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Posts Tagged ‘ICANN’

The ICANN Board has just approved the release of new IDN ccTLD domain names, while at the same time allowing for the creation of the controversial .xxx domain names.

The IDN ccTLD domain names approved by ICANN are:

• CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center)
• HKIRC (Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited)
• TWNIC (Taiwan Network Information Center).

Speaking during the ICANN 38 meeting, ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom announced that:

“One fifth of the world speaks Chinese and that means we just increased the potential online accessibility for roughly a billion people.”

This announcement comes hot on the heels of the recent release of the Russian and Arabic IDN ccTLD, which we announced with great fanfare.

The contraversial .xxx domain was allowed to pass with ICANN saying:

The ICANN board also voted to allow the application for the controversial .XXX top-level domain (TLD) to move forward. The ICM registry applied for the .XXX sponsored top-level domain as a potential community site for the adult entertainment industry. The Board approved a detailed set of next steps for the application, including expedited due diligence, negotiations on a draft registry agreement, and consultation with ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee.

The .xxx domain was first mooted in 2000 as a dedicated domain for the Adult industry, but fierce debate from supporters and detractors has raged since then. In 2007 the ICANN Board rejected a proposal to progress the .xxx, but in more recent times members of the ICANN board have expressed support for it, which has resulted in its return as a prominent issue.

Members of the Adult industry had feared that while the .xxx is descriptive of their businesses, that mandatory use of this TLD would isolated Adult websites.

Tags: domain law, domain lawyer, domain name law, domain name lawyer, ICANN, IT Lawyer, technology lawyer
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ICANN has announced that domain names will now appear in Arabic Script, as part of the move to non-latin domain names.

Since November of last year ICANN has received 21 requests for top-level domains (TLDs) through its Fast Track Process, representing 11 different languages, however ICANN has chosen Arabic as the first Non- Latin script as it is one of the most widely-used on the internet today. Other non latin language requests have come from China, India and Russia to name a few.

Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have been chosen as the first three regions that will be able to use country-code specific TLDs. Addresses for regional domain names in these countries can be found by using native language characters. Egypt has been the first to create a domain name using Arabic characters. The domain name .misr, which is the Arabic word for Egypt, will be spelled out in Arabic script.

ICANN expects that the introduction of domain names in Arabic script will make a surge in the number of internet users in the Arab speaking world and will enable Internet services to penetrate into new market segments by eliminating language barriers.

Tags: arabic domain names, domain law, domain name law, domain name lawyer, domain name lawyers, ICANN, non latin domain names
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After an 11 year process, ICANN has signed a historic agreement with the US Department of Commerce, which affirms its role as the supreme manager of the global domain name system.

In 1998 ICANN was set up by the US Government under the oversight of the US Government. Although sometimes controversial and subject to debate, ICANN has managed to successfully guide the global domain name system. ICANN’s most recent meeting was held in Sydney, and was attended by industry participants including Cooper Mills Lawyers.

According to ICANN:

When ICANN was created in 1998, with the assistance of the United States Government, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) process was started with the objective of achieving a noble goal: the coordination of the Internet’s unique identifiers by the private sector through a not-for-profit organization where policies were developed from the bottom up.

The signing of the Affirmation determines once and for all that this model works.

The JPA was the seventh amendment of the original MOU.  Over the years there have been thirteen report cards on performance of responsibilities to the US Department of Commerce alone.  So why is the Affirmation of Commitments a further step in progress and internationalization of the ICANN model?

It commits ICANN to remaining a private not for profit organization. It declares ICANN is independent and is not controlled by any one entity. It commits ICANN to reviews performed BY THE COMMUNITY – a further recognition that the multi-stakeholder model is robust enough to review itself.

The full text of the Affirmation between ICANN and the US Department of Commerce is available here.

Whilst this is a historic step it is not likely to affect business as usual at ICANN. This Agreement comes at an important time with the introduction of IPV6 and new TLDs among, the host of other challenges facing ICANN.

Tags: domain law, domain lawyers, domain name law, domain name lawyers, domain name regulation, ICANN
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ICANN has just announced that since changes implemented in June 2008, Domain Tasting has dropped a massive 99.7%, which effectively spells the end of the practice.

Domain Tasting, is the practice of registering domains to identify their potential to attract visitors and typically revenue from online ads, and cancelling the registration within 5 days to avoid paying the fees if the domains did not attract visitors / revenue within this period – this was in effect a ‘try before you buy’.

ICANN says (in reference to their solution to this problem):

The solution in brief means that if a company registers and then returns more than a certain number or percentage of domains each month, they are charged for each additional registration above that amount. The result is that domain tasting becomes increasingly expensive the more a company engages in the practice for what may be speculative reasons.

The announcement by ICANN comes after the release of its report: The End of Domain Tasting – Status Report on AGP Measures.

The issue of domain tasting is not one that we have experienced in Australia.

Tags: domain law, domain lawyer, domain name law, ICANN, IT Lawyer
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Following the conclusion of the most recent ICANN meeting held in Sydney, Rod Beckstrom was announced as the new ICANN CEO, replacing Paul Twomey.

“Beckstrom is the former Director of the U.S. National Cybersecurity Center (NCSC), where he formed an effective working group of leaders from the nation’s top six cybersecurity centers spanning the civilian, military and intelligence communities.”

In addition to his formal military / intelligence rolls, Beckstrom has also been active in the not for profit sector, as a board member of trustees of the Environmental Defense Fund and the Jamii Bora Trust, a micro-lending group based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Beckstrom takes the helm at a time when ICANN is in the process of rolling out one its biggest projects yet, the introduction of new GTLDs.

Tags: domain law, domain names, ICANN, Rod Beckstrom
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ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has just released the its Draft Applicant Guide Book for applicants wishing to register a new gTLD (top level domain). This brings us one step closer to the reality of new top level domains.

ICANN states that one of its “foundational principles has been to promote competition in the domain-name marketplace while ensuring Internet security and stability.” . With the soon to open gTLD application rounds it is hoped that applicants will apply for new gTLDs, and promote competition in the marketplace for existing gTLDs.

The possibilities appear to be endless, for example some suggestions have come from corporate organisations – for example Coca Cola could apply for the .coke gTLD or Pepsi could apply for the .pepsi gTLD. With a price tag of approximately $200,000, it is not likely that anyone other than corporates or cashed up entrepaneurs will be in a position to launch a gTLD – but it will only be a matter of time before a profitable business model will be developed giving new gTLDs broader accessibility.

As a consequence, ICANN claims that the “expansion will allow for more innovation, choice and change to the Internet’s addressing system, now constrained by only 21 generic top-level domain names. In a world with 1.5 billion Internet users—and growing—diversity, choice and competition are key to the continued success and reach of the global network.”

This is a positive, allowing for more flexibility and competition – but opponents argue that it will diminish the value of existing gTLDs, which are now a very limited commodity in light of the fact that almost all the good generic names have been registered in the existing gTLD space.

Only time will tell…..

Tags: domain law, domain lawyers, domain name law, domain name lawyers, ICANN
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