This is a debate that will make plenty of money for Washington lobbyists for years to come.
But there is less talk about another infrastructure issue that could also have a major effect on the Internet. This issue is whether the .com domain name will remain reliable and secure. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the body that manages the technical aspects of the Internet, has decided to allow the cost of .com domain names to increase by a little less than $2 over the next five years. The additional funds will allow more investment in managing and protecting the .com domain. more»
The word gTLD has been added to the hardcore lexicon of global branding. Why is this new spin causing vertigo to some? Before you say anything else like 'what'? Just hold on. It makes no difference whether you already are an expert on gTLD or not. The fact is it's in your face and we all have to deal with it for a long time, so deal with it. On the internet today, from around the world, there are over 10,000 articles on ICANN's gTLD... more»
There's a peaceful feeling in the air at ICANN's meeting this week, and I think it has something to do with being here in Costa Rica. Speaking at today's opening ceremony, Costa Rican President Laura Chinchilla described how, back in 1948, her country became the first to willingly go without any kind of armed forces for national defense. In that respect, Costa Rica is a lot like ICANN: alone in a hostile world with only its constituents and allies for protection. more»
A U.K. governance organization will review The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) as it tries to increase transparency after criticism of its close U.S. government ties. The report from One World Trust will be made public next year according to Paul Levins, ICANN's executive officer and vice president of corporate affairs. more»
Leaving the Public Forum yesterday at the ICANN meeting in Costa Rica I had learned of a couple of decisions which to me goes against serving the global public interest. At an ICANN Board meeting a few months ago which I unfortunately missed the Board resolved matters related to how financial support and batching will take place in the new gTLD Program. I would like to put forward proposals for adjusting these... more»
Congress has turned its attention to ICANN again, holding two hearings, on opposite sides of the Capitol Building, in one week. The Senate Commerce Committee starts things off on Wednesday, September 20th with a hearing titled Internet Governance: The Future of ICANN. The House Commerce Committee follows on Thusday, September 21st with ICANN Internet Goverance: Is It Working? ICANN CEO Paul Twomey and the Department of Commerce's John Kneuer will be testifying at both hearings. more»
ICANN has agreed that only registrars can suspend individual domain names. It believes that there is no way it could enforce the proposed court order. But as the organization responsible for the Internet's top-level domains, ICANN does have the authority to accredit registrars like Tucows, based in Toronto.
Princeton University's Edward Felten believes it is possible that ICANN could be forced to comply with this type of court order. more»
On April 12, ICANN closed the TLD Application System (TAS) to ensure security of applicant data. For more than a month, the system outage has cost applicants and others millions of dollars. Here's how to make up for lost time and money. Donuts supported ICANN's decision to close TAS when it realized there was a data security risk. At a critical moment, ICANN made the right choice... However, now that staff has communicated to affected applicants (including Donuts) and is preparing to re-open the TAS system, efficiency has grown to become a crucial element of the process. more»
More than a year has passed since the first organizational review team delivered its final report on ICANN's accountability and transparency. Disappointingly, ICANN has done precious little to act on a key recommendation in that report. Its failure to act threatens to damage ICANN's credibility, just as it enters one of the most critical periods in its history. more»
A dispute over the cost of Internet domain names has spilled over onto Capitol Hill, where allegations of monopolization and unreasonable price hikes surfaced in a congressional hearing on Wednesday.
The dispute arises out of a lawsuit settlement reached on March 1 in which the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) gave VeriSign the right to raise fees on .com domains by 7 percent annually. The settlement, approved by ICANN's board by a 9-5 vote, ended a legal spat that started with VeriSign's controversial move to take control of all unassigned .com and .net domain names in 2003. Those guaranteed price hikes struck some members of the House of Representatives' Small Business Committee as unreasonable. more»
ICANN has appointed IID President and CTO Rod Rasmussen to its Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC). An area that Rasmussen's work and recent SSAC reports have both covered in-depth is domain name hijacking. Recent hijackings against UFC.com and Coach.com, and similar past attacks against CheckFree, Comcast and Twitter have heightened awareness about the security dangers with the Internet's infrastructure. more»
ICANN announced that it approved registry agreements for the .biz, .info and .org domains, with a restriction that traffic data cannot be used to disclose domain name registrant, end-user information or other personal data... more»
ICANN announced today that after over seven years of planning, the organization has initiated the process for accepting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). "We believe this program will do what it's designed to do, which is open up the Internet domain-name system to further innovation," said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN chairman, during an event at the National Press Club in Washington today. More information on the Applicant Support program can be found on the ICANN New gTLD page. more»
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has approved the first top-level domain registry based in the Asia-Pacific region.
The .asia top-level domain will join other Asian-Pacific Internet domains, such as Japan, China, and South Korea already managed by DotAsia Organization. The addition brings the total number of Internet domain suffixes to 266. more»
The company behind the failed .xxx domain proposal says it spent nearly $3m before ICANN rejected the bid -- a move that the company believes was the result of pressure from Washington.
He expressed his frustration at ICANN: "We've spent nearly six years and 3 million dollars on this. We have followed the rules and have been told that we've got through at various stages. The fact that this happened leaves a sour taste," he said. ICM Registry is now considering its next move. "There are a variety of routes for us to go down and we are considering all our options," said Lawley. more»
