“Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants; electric light the most efficient policeman.” – U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis ICA has long been an advocate for greater transparency in ICANN operations, especially in the decision-making activities of the Board. Back in May 2012, reacting to the announcement that the Board would no longer hold …
ICA Counsel Confirmed As Co-Chair of RPM Review WG
During its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, May 12th, ICANN’s GNSO Council confirmed the appointment of ICA Counsel Philip S. Corwin to be a Co-Chair of the Review of all Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in all gTLDs PDP Working Group (WG). Corwin represents ICA on ICANN’s Business Constituency (BC) and is one of the BC’s two representatives on the Council. …
ICA Counsel Chosen as Interim Chair of Working Group to Review all RPMs in all gTLDs – Including the UDRP
On March 9th, 2016, during its final open meeting at ICANN 55 in Marrakech, Morocco, the GNSO Council approved a motion that I proposed to adopt the Charter of the Policy Development Process (PDP) to Review all Rights Protections Mechanisms in all Generic Top-Level Domains. I serve on the Council as one of the two representatives of ICANN’s Business Constituency, and …
ICANN and VeriSign Reach Deal for Ten Year .Com Agreement Extension
On February 11th VeriSign held its Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2015 Earnings Call with stock analysts. In the course of the call VeriSign revealed that it had reached tentative agreement with ICANN to extend the .Com Registry Agreement (RA) by ten years, with the extension’s start coinciding with the effective date of the IANA contract transition. The current .Com RA …
ICA Welcomes New ICANN CEO Göran Marby
The domain investment community represented by the Internet Commerce Association extends a warm welcome to incoming ICANN President and CEO Göran Marby. Mr. Marby’s selection was announced by ICANN on February 8th. He presently serves as Director-General of the Swedish Post and Telecom Authority and has more than 20 years of experience in the Internet and technology sectors, following his …
ICA Asks ICANN BGC to Reconsider Approval of Legacy gTLD Registry Agreements Containing URS
On October 13th ICA filed a formal Reconsideration Request (RR) asking ICANN’s Board Governance Committee (BGC) to rethink The Board’s approval of the renewal registry agreements (RAs) for .Travel, .Cat and .Pro. All three renewal agreements contain Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) and other rights protection mechanisms (RPMs) drawn from the new gTLD program. Those RPMs are in the contracts largely …
The Empire Strikes Back: ICANN Accountability at the Inflection Point
Note: I first started this article in mid-September, and the opening quote from Yogi Berra was in the first draft because it seemed to fit the situation so well.. It was by sheer coincidence that it was first published on the day of his death. Consider that my unintended tribute to a great human being. Unfortunately, it’s now over for …
Join ICA at The Domain Conference
ICA and its members will have a major presence at The Domain Conference, a new industry gathering being held September 26-29 at the beautiful Hyatt Regency Pier 66 Hotel and Spa in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,. The four-day event will start with two days of relaxed poolside networking overlapping with three days of highly informative sessions on the business of domaining. …
ICANN Opens “IANA Stewardship and Accountability Public Comment Periods”
Over the past week ICANN has opened dual comment periods on the interrelated proposals for transitioning oversight of the IANA root zone functions form the U.S. government to the multistakeholder ICANN community, and for significantly enhancing that community’s ability to hold ICANN’s Board and staff accountable. When the final proposals are implemented they will mark the biggest changes in ICANN’s …
ICANN Staff Publish Summary of Public Comments on URS at .Travel
On July 31st ICANN staff finally published the Report of Public Comments regarding the Proposed Renewal of .TRAVEL Sponsored TLD Registry Agreement, after missing the July 5th due date by more than three weeks. The Report accurately reflects that all but two of the many comments filed on the proposal opposed imposition of Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) by contract upon …