Category Archive

While the comment period on Version 2 of the Draft Applicant Guidebook (DAG) on new gTLDs officially closed on April 13th (see article for ICA’s comments) ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) weighed in with a 7-page letter dated August 18th (available at http://www.icann.org/correspondence/karklins-to-dengate-thrush-18aug09-en.pdf). Despite its tardy submission, ICANN is unlikely to disregard this consensus statement by national governments and intergovernmental …

ICA members and others familiar with our work know that we have no hesitancy taking ICANN to task when we have serious problems with its policy or procedures. That’s part of our job of being a vigorous advocate for the domain name investment and development industry given the huge impact that ICANN decisions can have on the fundamentals of its …

The dog days of August are providing a welcome respite from what has been an incredibly busy year at ICANN and in Washington, as well as a chance to catch up and attend to things we’ve been meaning to get to as soon as soon as the crisis de jour was dealt with. One of those is to provide ICA …

On August 12 the ICA filed a comment letter with ICANN endorsing a proposal from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to move to an almost entirely paperless UDRP, also known as eUDRP. The majority of UDRP complainants and respondents already use electronic means for all of their filings. ICA’s endorsement of the proposal was contingent upon retention of the …

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 …

The ICA was quoted this week on the importance of law enforcement taking domain thefts seriously. In a situation unfortunately unique for the forward thinking shown by state police, the New Jersey State Police have pursued their case against Daniel Goncalves, 25, of Union, New Jersey for hacking into an online account belonging to one of the owners of the …

On Monday, July 13th, ICANN opened its global consultation summer road show on Broadway in the ornate Hudson Theatre in the Millennium Hotel. The show was very low in entertainment value and, while the orchestra seating was fairly well filled, the balconies sat empty. It closed after a single run and is now on its way for a July 15th …

Yesterday the ICA filed its comment letter with ICANN regarding the final Report of the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT). While reciting the constructive role that ICA has played on the new gTLD process since its inception, the letter takes aim and blasts away at the proposed Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) system as stripping registrants of due process rights, providing inadequate …

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.” – Thomas Jefferson As U.S. Citizens prepare to mark the 233rd anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, those in the global domain industry might well consider giving effect to Jefferson’s words, and acting to preserve their own freedom and independence, by taking the time to submit comments …

An article just published in Computeworld, “Domain-name wars: Rise of the cybersquatters” confirms ICA predictions that if brand owners are able to implement their unbalanced Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) policy for new gTLDs they will quickly move to use the same illicit, backdoor process to have it imposed on incumbent gTLDs — including .com. Referring to the package of proposals …