In Extending .Com RA, ICANN Board also Extended Price Freeze Through 2024

Philip CorwinICA, ICANN, NTIA

We have previously reported that, at is September 15th meeting, ICANN’s Board approved the proposed extension of the .Com registry Agreement (RA). What we did not know at the time was that the Board simultaneously approved an extension of the existing $7.85 ceiling on .Com wholesale prices through 2024.   That additional information recently became available when ICANN published its …

ICANN Board Approves .Com RA Extension

Philip CorwinICA, ICANN, NTIA, URS

ICANN has just released the Approved Board Resolutions from its meeting of Thursday, September 15th, and one of its major actions was to approve the proposed extension of the .Com registry Agreement (RA) through November 2024. The complete text of the Resolution and the rationale for its adoption can be found at the end of this post. Wholesale prices of …

.Com RA Extension on ICANN Board’s 9/15 Agenda

Philip CorwinICA, ICANN, Law & Policy, NTIA, URS

  The “.COM Registry Agreement Amendment” is on the Main Agenda for this Thursday’s Regular Meeting of the ICANN Board. The proposed extension of the RA was announced and put out for public comment on June 30th. The public comment period closed on August 12th and ICANN staff’s Report of Public Comments was due on September 15th, coincident with the …

DOJ to Cruz: .Com Price Freeze can be Extended to 2024

Philip CorwinCongress, ICANN, Law & Policy, NTIA

On August 31st the Department of Justice (DOJ) sent a response to the August 12th letter from Senator Ted Cruz and some Congressional colleagues to the head of the Antitrust Division. In that letter Cruz et al asserted that if the pending extension of the .Com registry Agreement (RA) was granted in combination with the consummation of the IANA transition, …

U. S. Government Blasts China’s Draft Domain Regulations

Philip CorwinICANN, Law & Policy, NTIA

In an unexpected move, the two top U.S. officials charged with the Obama Administration’s Internet policy have issued a joint statement severely criticizing draft Chinese domain policies. On May 16th, the State Department’s  Ambassador Daniel A. Sepulveda and NTIA’s Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information Lawrence E. Strickling issued an official statement titled “China’s Internet Domain Name Measures and the …

Second Draft CWG-IANA Stewardship Proposal Out for Public Comment — April 24th Explanatory Webinar Scheduled

Philip CorwinAccountability, IANA, ICANN, NTIA

Late on the evening on April 22nd the CWG-Stewardship on the IANA Naming Functions issued its second Draft Proposal for a 28-day public comment period that closes on May 20th. Information about the Proposal can be found in a news announcement and at the public comment page. ICANN has scheduled a 90-minute explanatory webinar on the proposal on Friday, April …

Breaking: U.S. Government Funding Bill Delays IANA Transition

Philip CorwinCongress, IANA, ICANN, NTIA

On the evening of Tuesday, September 9th, Congressional leaders unveiled a 1,603 page, $1.01 trillion FY 2015 appropriations bill to fund the U.S. government through the end of September 2015. One provision of the omnibus bill would delay the IANA transition until after the September 30, 2015 expiration of the current contract between the NTIA and ICANN. Language in the …

ICANN’s Comment Period on Accountability Process Seeks Scope Limitations

Philip CorwinAccountability, ICANN, Law & Policy, NTIA

Bowing to unprecedented community pressure in the form of a unanimous letter questioning its staff-developed Accountability Process, as well as a reconsideration request filed with the Board, on September 5th ICANN issued a notice titled “Public Comment Invited: Enhancing ICANN Accountability Process”. The notice opens a 21-day public comment period on that staff proposal. However, ICANN staff apparently cannot resist …

Stress Test: Reconsideration Request on Accountability Process Filed with ICANN Board

Philip CorwinAccountability, IANA, ICANN, NTIA

In a rapid follow-up to the unprecedented joint letter sent on August 26th by all members of the ICANN community questioning the proposed Accountability Process imposed by ICANN staff, three of the groups that signed that letter have now submitted a formal Reconsideration Request (RR) to the ICANN Board. The August 29th RR – submitted jointly by the Business Constituency …

GNSO, ccNSO, GAC, ALAC and SSAC Issue Unprecedented Joint Letter Questioning ICANN’s Staff-Imposed Accountability Process

Philip CorwinGNSO, ICANN, Law & Policy, NTIA

In another unpredicted development the entire community of ICANN stakeholders has sent a joint letter to CEO Fadi Chehade and the ICANN Board that strongly questions the “Enhancing ICANN Accountability and Governance – Process and Next Steps” document published by ICANN staff on August 14th over widespread community objections. Signatories to the August 26th letter (text below) include the GNSO …