ICA on the Record at ICANN Singapore by Philip Corwin, Internet Commerce Association

Internet Commerce Association logoWe have finally had a chance to review the transcript of the Public Forum with the ICANN Board held on March 27th in Singapore. ICA generally takes advantage of those opportunities for interaction to acquaint the Board with matters of concern to the domain investment community

Internet Commerce Association logoWe have finally had a chance to review the transcript of the Public Forum with the ICANN Board held on March 27th in Singapore. ICA generally takes advantage of those opportunities for interaction to acquaint the Board with matters of concern to the domain investment community.

Two issues were addressed in our Singapore statement. The first was the attempt by UN-affiliated International Governmental Organizations (IGOs), as well as some International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), to block their acronyms from being available at any new gTLD – a position that could eventually threaten some valuable domains at incumbent gTLDs. Our remarks reiterated support for the unanimously adopted GNSO Council resolution on this matter. Subsequent to the Singapore meeting we filed a comment letter that told ICANN it was time to respond to these unreasonable demands with a firm and responding “No”.

The second matter was cybersquatting at new gTLDs. From its inception ICA’s Code of Conduct has taken a strong stand against intentional trademark infringement. Several domain industry bloggers have noted clearly infringing activity going on at new gTLDs. And one law firm reported in February in regard to the just-launched .Bike gTLD:

[O]f the 20 brands selected for the study, as of February 10, 2014, all 20 were registered as domain names in .BIKE. However, only four of the 20 brands have clearly been registered by the actual brand owner. According to WHOIS data, another three are being held by the registry Donuts, and it is unclear for what purpose—whether as a premium name, as part of a blocking program, or otherwise. The other 13 are all being held by third parties who seemingly have no relation to the brand owner, quite possibly cybersquatters. While the sample size of this study is small and not necessarily statistically significant, it supports the supposition that most bicycle brands either were not aware of the .BIKE launch or did not take protective steps to prevent potential cybersquatting once the launch occurred.

Just after that study was issued I received an unsolicited e-mail from an individual in India offering many new gTLD domains for sale – including formula.bike, a name associated with an Italian manufacturer of specialty racing bike parts.

We don’t yet know the extent of intentional cybersquatting at new gTLDs and whether it is significant, and not every generic word registered at a particular new gTLD is going to meet the dual UDRP/URS standard of bad faith registration and use. We also don’t know if any of these cybersquatted domains is receiving any substantial traffic and thereby generating any type of significant income to the registrant (doubtful); or whether any are being for bad purposes beyond infringement.

What we do know is that such activities are not just stupid because they invite legal action, but that they are wrong. And we know that when UDRP reform is initiated in 2015 certain trademark interests may point to these activities as evidence that allegedly supports changes that would reduce the due process rights of legitimate domain registrants. Ditto for proposed changes to national laws such as the U.S. Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA).

That’s why it’s important for ICA to get on the record reiterating our condemnation of such infringement and asking what ICANN is doing to monitor and analyze the situation. When we engage in that UDRP review discussion we want no questions raised about the commitment of ICA and its members to respecting trademark law — so that we can better press the point that domain rights and trademark rights should be equitably balanced.

The transcript follows–

 

http://singapore49.icann.org/en/schedule/thu-public-forum/transcript-public-forum-27mar14-en.pdf

 

BILL GRAHAM: Thank you. Next. Mr. Corwin

 

PHILIP CORWIN: Good afternoon. Philip Corwin speaking in my capacity as counsel to

the domain name investors and developers of the Internet Commerce

Association and briefly addressing two issues related to the new TLD

program. The first is the ongoing discussion of the protections for

acronyms of IGOs and INGOs at new TLDs. ICA is strongly in support of

the resolution adopted unanimously by the GNSO council on this issue.

We think it’s important at a time when we’re ‐‐ a multistakeholder

model is being watched by the world — for that resolution to be put into

effect and also to address concerns about the role of governments in a

post‐NTIA environment. I would note that many short acronyms are

extremely valuable domain names. They can be used in a totally noninfringing

fashion and that it’s extremely critical to my members that

there being a meaningful appeals process which is both perceived and

actually provides a fair treatment of both parties.

 

Turning to the second issue, it’s too early to make a judgment but we

have noticed from various analyses and reports that there is

unfortunately some intentional cybersquatting going on at new TLDs.

ICAs Code of Conduct since its inception has strongly condemned that.

We’re monitoring this situation. We’re also monitoring the use of the

URS and so far it does seem to be being used as a narrow supplement to

the UDRP, and we certainly hope that ICANN staff is giving full attention

to this issue because it’s important to the perception of the program

and setting up the environment for the discussion of UDRP reform

which will start next year. Thank you very much.

 

BILL GRAHAM: Thank you. We’ll have a brief presentation on the NGO/INGO names at

the beginning of the next session.

This article by Philip Corwin from the Internet Commerce Association was sourced with permission from:
www.internetcommerce.org/On_record_at_ICANN_Singapore

Historic Singapore Meeting Marks the Beginning a New Phase for ICANN

ICANN Singapore 49 logo[news release] The President and CEO of ICANN says the organization’s 49th meeting that just concluded in Singapore marked the beginning of a new era for the organization and the future of Internet governance

ICANN Singapore 49 logo[news release] The President and CEO of ICANN says the organization’s 49th meeting that just concluded in Singapore marked the beginning of a new era for the organization and the future of Internet governance.

“ICANN49 will be remembered as a meeting that, in many ways, ended the early phase of ICANN and brought the organization into a new phase of maturity and responsibility,” said Fadi Chehadé. “It is exemplified by the recent decision of the United States Government to hand us the very ominous responsibility to facilitate and convene the world toward determining how ICANN will be providing assurances of accountability across the board.”

Chehadé made the comments during a video interview at the conclusion of the Singapore meeting, for which more 1,940 people registered from 150 countries.

“People from all over the world, from all segments of the Internet community are here, interacting not just with ICANN, but also interacting with each other,” said Dr. Stephen Crocker, ICANN‘s Board Chair.

The Singapore meeting was dominated by discussions stemming from the recent announcement by the U.S. Government that it wants to transfer stewardship of some vital Internet technical functions to provide for global accountability. It has reached out to ICANN, which will continue to manage those functions as it has for more than 15 years, to help determine the best process for transferring that stewardship.

“These are important times,” said Chehadé. “The U.S. Government has modulated its stewardship over time, it has dialed it down and this was just a natural moment for all this to happen, as the U.S. government has said, due to the community’s readiness to actually embrace these responsibilities and establish the appropriate accountability mechanisms to replace the U.S. role.”

###

To view the video interview with ICANN President Fadi Chehadé and Board Chair Dr. Stephen D. Crocker, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VY3DbUVzyHQ&feature=youtu.be

To learn more about the transfer of the Internet technical functions, go here: www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/iana/transition

Consultation Over IANA Stewardship To Be Accessible To All

The process of determining how best to transfer stewardship of key internet technical functions from the US Government to the international community began Monday during ICANN’s 49th public meeting in Singapore and be accessible to as many as possible. ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé said information will be available in all six United Nations languages plus Portuguese as well as for people with accessibility issues.

The process of determining how best to transfer stewardship of key internet technical functions from the US Government to the international community began Monday during ICANN’s 49th public meeting in Singapore and be accessible to as many as possible. ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehadé said information will be available in all six United Nations languages plus Portuguese as well as for people with accessibility issues.This was important, Chehadé said, so as many people as possible from as many parts of the world could participate in the consultation process.Discussions on the transfer of stewardship were driven by the recent announcement from the United States Government.”Everyone is welcome and ICANN is committed to equal participation by all parties interested to give their opinion,” Chehadé said. “We must all be equal partners.” The consultation will be “inclusive and allow full participation.”But the consultation process has not yet been clearly defined with concerns being raised about the clarity of how it will take place. Explaining this, Chehadé noted, a memo will be coming out on 7 April to explain more.”This is indeed momentous,” Chehadé told an international news conference. “The decision by the United States Government validates the idea that people around the world can come together and manage a global resource that is borderless.”But when asked what the timeline was, Chehadé was non-committal, saying that the security, stability and resiliency of the internet were more important. Further, Chehadé reiterated the NTIA’s recent comments that said no transfer would take place unless the IS Government were satisfied there would be no detrimental impacts on the internet. However Chehadé said that September 2015, the end date for the current IANA contract is what the organisation is working towards. But if it is not ready to happen, ICANN will ask for an extension of their contract.Explaining the next steps in the transition process, Chehadé went on to say, “We will now take the global process launched today by the ICANN community to the world. We will have meetings and consultations with the public, communities and with our fellow technical organisations, the IETF, the Regional Internet Registries, and here most importantly in the Asia Pacific region, APNIC, who will be partnering with us in getting the word out to involve everyone into that process.””I would like to congratulate ICANN for successfully setting up two regional hubs last year, one in Istanbul, Turkey, and the other here in Singapore,” said Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information. “It underscores ICANN’s commitment to serve the global community. and I believe that Asia-Pacific hub in Singapore will be a great vehicle for ICANN to reach out to the region.”Absolutely central to everything that we do and that matters to the world at large is the security, stability and resiliency of the system,” said Board Chair Dr. Stephen D. Crocker. “The discussion that is taking place now has to do with the stewardship, but with the proviso of continued stability and rock-solid operations of the core functions.”

175+ New gTLDs Delegated: ICANN

ICANN new generic Top Level Domains logoICANN Monday announced at the ICANN 49 meeting in Singapore that the number of new gTLDs that have been delegated now tops 175

ICANN new generic Top Level Domains logoICANN Monday announced at the ICANN 49 meeting in Singapore that the number of new gTLDs that have been delegated now tops 175.

Recently delegated gTLDs include .NYC, .Cologne, .trade, 机构 (Chinese for “agencies/institutions”), .webcam and more.  ICANN have produced a video to learn more about the “new dots.”

ICANN WEBINAR: Opportunities and Challenges to Keep up with the Internet of the Future – Everything You Need to Know About the ICANN Meeting in Singapore

ICANN Singapore 49 logoPlease join ICANN Vice Presidents Yu-Chuang Kuek and Christopher Mondini for a pre-ICANN 49 webinar for business participants [PDF, 189 KB]

ICANN Singapore 49 logoPlease join ICANN Vice Presidents Yu-Chuang Kuek and Christopher Mondini for a pre-ICANN 49 webinar for business participants [PDF, 189 KB].

Date: Monday, 10 March 2014

Time: 04:00-05:00 UTC (time converter: goo.gl/hqru17)

This webinar is meant as an introduction to ICANN and the Commercial Stakeholder Group, for people in the business world at large who are new to the ICANN Community and interested in the upcoming ICANN 49 public meeting in Singapore.

Presenters include:

  • Elisa Cooper – Senior Director of Product Marketing, MarkMonitor
  • Peter J. Dernbach – Partner, Winkler Partners
  • Maemura Akinori – General Manager, Internet Development Department, Japan Network Information Center

To RSVP and learn how to access the webinar, please follow this link: goo.gl/eTjiux

 

ICANN: Pre-Singapore Icann Policy Update Webinar Invitation

ICANN Singapore 49 logoWhether you plan to participate in the upcoming ICANN meeting in Singapore, remotely or in person, you are invited to a quick reminder of the background and current status of each major policy issue currently under discussion in ICANN

ICANN Singapore 49 logoWhether you plan to participate in the upcoming ICANN meeting in Singapore, remotely or in person, you are invited to a quick reminder of the background and current status of each major policy issue currently under discussion in ICANN.

The ICANN Policy Staff will provide a briefing on Thursday 13 March at 12:00 UTC and Thursday 13 March at 19:00 UTC, summarizing policy issues across the different ICANN Supporting Organizations and Advisory Committees. Among other topics, updates will be provided on:

  • Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy Part C
  • Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues
  • Framework of Interpretation working group
  • ASO activities in Singapore
  • ALAC policy advice statements since Buenos Aires
  • Finalization of GAC advice regarding new gTLDs
  • RSSAC restructure update
  • Recent SSAC advisories

The two sessions are duplicates, scheduled to accommodate different time zones. Each session, scheduled to run for 90 minutes, will be conducted in English only. The meeting will be run in Adobe Connect with a slide presentation along with a dial-in conference bridge for audio.

Participants will have the opportunity to ask questions at the end of each session. During the course of the webinar, questions may be submitted using the chat function of Adobe Connect. If you are not able to participate in either of the live sessions, the recording of the session will be made available shortly after the meeting. The policy staff is always available to answer any questions that you email to policy-staff@icann.org.

In order to participate and receive webinar details, please RSVP via email to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org). Please indicate which call you would like to join, Thursday at 12.00 UTC or Thursday at 19.00 UTC (to convert those times into your local time, see: www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedform.html). We will send you an e-mail reminder before the event with log-in and dial-in details. Please DO NOT RSVP to any other ICANN staff members e-mail address.

In order to participate and receive webinar details, please RSVP via email to the GNSO Secretariat (gnso.secretariat@gnso.icann.org) to receive the call details.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-24feb14-en.htm

ICANN 49 Registration Now Open

ICANN 49 Singapore temporary logoRegistration is now open for ICANN‘s 49th Public Meeting to be held in Singapore from 23-27 March 2014. The meeting site will be the Raffles City Convention Centre

ICANN 49 Singapore temporary logoRegistration is now open for ICANN‘s 49th Public Meeting to be held in Singapore from 23-27 March 2014. The meeting site will be the Raffles City Convention Centre.

To register, please visit https://registration.icann.org/.

To make a hotel reservation, visit https://resweb.passkey.com/go/venue.

ICANN holds three public meetings each calendar year in different regions of the globe. Usually comprised of more than 200 different sessions, these week-long meetings are the focal point for individuals and representatives of the different ICANN stakeholder groups to introduce and discuss issues related to ICANN policy.

Participants may attend in person or remotely. Meetings are open to everyone and registration is free.

For more information, visit singapore49.icann.org/en/about.

Premium .SG Domains Available

SGNIC logoDuring July SGNIC is releasing a number of premium domain names that eligible registrants can apply for at a base price ranging from S$642 to $21,400 (including GST)

SGNIC logoDuring July SGNIC is releasing a number of premium domain names that eligible registrants can apply for at a base price ranging from S$642 to $21,400 (including GST).

Domains with multiple applications will be allocated to the applicant with the highest bid.

Eligible registrants can apply through SGNIC Accredited Registrars before 31 July.

Details of the launch can be found in the following documents:

ICANN Expanding Its Presence In Asia, Turkey; CEO Pledges Singapore Move

After axing its Australian office under new CEO and chair Fadi Chehadé in the leadup to christmas, ICANN is set to open two new offices in Singapore and Istanbul to serve the Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets, according to a ZDNet report.

After axing its Australian office under new CEO and chair Fadi Chehadé in the leadup to christmas, ICANN is set to open two new offices in Singapore and Istanbul to serve the Asia-Pacific, and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) markets, according to a ZDNet report.”Asia has not been well-embraced by ICANN in the past. We owe Asia a big apology,” Chehadé told ZDNet prior to his visit to Singapore, part of a visit to to China, South Korea and Japan which aims to share how ICANN planned to grow its Asian presence.While there are still some formalities to be finalised, Chehadé told ZDNet Singapore was chosen as its top choice after a review of the country’s legal, business and cultural environments.Adding Singapore and Istanbul are part of ICANN’s “plans to reshape the organisation to be more global and inclusive. Ahead of ICANN’s 46th annual meeting to be held in Beijing, China, in April, Chehade hopes the details will be ironed out and the hubs up and running no later than July 2013.””This is not an office, this will be an actual hub and part of the core fabric of how we run ICANN,” Chehadé elaborated, adding the hubs would handle the same operations as that of its current Los Angeles, U.S., headquarters. “In Singapore we may be supporting Asia, but at different times of the day we may be supporting Europe.”Chehadé also told ZDNet there would be offices or satellite-engagement areas built around the hub–for the region, this would include Beijing and Tokyo. These offices would help facilitate engagement activities with stakeholders, development, training, and collecting feedback from the community.According to the report, Chehadé has pledged to move to Singapore once the hub is up and will ask some fellow senior executives to follow suit.The full ZDNet report is available at www.zdnet.com/sg/icann-ceo-we-owe-asia-a-big-apology-7000011762/

CcTLD Updates: .au, .cr, .id, .nl, .ru, .sg

Following the 2010 Names Policy Panel, auDA, the .au policy and regulatory body, has announced they will be implementing some of the Panel’s recommendations

Following the 2010 Names Policy Panel, auDA, the .au policy and regulatory body, has announced they will be implementing some of the Panel’s recommendations.

There are two main policy changes. One relates to domain monetisation in .com.au and .net.au, which sees the policy rules in effect “incorporated into the Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules for Open 2LDs at Schedules C (com.au) and E (net.au).”

The second relates to the little used .id.au 2LD, previously open only to individuals using their actual name or nickname. Now registrants will be able to register a domain name in the 2LD that relates to “a personal interest or hobby of the registrant.”

NIC Costa Rica announced that on 16 October 2012, the registries from Germany (.de), Brazil (.br) and Czech Republic (.cz) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NIC Costa Rica (.cr). In their announcement NIC Costa Rica notes “the agreements allows for mutually beneficial projects such as: promote the exchange of expertise, share best practices related to management, strategy and business models, work together on initiatives that can lead to more efficient processes among other projects.”

The registry for .id domain names (Indonesia) said there is a good chance the ccTLD will become the largest in south east Asia. According to a Tech In Asia report,  Indonesia’s 103,882 .id domains are still outnumbered by Singapore’s .sg and Malaysia’s .my domains, which have 144,591 and 206,663 registered domains respectively.” The ccTLD has seen a 62.5 percent increase in registration in 2012 with the registry, PANDI, forecasting a growth rate of up to 170 percent in 2013 which, if it happens, would mean there would be 300,000 more new .id domain names at the end of 2013.

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and SIDN have jointly written to ICANN on the subject of last resort redelegation. The move is linked to contingency arrangements that the ministry and SIDN made in the 2008 Covenant on Safeguarding the .nl Domain, with a view to ensuring the continuity and stability of the .nl domain under all circumstances. The letter informs ICANN about the Covenant and about the contingency arrangements made at the national level, in case a last resort redelegation should ever be necessary.

On 19 December, 2012, the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ hosted a press conference on the “Russian Domain Space 2012: the bottom line”. The press conference looked at the achievement os 2012 and emerging future trends.

Issues covered were the stability of Russia’s TLDs, .ru and .рф, the growth in registrations of both TLDs to go past a combined total of five million, the safety of the DNS and DNSSEC and Russian applications for new gTLDs.

And the Coordination Center for TLD RU also announced the Russian Domains stats portal now enables to compare the domain zones in a highly visual mode. Compare Data will prove useful for web analysts, media and other Internet community members as well as for the members of the domain industry.

The Singaporean registry, SGNIC, announced that from 2 January 2013, all new businesses and companies registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) via its BizFile system on or after 5 October 2012, will save at least S$30 for the first year of registration for their first .sg domain name (ending with “.com.sg” or “.sg”).

In another SGNIC announcement, from 1 to 31 January 2013, a selected group of Premium Domain Names (“PDNs”) will be released for application at a base price ranging from $642 to $21,400 (including GST). If the name has multiple applications, it will be allocated to the applicant with the highest bid.