The ICA released a must-read statement on the price increase of .com domains earlier today! Shortly after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)’s recent announcement allowing Verisign to pursue increased .com registry fees, Verisign published a blog post questioning the business practices of registrars and domain name investors. The ICA, on behalf of its registrar and domain name investor …
ICA Statement on U.S. Government Granting Verisign .Com Price Increase
As the domain name community knows, the ICA has been warning of an impending price hike on .com domain name registrations. We publicized the issue, launched a website to increase awareness of the issue, created a petition that attracted over 2,000 signatures, and advocated for our position directly to David Redl, the head of NTIA, as well as to the Department …
Nominations for ICA’s 2019 Lonnie Borck Memorial Award – now open!
The ICA is happy and proud to announce that we are now accepting nominations for ICA’s 2019 Lonnie Borck Memorial Award! Thanks to NamesCon’s generous support, for the 3rd year in the row, the award will be held during the conference. The Lonnie Borck Memorial Award is granted to an individual for indelible contribution to domain investor rights, and we invite you all …
ICA Letter to David Redl on Expiry of NTIA-Verisign Cooperative Agreement
In its letter to David Redl of the NTIA, the ICA urges that the NTIA extend Amendment 32 to the Cooperative Agreement between the Department of Commerce and Verisign, which is set to expire on November 30, 2018. Read the full letter, which was submitted on October 18th, 2018, here.
ICA Letter to ICANN Board of Directors on ICANN oversight over the UDRP
In its letter submitted to the ICANN board on October 9th, 2018, ICA pointed out the absence of any ICANN oversight over the UDRP such as an office or staff, regular review process, complaints procedure, or contracts with existing UDRP dispute resolution service providers. ICA requests that ICANN includes a budget for such oversight in its current budgeting process. Read …
Dereliction of Duty in Wonderland
Guest post by Greg Thomas The shot clock is ticking towards expiration of the NTIA-Verisign Cooperative Agreement — yet stakeholders are AWOL on completing accountability safeguards at root of the Internet. It is remarkable — for all the wrong reasons — that only two months remain before the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) must make a fateful decision on how it will address its’ long-standing …
Response to a United Nations Letter on the IGO Working Group Final Report
The ICA participated in responding to the United Nations, who had written a letter to the ICANN Board complaining about the IGO Working Group Final Report. The ICA was extensively involved in this Working Group and took issue with the UN’s complaints about the outcome. This Working Group spent four years examining the UDRP and how IGO’s and INGO’s could …
ICA Letter to ICANN on Proposed Release for Registration of O .COM
On June 20th, the ICA has submitted a letter to ICANN stating its concern over the proposed approach on the Proposed Amendment to implement the request from Verisign to release the single letter domain, O.com. The letter can be view here: ICA Comment Re O.com Release Proposal – June 20 2018
ICA’s UDRP Reform Policy Platform 2018
The Internet Commerce Association (“ICA”) is taking a leadership role in examining and reforming the UDRP. Over the following months and years during which the UDRP will be reviewed by the ICANN Rights Protection Mechanisms Working Group (the “Working Group”), the ICA will be developing policy reform proposals based upon extensive study and its consultations with ICA members who have …
A Re-Examination of the Defense of Laches After 18 Years of the UDRP
Can the UDRP be used to take away a Domain Name after 20 years? Complainants can certainly try, as we recently saw with the Queen.com case. Nevertheless, after 20 years of the UDRP it is high time for panelists to start seriously considering how severe delays in bringing a UDRP Complaint should no longer be tolerated. Many of our members have owned …