ICA Blog

On June 1st an ICANN comment period ended in regard to the process for terminating registry/registrar separation at incumbent gTLDs like .Com and .Net (announcement at http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-02may11-en.htm ). ICANN’s Board has decided that any new gTLDs will not be subject to such a separation requirement and will rely on other restrictions as well as national competition authorities to curb any …

Responding to a strongly worded ICA comment letter filed on May 15th, ICANN has deleted applicant evaluation criteria from the Final Applicant Guidebook (AG) for new gTLDs that would have encouraged applicants to constrain parked websites offering advertising links. ICANN has just issued what it hopes will be the Final version of the AG (available at http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/comments-7-en.htm). ICA’s May 15th …

Last Friday, May 20, the ICANN Board and the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), held a joint teleconference to discuss remaining differences on the proposed final Applicant Guidebook AG)  for the new gTLD program.  Two days later they issued a Joint Statement regarding what transpired and how the process will go forward. The Joint Statement consists of the sort of vague …

ICA has just submitted its sixth comment letter to ICANN in regard to the ever-evolving Applicant Guidebook (AG) for the new gTLD program. The latest version of the AG contains a new provision, tucked away in the evaluation questions for new gTLD applicants, that asks whether they will adopt policies to eliminate or minimize “social costs” and “negative consequences”, and …

The Internet Commerce Association has filed its comment letter with ICANN regarding the revised contract under which VeriSign will operate the .Net registry from July 1, 2011 going forward. A major focus of the comment letter was strenuous objection to the proposal, put forward by ICANN’s Intellectual Property Constituency, that the untested Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) system that has been …

“I don’t see how new gTLDs can be approved in Singapore if the GAC isn’t satisfied that its concerns have been fully addressed”. So spoke Assistant Secretary for Commerce Lawrence Stickling in his keynote luncheon speech delivered at a Global Internet Governance workshop held at American University in Washington, DC on May 5th. (The quote is transcribed from our hastily …

The ongoing debate about the burgeoning U.S. federal deficit has been short on bipartisan agreement – except for the proposition that “we can no longer kick the can down the road”. Yet that is pretty much what senior members of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet asked ICANN to do with its new gTLD …

On Tuesday, May 10th ICANN will hold a webinar on the Current State of the UDRP. Details can be found at http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-21apr11-en.htm; those who wish to participate need to send an e-mail to gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org to receive the details. The Webinar will last for two hours and commences at 15:00 UTC (11 am Eastern time in the USA; check http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html for …

On May 5-6 American University in Washington, DC will host a program on “Global Internet Governance: Research and Public Policy Challenges for the Next Decade”. Registration for the event, which will also be webcast, is free and can be made at  http://www.amiando.com/GigaNET-DC-2011.html?page=518918. The program will feature a May 5th keynote speech by Assistant Secretary for Commerce Larry Strickling, who harshly …

On Wednesday, April 20th ICA Counsel Philip Corwin was interviewed on Webmaster Radio’s CyberLaw and Business Report. A podcast of the wide-ranging discussion with host Bennet Kelley can be listened to or downloaded at http://www2.webmasterradio.fm/cyberlaw-and-business-report/. Topics covered in the interview include: •    The origins and activities of the Internet Commerce Association •    The direct search business model that underlies the …