Goldstein Report

ICANN: Khmer Script Community Forms Generation Panel for Developing the Root Zone Label Generation Rules

ICANN is pleased to announce the formation of the Generation Panel to develop Label Generation Rules (LGR) for the Root Zone for Khmer script.

Following the Call for Generation Panels to Develop Root Zone Label Generation Rules, on 4 June 2015 the Khmer script community submitted to ICANN the Proposal for the Generation Panel for the Khmer Script Label Generation Ruleset for the Root Zone [PDF, 420 KB]. ICANN staff has reviewed the proposal including panel composition and scope, to ensure that requirements set forth in the LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB], and in particular the criteria set forth in the Call for Generation Panels to Develop Root Zone Label Generation Rules, are fulfilled.

“On behalf of ICANN, we would like to thank Khmer script community members for volunteering to develop the Khmer LGR proposal for the Root Zone,” said Sarmad Hussain from the IDN Program at ICANN, “and National Institute of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information and Communication Technology of Cambodia for hosting the panel.”

With composition and work plan approved, the Khmer Generation Panel will start its work on the label generation rules. According to the LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB], the starting point of any Generation Panel’s work is the Maximal Starting Repertoire (MSR), with its second version (MSR-2) released on 27 April 2015. The full specification of Generation Panel’s tasks can be found in the LGR Procedure [PDF, 772 KB] in particular, Section B.3 “Variant Rule Generation Procedure”.

ICANN has provided a central public workspace on the project website where Khmer Generation Panel composition, work plan updates, public reports, contact details, and any other relevant information will be included.

As a reminder, and to highlight the importance of script community involvement required in the development of the IDN Root Zone LGR, we would like to reiterate the Call for Generation Panels to Develop Root Zone Label Generation Rules. A successful development of the Root Zone LGR depends on having Generation Panels for each script represented in the Root Zone. In addition to ongoing efforts with the Arabic, Armenian, Chinese, Japanese, Khmer and Neo-Brahmi, Generation Panel formation is expected to cover other scripts including Cyrillic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Greek, Hebrew, Korean, Lao, Latin, Myanmar, Sinhala, Thai and Tibetan.

For further information on how to form a Generation Panel, please refer to the Call for Generation Panels to Develop Root Zone Label Generation Rules and to the additional supporting documentation provided on the Root Zone LGR Project website. Individual interests may be emailed to idntlds@icann.org.

About ICANN

ICANN‘s mission is to ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer – a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn’t have one global Internet. ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers. ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet. For more information please visit: www.icann.org

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-06-17-en

An open letter to all new TLD operators by Tony Kirsch, ARI Registry Services

Dear TLD operators,

As many of you will know from my previous posts, Iâm pretty passionate about our new TLD industry and genuinely believe we are all working towards a goal that will provide something truly special for future generations to embrace

Dear TLD operators,

However, speaking candidly (as is the Australian way), I think weâd all agree that there is much to do to get new TLDs into the mainstream in a timely manner. And as new TLD applicants, we all have a responsibility to work together to ensure the success of our industry for years to come.

Based upon this view and after 12 months of contemplation and some assistance and support from a few industry leaders, weâve just launched a webinar for all TLD applicants.

Thus, the TLD Operator Webinar is now scheduled for June 30 and information is available at www.tldoperator.help for those that would like to register or understand more about this initiative.

Since our soft launch last week, weâve had over 200 applicants register for the webinar and plenty of comments of support from the industry which really demonstrates appetite for this on a global level. With about two weeks to go until the webinar, weâre hoping we can double this number and provide useful information to a large sector of the new TLD applicant base.

The TLD Operator Webinar is designed to provide all new TLD applicants with an opportunity to share their experiences and learn from each other â away from the confines of the typical ICANN discussions on policy and so on. Put simply, it is about TLD Operators helping other TLD Operators learn how to maximise the return on your investment and make your mark on the future of the Internetâ whether youâre a generic, geographic or brand TLD.

The webinar is free, lasts only 60 minutes and will provide attendees with unique insight from other TLD Operators based on what has and hasnât worked for them so far.

I am extremely excited by the quality of speakers weâve been able to assemble, including

â¢ Donuts (Largest portfolio TLD applicant)
â¢ Monash University (Worldâs first .brand)
â¢ .club (Highly successful generic TLD)
â¢ .berlin & .sydney (Leading city TLDs)
â¢ .sucks (High profile TLD in the news)

The TLD Operator Webinar is open to all applicants only (and/or nominated advisors) and will not be a forum for industry sales or promotion in any way. I should also reiterate as per recent media reports, that this initiative is not a formal community group in any way, simply an attempt to utilise a webinar for the benefit of all new TLDs.

I welcome you to join us for the TLD Operator Webinar and look forward to sharing some unique insights at this pivotal time in our industry.

Kind Regards

Tony Kirsch
Head of Global Consulting
ARI Registry Services

This open letter by Tony Kirsch from ARI Registry Services was sourced with permission from:
www.ariservices.com/blog/an-open-letter-to-all-new-tld-operators/

Bing Moving to Encrypt Search Traffic by Default

At Microsoft, we’re committed to helping users keep their data safe and secure.

At Microsoft, we’re committed to helping users keep their data safe and secure.That’s why we support the industry’s move to use of TLS protocols as part of our effort to expand encryption across our networks and services. Bing has already been offering users the option to encrypt search traffic for about a year and a half now. Beginning this summer, we will begin the process of encrypting search traffic by default. This means that traffic originating from Bing will increasingly come from https://www.bing.com as opposed to http://www.bing.com.With the move to encrypted search by default we will continue to pass along a referrer string so that marketers and webmasters will be able to identify traffic as coming from Bing. However, to further protect our users’ privacy, we will not include the used query terms. We will still provide some limited query term data available without compromising the security of customer data through our various webmaster and advertiser tools, which include:
https://blogs.bing.com/webmaster/2015/06/15/bing-moving-to-encrypt-search-traffic-by-default/Also see:Microsoft to encrypt Bing searches by default
Microsoft is changing the security encryption on its Bing search engine from an option to a requirement.In a blog posted Monday, the software giant announced that starting this summer, all web traffic coming from Bing will be encrypted by default. Such encryption has been available as an option since early 2014, but only if you specifically typed the secure URL https://www.bing.com as your destination. The new default setting means that you’ll automatically surf the site as https://www.bing.com instead of http://www.bing.com.
http://www.cnet.com/news/microsoft-to-encrypt-bing-searches-by-default/

.EU Launches Its Own Academy

EURid has announced they are launching the .eu Academy!

The initiative has, as its main objective, the goal to contribute to the education of industry peers, registrars and future generations about the basics of the Internet, its history, functioning and marketing-administrative-security-legal related facets.

The Academy offers, among other things, the opportunity for university students and young graduates to apply for traineeships lasting anywhere between six weeks and three months, at the .eu registry. Interested parties are encouraged to write to academy@eurid.eu detailing the area they would like to gain more DNS expertise in and the timeframe they are available. In addition, aspiring applicants ought to attach a CV itemising their academic studies. .eu will design a customised programme so that participants can learn and work in close cooperation with members of EURid staff.

To learn more about the .eu Academy and how to get involved, EURid has a dedicated page here.

Belgian privacy watchdog takes Facebook to court

Belgium’s privacy watchdog has begun legal action against Facebook, accusing the social network site of tracking its users across the web and even monitoring the activities of those without an account.The independent Privacy Commission, which is working with German, Dutch, French and Spanish counterparts, accused Facebook last month of trampling on European privacy laws after trying to find out more about the U.S. social media giant’s practices.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/06/15/us-facebook-belgium-idUKKBN0OV1YQ20150615
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/06/15/facebook-belgium-idINKBN0OV25420150615Also see:Hooray for Belgium, fronting up to Facebook
Unroll your lists of 10 famous Belgians (mine is mostly tennis players, fashion designers and Audrey Hepburn), because there is a new name to add: Willem Debeuckelaere, president of the Belgian privacy commission. Even the name of this organisation delights me, with its faint suggestion that Belgian privacy may not be like other kinds. And as a partially Flemish person myself, I can only be proud that it is Belgium that has lost patience with Facebook and its somewhat jaunty attitude to privacy issues.So much so that it is taking the company to court over its alleged breaches of Belgian and European privacy laws. It threatened legal action if Facebook didn’t respond to its concerns, and has followed through on the threat. Gratifyingly, Facebook’s spokesperson has described this as “theatrical”, an adjective that is virtually never used to describe anyone Belgian, except for Hercule Poirot.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/15/belgium-facebook

EU states endorse data protection overhaul

European Union member states endorsed a sweeping overhaul of the 28-country bloc’s data protection laws on Monday, bringing a web of national laws into a single set of rules with the potential for heavy fines.The proposed rules seek to strengthen the privacy of citizens at a time when the use of vast amounts of personal data by web giants such as Facebook and Google has come under increased scrutiny in the EU.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2015/06/15/eu-dataprotection-idINKBN0OV1JZ20150615

Electronic Frontier Foundation tells ICANN to Delete URS from .Travel by Philip Corwin, Internet Commerce Association

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has just told ICANN to drop the notion of applying the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) dispute resolution system to .Travel and other legacy gTLDs without undertaking a full Policy Development Process (PDP)

In a June 12 letter, EFF stated:

ICANN should not apply URS to the .travel domain, or to any additional domains, by the unaccountable means of staff inserting new conditions into the renewal of the registry operatorâs contract. Rather, the public policy implications of such a move demand that a full PDP be undertaken first.

EFFâs letter also states:

The introduction of the URS, in response to a 2009 recommendation from the new gTLD programâs Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT), was characterized (however dubiously) as an implementation detail of the new gTLD programâ¦The URS never became a consensus policy that would be applicable across all gTLDsâ¦If the URS is to be extended to legacy domains such as .travel, this would place many further domains at risk of rapid suspension, which raises significant free speech concerns. It would also set a bad precedent for the extension of the URS to other legacy domains such as .com, .net and .org as their registriesâ contracts come up for renewal.

ICANN contracting staff decided to impose the URS on .Travel based upon the misguided notion that it was more important âto increase the consistency of registry agreements across all gTLDsâ than to act consistently with ICANNâs Bylaws. They didnât even wait for their colleagues in the policy department to deliver the âIssues Report on new gTLD RPMsâ to the GNSO Council this coming September. One of the reasons the GNSO Council requested that report was so the GNSO could decide if those RPMs should become Consensus Policy for all gTLDs.

And itâs not just .Travel targeted by this staff power grab. Two weeks after publishing that proposed Registry Agreement (RA) ICANN published the proposed RAs for .Cat and .Pro, which also contain the URS. You can draw a dot-ted line through those registries that brings the URS to .org, .net and .com when they come up for renewal as de facto, staff-determined policy absent any demonstrated community consensus.

And when the URS reaches those big legacy domains, what will it look like? A review of the Report of Public Comments on the âDraft Report: Rights Protection Mechanisms Reviewâ makes clear that if certain interests have their way the URS could be changed in the future to become an accelerated, lower-cost version of the UDRP, with the same burden of proof plus a domain transfer option. The result of transforming URS into URT (Uniform Rapid Transfer) would be more opportunities for domain hijackers and far less due process for domain registrants.

Whether the URS should change, much less if it should become a consensus policy for legacy gTLDs, are important policy decisions that should be decided by ICANNâs multistakeholder community through the standard PDP â not imposed in an unaccountable top down manner by ICANN staff.

EFF has made a valuable contribution to ICANN accountability by expressing its strong opposition to this high-handed attempt to short-circuit proper decision-making procedures. Letâs hope that more organizations and individuals speak out while the public comment period on these RAs remain open â and at the upcoming ICANN meeting in Buenos Aires.

This article by Philip Corwin from the Internet Commerce Association was sourced with permission from:
www.internetcommerce.org/eff-no-urs-at-dot-travel/

EU states agree framework for pan-European data privacy rules

All 28 member states of the Council of the European Union have to agreed to new European data protection laws that could see tough new regulations unified across the whole of the EU.

All 28 member states of the Council of the European Union have to agreed to new European data protection laws that could see tough new regulations unified across the whole of the EU.The changes would allow for a pan-European framework for privacy and the handling of European citizens’ data, instead of the current scenario where data privacy is regulated by watchdogs in the country of operation within Europe such as Ireland.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jun/15/eu-privacy-laws-data-regulations

SIDN Warns Of Phishing Email Purporting To Come From Them

SIDN, the .nl registry, is warning that some of their clients, including registrars and registrants, are currently receiving emails with ‘Domeinnaam.nl updaten’ (‘Update domainname.nl’) in the subject line. The message asks recipients to log in using their website account details in order to keep their domain names

These emails are NOT from SIDN and the registry is warning that if one is received, the recipients are urged in the strongest terms not to do as the message asks and to report any such phishing incident to Fraudehelpdesk.nl.

Cyber attacks: More than 3,500 breaches in April and threats set to increase, Australian police say

More than 3,500 cyber attacks on Australia from foreign countries and criminals were reported in April, the Australian Federal Police says.

More than 3,500 cyber attacks on Australia from foreign countries and criminals were reported in April, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) says.And the threat is only going to increase, warns the head of the AFP’s cyber crime unit, Commander David McLean.”Cyber threats in Australia are typically classified as being state-sponsored or criminally motivated in terms of attribution to the source,” Commander McLean told 7.30.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-15/threat-of-cyber-attacks-set-to-increase-says-afp/6547696