Earlier today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit issued its decision in Weinstein vs. Iran, a case in which families of terror victims sought to have ICANN turn over control of Iran’s .IR ccTLD to plaintiffs. In a unanimous decision the three judge panel stated, “On ICANN’s motion, the district court quashed the writs, finding the data …
TMCH Review Recommends Status Quo
On July 25th ICANN announced the publication of the Draft Report of the Independent Review of the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH). This study was coordinated for ICANN by the Analysis Group, in conjunction with researchers from the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford as well the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. The Report’s Executive Summary provides a background on its …
NTIA Revs up Rhetoric as IANA Transition Looms
It’s been almost six weeks since the NTIA announced “that the proposal developed by the global Internet multistakeholder community meets the criteria NTIA outlined in March 2014 when it stated its intent to transition the U.S. Government’s stewardship role for the Internet domain name system (DNS) technical functions, known as the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions”, and thereby signaled …
ICA Member Profile: Richard Lau
Richard Lau is well known throughout the domain name industry having started many registrars, brokered numerous domain sales and quarterbacked the return of multiple high-value stolen domains. With his co-founding of NamesCon he adds to his successes in the industry, having established NamesCon as the largest commercial domain name conference worldwide.
ICA Member Profile: Ron Jackson
Ron Jackson is the Founder, Editor & Publisher of Domain Name Journal, the domain industry news magazine at DNJournal.com that has been covering industry news, people and events since launching on New Year’s Day 2003. Ron spent nearly 20 years as a television reporter for ABC and CBS TV stations in Florida before beginning an entrepreneurial career that eventually led …
ICANN Board Decisions to become More Transparent
“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 Member Profile: Michael Castello
Michael Castello is CEO and President of Castello Cities Internet Network, Inc. CCIN owns, manages and develops some of the most recognized Geo and Generic domain name brands in the world including PalmSprings.com, Nashville.com and Traveler.com. He is also the owner of Daycare.com which he and his wife Sheri Castello founded in 1997. Michael has spoken internationally at many conferences …
ICA Member Profile: Braden Pollock
Braden is a well-known domain investor, angel investor and serial entrepreneur. Among his companies is Legal Brand Marketing, which provides “lead generation” services to lawyers nationwide. As an angel investor, he has an equity interest in several dozen other companies including Katalyst, Innovation Collective, iBeautyBrands, The Grooming Network (StraightRazors.com, ClassicShaving.com, etc), Bold Metrics, DataZoom, Tastry, Next Health, Osano, Styku and …
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. …
U. S. Government Blasts China’s Draft Domain Regulations
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 …