANN’s plan has come under fire from trademark holders, citing that it will be difficult to protect their content amidst a new influx of domains.

  • Legal Concerns Loom with ICANN’s Upcoming gTLDs

    ICANN’s controversial decision to open up the market for domain name endings is about to get even stickier as the registration process nears its deadline. According to numerous analysts, there will be an outburst of legal issues after the new generic top-level domain (gTLD) applicants are revealed to the public.

    The application window was scheduled to close April 12th, but it was extended after a technical glitch was detected in the TAS system. In an effort to take “the most conservative approach” to protect its applicants and their data, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) shut down its TAS system last Thursday when the issue was found. It was scheduled to reopen today but has since said it needs more time. An update is expected to be announced no later than Friday, April 20th.

    Once the application process is over, as many as 1,000 new domain name endings could be introduced. ICANN’s decision to open the floodgates on gTLDs has gone down in history as one of the most dramatic shakeups the Internet has seen, since it could greatly increase the existing 22 or so extensions that consumers are currently accustomed to.

    Do you see ICANN’s move as a positive or a negative for businesses? We’d love to know.

    Joe Luthy, Global Marketing Director at Melbourne IT Joe Luthy, the Global Marketing Director for Melbourne IT, told WebProNews that the new gTLDs would cover many different industries. He assisted more than 150 applicants through the registration process and said the diversity of the applications was unexpected.

    “It’s gonna be surprising, we believe, whenever the full list is revealed in May,” he pointed out.

    Although ICANN’s “Reveal Day” isn’t scheduled until the end of this month, Luthy said companies should already begin preparing for the news. He recommends that businesses start identifying their own brands and trademarks to see not only what rights they have, but also what they want to have in the future.

    “Right now, companies – whether they’ve applied or not applied – really need to start thinking about what’s important to them going forward,” he said.

    One issue that could pose a problem for a company is if an applicant has filed a name 
“confusingly similar” to its own. Another potential problem could be in the applicant’s intent of use.

    If a problem does arise, ICANN has allowed for a 60-day window, in which concerned parties can comment or object to an application. With infringement issues, a company has 7 months to file a formal objection to stop the application from going forward until the concerns are addressed or the application is withdrawn.

    “There’s going to be probably a lot of contention because there’s a number of companies out there applying for the same generic,” said Luthy.

    As he explained to us, several companies are fighting over the .eco domain ending and are looking at legal action even before the applicants have been released. Other similar issues are expected since endings such as .ritz could be used in a variety of ways.

    These concerns, and others, have brought ICANN’s move a lot of criticism, especially from the advertising community. In the below interview, Dan Jaffe, the Executive Vice President of Government Relations for the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), told WPN that ICANN’s move was both “reckless” and “premature.”

    “Unfortunately in the existing system, there are serious problems of cyber squatting, typo squatting, phishing, the placement of malware, [and] the inability to find out who, in fact, really owns Internet addresses,” he said. “We’re afraid unless these types of problems are resolved that suddenly opening the top-level domains to as many as 1,000 new top-level domains, which is a thousand percent increase over the existing systems, it would be very, very dangerous both to businesses and consumers. ”

    While Luthy believes legal conflicts will ensue after ICANN’s “Reveal Day,” he said most of them would come from the generic side since it is very competitive. Most brand owners, on the other hand, are simply trying to promote internal brands and services.

    ICANN has said this move would offer more opportunities to both consumers and brands. While time will tell whether or not this will, in fact, happen, Luthy is confident in ICANN’s decision.

    “Every innovation we’ve seen on the Internet has opened up a lot of opportunities [and] created a lot of new businesses,” he said. “I think we’re gonna see the same thing with the new TLDs.”

    The new gTLDs are expected to begin appearing late next year. ICANN has also said it will have future application windows, although it has not given any specific dates for them.

  • ICANN Delays Deadline For gTLD Applications

    Were you one of many potential domain owners trying to hurry the submission of your gTLD application to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers by today’s deadline? Thanks to reports of “unusual behavior with the operation of the system” at ICANN, you aspiring web domain owners have been granted one more week to finalize your applications, according to the organization.

    In a statement that was released today, ICANN recognized that a technical issue may have been interfering with the TLD Application System and therefore, in order to protect all applicants, the deadline to complete the application has been extended until 23:59 UTC on Friday, April 20, 2012. The statement continued, “ICANN is taking the most conservative approach possible to protect all applicants and allow adequate time to resolve the issue. Therefore, TAS will be shut down until Tuesday at 23:59 UTC – unless otherwise notified before that time.”

    Note, for you readers in the United States, 23:59 UTC means 19:59 EST, or 7:59PM.

    According to an ICANN spokesperson who spoke with Domain Incite, the technical issue was not the result of a cyberattack. “No application data has been lost from those who have already submitted the applications, so it should not pose problems for existing applicants,” ICANN said.

    ICANN has not yet commented on whether this deadline push-back will affect the date for when the organization will release a full list of gTLD applicants. The scheduled date for the list’s release is slated for the end of this month, April 30.

    As of March 25, ICANN said that there had been 839 registered users.

    If homework due dates ever taught me anything, just because you’ve gotten a deadline reprieve doesn’t mean you should wait until the absolute last second to get those applications finished. But tonight, at least, sleep a little easier.

    [Via The Telegraph.]

  • Google To Get gTLDs, Report Says

    ICANN will release its full list of applications for the new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) at the end of the month. At that point, we will be able to see all the brands going this route.

    According to a report, we’ll see Google on that list. AdAge spoke with a spokesperson for the company, who didn’t provide any details, other than to say that Google did apply for some top-level domains.

    “We plan to apply for Google’s trademarked TLDs, as well as a handful of new ones,” the spokesperson is quoted as saying. “We want to help make this a smooth experience for web users — one that promotes innovation and competition on the internet.”

    AdAge reporter Jason Del Rey goes on to say that it’s “likely” that Google will be getting .google and .youtube. “Google also wouldn’t comment on how it would use its new TLDs, but one could see using ‘.YouTube’ as a way to mark a brand’s YouTube channel destination — for example, www.AdAge.YouTube,” he writes.

    It will certainly be interesting to see if Google applies these to channels and/or personal accounts. Could Google profiles become name.google? Could I get “Chris.Crum.Google”, for example? Perhaps Google will offer .Google Google Sites, and become the new TriPod/Angelfire/Geocities.

    It will also be interesting to see which all TLDs Google is actually getting. The company has a lot of products, obviously, but at the same time, they’re working to tie them all together as one big Google product, for all intents and purposes.

    Google’s move to snatch up gTLDs could be more of a defensive strategy than anything. Perhaps Google is just making sure they have them, whether they’re planning to use them or not.

    Registration for gTLDs closed on March 29. At the time, ICANN said there were only 839 registered users in the application system as of March 25, but that the number would be updated.

    We’ll see how many of Google’s competitors are getting gTLDs once the list is revealed on April 30. Could we see .Microsoft? .Bing? .Facebook? .Apple? .Amazon?

  • gTLD Applicants To Be Listed By ICANN At Month’s End

    ICANN plans to release a full list of applications for the new generic top-level domains on April 30. The list will specify who all applied for which domains. That should be interesting.

    “Our plan always has been to publish the list of applied-for strings approximately two weeks after the close of the April 12th application window,” said President and CEO Rod Beckstrom. “Setting a target date gives people the opportunity to plan for this highly anticipated event.”

    ICANN began accepting applications for gTLDs in January. Registration for the TLDs closed last week. The organization said that there were only 839 registered users in the application system as of March 25. It also said this number would be updated.

    Beckstrom will soon leave his position. ICANN announced in February that it had narrowed down its CEO search to 16 candidates, and that the CEO should be chosen By April. Obviously April is here, so it shouldn’t be long.

    ICANN is also currently seeking public comment on the renewal of an agreement with Verisign on the operation of the com TLD.

  • ICANN Closes gTLD Registration

    You can no longer register for the new gTLDs with ICANN. Registration closed on Thursday, March 29. ICANN says there were only 839 registered users in the application system on March 25, though the number will be updated.

    The organization lists seven steps that applicants need to take:

    Applicant completes TAS user account information (user profile and applicant profile)

    Applicant completes a TLD application request

    ICANN conducts the Legal Compliance check (see Applicant Guidebook section 1.2.1 – Eligibility)

    Applicant submits USD 5000 registration fee

    ICANN confirms receipt of the USD 5000 registration fee

    Applicant completes and submits the full application and remaining evaluation fee amount of USD 180000

    ICANN confirms receipt of the USD 180000 registration fee

    “Once ICANN completes Step 3 we strongly encourage applicants to promptly complete Step 4 for all open application requests,” ICANN says. “Since no one can predict how long it may take for ICANN to receive wire transfers from your bank, you might experience delays in obtaining access to the areas within TAS necessary to complete your TLD application(s). Bank delays and the up to 5 business days it might take ICANN to reconcile your fee will impact how much time remains for you to complete and submit your final application, submit your final USD 180000 evaluation fee, and for ICANN to confirm receipt of that fee. Both the completed application and final fee must be received by ICANN no later than 23:59 UTC on 12 April 2012.”

    Watch our recent interview with Dan Jaffe, EVP of Government Relations with the Association of National Advertisers, who deems the expansion of TLDs “reckless and premature”:

    ICANN is also currently seeking public comment on .com registry renewals.

    ICANN should soon be getting a new CEO. Last month, the organization announced that it had narrowed down its candidates to 16 choices, and that a new CEO would be chosen in April. It should be interesting to see how it’s operated under new leadership, and how the gTLD strategy evolves under new leadership.

  • ICANN Seeking Public Comment On .Com Registry Renewal

    ICANN, or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, entered into the .com Registry Agreement between themselves and Verisign in 2006. This allowed Verisign to operate the .com top-level domain for a number of years. If allowed to go forward, Versign would be in charge of .com domains once again for years to come.

    In the spirit of transparency, ICANN is inviting the public to submit their thoughts on the renewal of the .com agreement. The current agreement will end on November 30 of this year, so they ask that all comments be submitted before April 26.

    The major changes between the 2006 agreement and the proposed agreement for 2012 is a pretty hefty list. There’s a lot here, but it’s more important to read it yourself and form an opinion on it.

    Changes to Modernize the 2006 Agreement

    1.1. Functional and Performance Specifications revised to:

    1.1.1. Require support for IPv6: registry operator will accept IPv6 addresses as glue where applicable, and will offer IPv6 access to the Shared Registration System (e.g., EPP), Whois, and DNS servers.

    1.1.2. Require removal of orphan glue records in connection with malicious conduct: consistent with advice from ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee, registry operator will remove a orphan glue records so they can’t be used to support malicious conduct.

    1.1.3. Require support for DNSSEC: registry operator will implement Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC) to sign its TLD zone files and accept public-key material from child domain names in a secure manner; providing the ability to authenticate the data published in the DNS.

    1.1.4. Require publication of registry abuse contact information: registry operator will provide its accurate contact details including a valid email and mailing address as well as a primary contact for handling inquiries related to malicious conduct in the TLD.

    1.1.5. Require the parties to periodically negotiate in good faith regarding implementation of new escrow, Whois and technical specifications: registry operator and ICANN agree to engage in good faith negotiations, at least once every eighteen months, regarding possible implementation of new RFCs related to Data Escrow, Whois, and other Technical and Functional Specifications.

    1.1.6. Require compliance with IDNA and IDN guidelines: registry operator will comply with the latest technical standards regarding Internationalized Domain Names, follow the ICANN IDN implementation guidelines, and publish its IDN tables with IANA.

    1.1.7. Allow ICANN to use multiple monitoring locations for DNS and to monitor TCP queries: allows ICANN to implement a new Service Level Agreement monitoring system (also to be used for new gTLDs) to monitor DNS service from registry operator.

    1.2. Whois: added a provision (in Appendix 5) requiring adoption of a replacement of the WHOIS protocol, if and when it is standardized in the IETF. It is expected that this new protocol will support internationalized domain names and data, standardized query, response, and error handling, etc.

    1.3. Monthly Reports Specification: revised monthly report format (Appendix 4) to include more data.

    1.4. Audit: added provision giving ICANN broad contractual audit rights to facilitate contractual compliance efforts.

    Changes to Align with Other Large Registry Agreements

    2.1. Service Level Agreement: enhance performance specification, comparable to the performance specifications required in the .net registry agreement

    2.2. Threats to Security and Stability: added new provision that would allow the registry operator to temporarily prevent the registration of one or more names in the TLD in order to respond to an imminent threat to the security and/or stability of the TLD or the Internet.

    2.3. Use of Traffic Data: clarified that the use of traffic data would be limited to “thin” registry model data even if registry were to follow the “thick” registry model.

    2.4. Prohibition on Universal Wildcard Functions: clarification that prohibition on “SiteFinder” or other universal wildcard functions does not prohibit provision of name service or any other non-registry service for a domain or zone used for other than registration services.

    2.5. Indemnification of ICANN: added broad indemnification rights in favor of ICANN.

    Other Changes

    3.1. Registry Fees: replaced lump sum quarterly fee with a fee based on $0.25 per transaction in the TLD. This is a substantial increase in Verisign’s contribution.

    3.2. Cooperation with Compliance Actions Against Registrars: added a provision requiring the registry operator to implement ICANN ordered registrar suspensions to facilitate ICANN’s contractual compliance efforts.

    3.3. Price Caps: no substantive changes to price cap and price increase provision; agreement updated to reflect the current fee cap of $7.85.

    You can read the entire proposed 2012 agreement here. This is important stuff, so become informed and let ICANN know what you think. This is your chance to have a voice in regards to how the Internet works.

  • New York City Moves Closer To Creating A .NYC Domain

    Since the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began taking applications for new generic top-level domains, unique opportunities galore have opened up for several possible new website domains. One place that’s hoping to acquire its own domain, and thus establish its own internet brand, is New York City. If all goes well, the citizens of the greatest city in the world could be registering sites with a .nyc domain in the near future.

    According to City Room, A New York Times New York-centric blog:

    The city is seeking a contract with a Virginia-based company, which would apply for the domain and operate and market it on the city’s behalf. The company would pay the upfront costs, and the city would get a share of revenue; under the five-year contract, it is guaranteed at least $3.6 million. London, Berlin, Paris, and Barcelona have said that they will also seek domains, but Rachel Sterne, the city’s chief digital officer, said she believed New York City was the only major city in the United States to be pursuing one.

    Various groups have campaigned for a .nyc domain as far back as 2000. One website, thenycdomain.com, has gone so far as to organize a Twitter campaign around the hashtag #thenycdomain in order to raise the $50,000 needed to file an application with ICANN.

    And why shouldn’t New York have its own domain, or any other city or state for that matter? However, upon hearing this news, somewhere in Wilmington a cadre of hazy-eyed hipsters are waking up to begin poo-pooing about how they saw .nyc open up for .net in 1999, and then pour a PBR over their bowl of cornflakes.

    (HT gothamist.com)

  • ICANN CEO Should Be Chosen By April

    Back in August, ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom announced that he would be stepping down at the end of his term. He said he’d stay until July. We haven’t heard much about the CEO search in the time since the announcement, but ICANN provided an update today.

    ICANN released the following statement:

    The CEO Search Committee has been actively working to identify top candidates for ICANN’s CEO/President position, to commence 1 July 2012.

    The window for candidate applications closed on Friday, 17 February. Our partner in the search process, Odgers Berndtson, has collected well over 100 candidates for the position. Candidates have come from community referrals, our ad in the Economist, and the firm’s outreach efforts. Odgers Berndtson interviewed and submitted 27 promising candidates to the committee, and the committee has chosen and interviewed 16 of them by teleconference.

    The committee is now selecting a subset of this group for a second round of interviews, face to face. On the basis of this second round, it expects to choose yet another subset for presentation to the ICANN Board for intensive interviewing, followed by a decision to be made by the Board. The target for completion is mid-April.

    “I am incredibly proud of ICANN’s achievements throughout my tenure,” said Beckstrom when he announced his resignation. “In two short years we have advanced this organization to a new level of professionalism and productivity, and turned it into a genuinely multinational organization that will serve the world community long after my time here.”

    Last month, ICANN began accepting applications for the generic top-level domains, which have been a bit controversial. Watch our recent interview with Dan Jaffe, executive VP of Government Relations for the Association of National Advertisers, who calls the expansion of top-level domains “reckless and premature”:

    There’s no question that the new CEO is going to have his/her hands full.

  • ANA on ICANN’s Expansion of Top-Level Domains: “Reckless and Premature”

    On January 12, ICANN began carrying out its controversial new plan. As WebProNews previously reported, the organization made the historical decision last year to expand the number of generic top-level domain (gTLD) names to an unlimited number. What this means is that the 22 domain name endings, including .com, .org, and others that currently exist, could turn into .brand going forward.

    Do you support ICANN’s plan to expand domain names to an unlimited number? Let us know your thoughts.

    The decision was reached with much opposition, especially from the advertising and marketing community. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has been the biggest force in speaking out against ICANN’s plan. It, along with 161 other organizations, formed the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight (CRIDO) in order to raise awareness of their concerns.

    These organizations believe that the new gTLDs could be harmful to both brands and consumers. In the interview below, Doug Wood, the General Counsel for the ANA, told us ICANN’s plan was an unnecessary move.

    “Consumers have no problem finding what they’re looking for on the Internet through search engine technology,” he said. “This is more of a solution looking for a problem that doesn’t exist, and the costs that will be incurred by brands and then, ultimately, pushed on to consumers… is going to be far in excess of any justifiable cause.”

    Despite the criticism, ICANN began carrying out its plan earlier this month, a move that Dan Jaffe, the Executive Vice President of Government Relations for ANA, calls both “reckless” and “premature.”

    Dan Jaffe, Executive Vice President of Government Relations at ANAAs he explained to us, there are problems such as cyber squatting and phishing that exist in the current system. That said, he thinks that those issues need to be addressed before the floodgates are opened for new top-level domains.

    “Unfortunately in the existing system, there are serious problems of cyber squatting, typo squatting, phishing, the placement of malware, [and] the inability to find out who, in fact, really owns Internet addresses,” he said. “We’re afraid unless these types of problems are resolved that suddenly opening the top-level domains to as many as 1,000 new top-level domains, which is a thousand percent increase over the existing systems, it would be very, very dangerous both to businesses and consumers. ”

    ANA and CRIDO have reached out to ICANN on several occasions in an effort to get the decision reversed. The FTC and various officials in the U.S. government have also expressed their concerns, but Jaffe told us that ICANN has not responded.

    One of the big concerns that these groups have is that businesses will feel pressured to spend the $185,000 or more to keep a competitor or worse from buying their domain name. ICANN, however, says that it has protections in place such as its “Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy” that protect businesses from taking defensive measures.

    “They have put in several protections, but they have never run a pilot project to see if those various protections really work in the real world,” said Jaffe.

    “ICANN is running some of the fundamental areas of the Internet and, therefore, we want to make sure they run them properly or ICANN’s own future will seriously be undermined,” he added.

    Last week, ICANN announced that it has already approved 25 successful registrants for new domains. Jaffe told us that the full impact of the move would not be felt until April when ICANN stops accepting applications and reveals the new registrants.

    In the meantime, he is hoping that the U.S. Department of Commerce uses its Affirmation of Commitments authority and its oversight of the IANA contracts to get ICANN’s attention.

    “We think this is absolutely a top issue for the business community across the whole of the world,” he said. “[It] needs to be done appropriately, or it will severely undermine the trust that has begun to be built up to make the Internet one of the largest marketplaces in history, the largest marketplace in history.”

  • ICANN Starts Accepting Applications For gTLDs

    ICANN began accepting applications for the new generic top-level domains (gtLDs) today. Applicants are directed to use the TLD Application System (TAS) to submit their application.

    With the TAS, applicants will have to answer 50 questions, as detailed in the Applicant Guidebook. ICANN posted some important info for applicants today, regarding updates to the guidebook and financial assistance for qualifying applicants:

    An updated version of the Applicant Guidebook was posted with the opening of the application window. The updated version incorporates clarifications made through responses previously published by the gTLD customer service center. Main points of clarification are on topics such as batching, background screening, the applicant support program, Continued Operations Instrument, GAC advice processes, and the registry code of conduct. Additional information and answers to previously asked questions can be found in the Program’s Supplemental Notes. These materials are not intended to introduce new requirements or criteria. Links to both the Applicant Guidebook and the Supplemental Notes can be found at the ICANN New gTLD page.

    Also available now are changes to the Applicant Support Program: limited financial assistance is offered to qualifying applicants. Through this program, applicants, especially from developing economies, have access to financial assistance in the form of an evaluation fee reduction and other in-kind or community pro bono services. The financial assistance element of the program will allow a limited number of qualifying applicants to pay a US $47,000 evaluation fee instead of the full USD $185,000. This fee reduction has been made possible because ICANN’s Board of Directors has dedicated USD $2,000,000 to the program. This is a seed fund to which other organizations can donate. In response to public comment, the draft program has been updated to increase availability of refunds, make the program available to certain trademark owners, and broaden the scope for those seeking to serve the public interest.

    The necessary links can be found at ICANN’s New gTLD page.

    The last day to register with the TAS is March 29. April 12 will be the final day ICANN will accept applications.

  • ICANN Has U.N Concerned Over Possibility Of Cybersquatters

    ICANN Has U.N Concerned Over Possibility Of Cybersquatters

    Despite nobody really thinking that the decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers to expand the variety of top-level domain addresses is a good idea, the plan seems to be chugging right along. Joining the chorus of businesses that oppose ICANN’s plan, the United Nations and 26 other international entities have voiced their concern that making available possible site domains like “.un” and “.imf” could be used maliciously. The cadre of organizations sent a letter to ICANN last month requesting that they refrain from offering such domains for use.

    In a report from Reuters today, however, ICANN President Rod Beckstrom sought to re-assure the organizations that they’re “very sensitive to those concerns” and that they’d be “responding to that letter.” He adds, “If (those who registered the domain) have no rights to that term, then you’re in a very good position. So you don’t need to apply for the term for a top-level domain because you’re concerned that someone who has no rights might apply.”

    Beckstrom might as well have just come out and told the U.N. to keep their shirt on.

    His mildly insouciant rebuttal of the concerns isn’t completely invalid. In the same Reuters article, Beckstrom points out that on top of the likely preventive price tag of $185,000 to register a top-level domain, additional annual fees due to ICANN will inflate the cost of owning the domain name upwards of $400,000 over the first 10 years. Cybersquatting a web domain in order to get paid out a nice ransom from governments or businesses hardly seems like even a little bit of fun when you’ll be bleeding tons of money just to hold on to the top-level domain. Cybersquatters are opportunists that like to register these domain names in order to make profits, not simply cover the astronomical cost of registering the domain in the first place.

    The U.N, IMF, other international organizations and all the businesses freaking out about the possibility of someone registering a site with their likeness really need to get to know they’re neighborhood scam artists a little better. Think more Wile E. Coyote and less Lex Luthor.

  • ICANN Has Started Taking Applications For New Top-Level Domains

    Beginning January 12, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will be accepting applications for newly available top-level domain names beyond the typical .com and .net variety. Some of the new domain offerings you might see are .book and .aero and (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) .xxx.

    Still, as fun as it might be to register face.book or lexa.pro, those site pranks will cost you a cool $185,000 a pop.

    That price tag might seem like a strong enough preventive measure to keep everyday buffoons from taking advantage of the names of corporations but the U.S. government is still wary of ICANN’s new offerings. Lawerence Strickling, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information for the Department of Commerce, met with representatives from several businesses to discuss ICANN’s decision. As Bloomberg puts it, “General Electric Co. (GE), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and Coca-Cola Co. (KO) are among more than 40 companies that have joined with the Association of National Advertisers to oppose the expansion, saying it will increase costs for companies, confuse customers and create new risks of Internet fraud.”

    In a letter to ICANN citing concerns of potential cybersquatting of websites including brand names and increased confusion among consumers, ANA President Robert D. Liodice wrote:

    The ANA and its membership regard the Program as not merely unsupportable, but potentially disastrous — exacting outrageous fees and costs, requiring massive diversion of resources, and instituting an application, evaluation and dispute resolution process that is certain to lead to increased contention and costly federal and international legal action with no demonstrable benefit to businesses or consumers. These concerns are especially heightened in an economy that day by day continues to pose ever-increasing challenges and unprecedented uncertainties for businesses and consumers worldwide. Another layer of unnecessary and unjustifiable costs is the last thing the selling and buying public needs in the middle of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

    Corporations already patrol the Internet for websites that they believe violate trademarks. Additionally, they don’t want you getting your rocks off at the expense of their namesake. Just try visiting microsoft.xxx, facebook.xxx, apple.xxx, amazon.xxx, or even twitter.xxx. All of these URLs present visitors with the same message:

    And yeah, you barely even need to take one guess as to who the owners of those respective domains might be. Corporations have a steady practice of snatching up websites that they have zero intention of using solely to prevent the URLs from being used by cybersquatters and shady businesses.

    ICANN acknowledged all of the above concerns and stated that they’re “going to go slow” in divvying out the new URLs to applicants. Regardless, Reuters reports that “ICANN has no plans to delay rollout of the top level domain expansion, a goal that is to allow more innovation in website addresses and to open the space to the non-Latin alphabets. It has pledged a quick take-down for trademark violators under the new system.”

    All said, it seems a little presumptuous of businesses to assume that the average Internet user would be duped by a site like facebook.xxx. Besides, who’s to say that apple.xx wouldn’t be a legitimate site? Maybe there’s an untapped market out there for people with antediluvian fetishes that such a URL would perfectly satisfy? Besides, it’s not just anybody that’s going to fork over nearly $200K in order to create such a website. As Mr. Liodice mentioned above, the U.S. economy is still in crisis and people might wanna hold onto that money for more meaningful purposes.

    What do you think? Is this brand protection overkill or do these corporations have a fair complaint for protecting their brand? Add your comments to the discussion below.

  • Should ICANN Overturn “.brand” Domain Plans? Advertisers Think So.

    In June, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) made a historic move to open domain name endings beyond the 20 or so that currently exist to an unlimited number. This means that the .com, .net, .org, and others that consumers are familiar with could turn into .brand in the near future.

    Would you prefer to see .brand or .com going forward? What do you think?

    Advertisers are outraged by ICANN’s decision and have even contacted the corporation to express their concerns about the changes. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) is among the groups in opposition because it believes the expanded generic top-level domains (gTLD) could be harmful to brands and consumers.

    “The reality is, when we looked at the ICANN report when they adopted this, their benefits that they’re expressing are purely speculative,” said Doug Wood, General Counsel for the ANA.

    As he explained, the expansion of domain names has been debated since the 1990’s, even before ICANN existed. The hope was to help consumers find information more easily. ICANN believes that this move will help to solve this problem. Wood, however, told us that this problem no longer exists since search engines and technology have become so advanced.

    “Consumers have no problem finding what they’re looking for on the Internet through search engine technology,” he said. “This is more of a solution looking for a problem that doesn’t exist, and the costs that will be incurred by brands and then, ultimately, pushed on to consumers… is going to be far in excess of any justifiable cause.”

    The costs he is referring to involve the $185,000 that brands would have to pay to simply apply for a new domain name. Many corporations have multiple brands, which means that they would need to purchase 100s of domains. Although these high costs would likely be transferred to consumers in order to make the investment worthwhile, brands believe that they would have to consider them to prevent cyber squatting and phishing.

    Wood told us that it might be different if there were a shortage of domain names, but that is not the case. He said ICANN introduced new domain names including .biz and .travel a few years ago, but that they haven’t been widely adopted. Esther Dyson, who is the former board chair of ICANN, also wrote in a piece on the Australian Broadcasting Network that there was no shortage of domain names.

    She opposes the move from ICANN as well and even wrote that it didn’t have any value:

    The problem is that expanding the namespace – allowing anyone to register a new TLD such as .apple – doesn’t actually create any new value. The value is in people’s heads – in the meanings of the words and the brand associations – not in the expanded namespace. In fact, the new approach carves up the namespace: the value formerly associated with Apple could now be divided into Apple.computers, apple.phone, ipod.apple, and so on. If this sounds confusing, that is because it is.

    ICANN justifies their action by saying that it will create new opportunities. While Wood agrees that the new domains will do this, he said that the people who would benefit from them are domain sellers, trademark lawyers, and domain consultants.

    “The bottom line is simple – the Internet has matured quite well, brands have supported it from its inception, [and] consumers have used it now to increase their choices in the marketplace,” he pointed out. “They don’t need any more TLDs to accomplish that.”

    “The only thing that these new TLDs will do, from what we can see, is increase the income and opportunities for consultants,” he added.

    When the ANA notified ICANN of its concerns, Wood said ICANN defended its decision based on the grounds that it had debated the topic for several years.

    The ANA and other organizations such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) are continuing to fight the domain changes. According to Wood, they hope to create enough awareness that ICANN will reconsider its decision.

    Do you think ICANN should reverse its expansion of domain names?

  • ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom to Step Down At End of Term

    ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom to Step Down At End of Term

    Rod Beckstrom, President and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that he will leave at the end of his term.

    “I am incredibly proud of ICANN’s achievements throughout my tenure,” said Beckstrom. “In two short years we have advanced this organization to a new level of professionalism and productivity, and turned it into a genuinely multinational organization that will serve the world community long after my time here.”

    “I can summarize my time here in four words: strong execution, great team building,” he said. “We have built a world-class executive team, and elevated ICANN’s stature through strategic relationships with governments, businesses, top technology firms and international organizations.”

    Actually, his time there was summarized in about 35 bullet points in this list of accomplishments.

    @RodBeckstrom
    Rod Beckstrom    I have decided to wrap up my service at ICANN July 2012. Press release soon. 13 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    The announcement doesn’t really delve into why Beckstrom is stepping down, but there has been a fair amount of controversy over the new ICANN gTLD program. The Association of National Advertisers, which is made up of 400 companies representing over 10,000 brands, as well as the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which is made up of over 500 media and tech companies, which it claims are responsible for 86% of online advertising in the U.S., have spoken out against the program.

    The IAB says it could be “disastrous” to brand owners, and that it would “offer cyber squatters an opportunity to harm a brand’s integrity and/or profit greatly from their bad faith domain registrations.”

    ICANN has defended against such notions, insisting that it “should not infringe the existing legal rights of others.”

    More on this discussion here.

    Beckstrom’s term will be completed on July 1. He’s held the position since July 1, 2009. In the meantime, he says, “I remain committed to leading this critical organization with the utmost
    dedication, and to living up to our common vision: One world, one Internet.”

    ICANN will start accepting applications for new gTLDs on January 12, 2012, with the application period will run until April. They’re expected to roll out late next year.

  • XXX Porn Site On The Way For PETA?

    In the upcoming months, you’re going to start seeing a much greater variety of domains names appear on your url bar.

    This year, Internet domain name overlords ICANN have made two important votes – first, they decided to lift almost all restrictions on generic top-level domains (gTLDs). This means that along with your basic .com, .gov, and .net, private citizens and companies are soon going to be able to register almost anything they want – .josh, .Pepsi, or .food.

    Some organizations are speaking out against this decision, saying that it could lead to disaster for brand owners.

    ICANN is set to start accepting applications for new gTLDs in January of 2012. The second big decision made by ICANN this year is set to go into effect much sooner. The age of dot-xxx is upon us. Although the official “sunrise” registration period doesn’t kick off until September 7th, domain operator ICM Registry is accepting early applications from organizations who wish to control their names.

    It took ICM Registry over 10 years to finally convince ICANN to allow the .xxx domain. And with the new adult domain on the horizon, companies are going into defensive mode. According to Reuters, ICM Registry has received over 900,000 requests already from companies that want to preregister a .xxx domain.

    Many are doing this to block others from snatching up the domains in the future. For instance, a company like Stanley Steamer or Coke would want to register StanleySteamer.xxx and Coke.xxx – not to use the sites but to make sure others do not. You don’t want grandma doing a Google search and stumbling on something that’s going to turn her off Coke forever.

    MTV has apparently already requested domains like spongebob.xxx and others to prevent cybersquatting. They have no plans to actually operate the site, however.

    But one high-profile organization does. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is planning on not only registering PETA.xxx, but actually running it as a pornography site. According to Reuters, they will use the new .xxx porn site to “draw attention to the plight of animals.”

    Of course, this shouldn’t be too surprising. PETA has been asking celebs to strip down in support of their cause for years. Their “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign has featured notable celebs, all in the buff. A whole site dedicated to this type of advertising seems quite logical.

    Yesterday, GoDaddy announced their pricing scheme for the new .xxx domains. Early registers will need to shell out $210 at first and then $100 each year in renewal costs.

    PETA will probably attempt to avoid GoDaddy, however, as the two companies haven’t exactly see eye to eye in recent months. PETA called for a boycott of GoDaddy after their CEO Bob Parsons killed an elephant and threw the video online. It doesn’t look like it worked, however, as GoDaddy registrations actually went up following the elephant killing.

    Would you visit a porn site run by PETA? Let us know in the comments.