2018-12-23

News Review | Greed is Good? ICANN Auctions & The Big 'Money Grab'

graphic "News Review" ©2016 DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-12-23 with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) Greed is Good? ICANN Auctions & The Big 'Money Grab,' 2) Other ICANN news: a. EPDP Meetings, b. New gTLD .AMAZONc..WEB IRP, d. New gTLDs Next Round3) Names, Domains & Trademarks:  VeriSign $VRSN in NASDAQ 100, 4) ICYMI, 5) Most Read.

1) Greed is Good? ICANN New gTLD Auctions & The Big 'Money Grab' 
ICANN New gTLDs: "Greed Is Good" (graphic)
"... 2. Auctions (both "private" and "ICANN last resort") have corrupted ICANN and the processes for developing new gTLDs--"it's all about the money"--and increase costs that new gTLD registry operators can only recoup by charging registrants far more money for new gTLD domain name registrations and renewals than necessary had ICANN followed RFC1591 and the advice of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division cited above. In effect, consumers (domain name registrants) are bearing, directly and indirectly, the entire costs of ICANN's ill-conceived, horribly implemented, and corrupt program for new gTLDs .... 5. In lieu of the contracted parties' proposed "money grab" above and all other third parties' already proposed, or yet to come, "money grabs," ICANN should instead end this entire repulsive and tawdry "money grab" stampede, and announce it will set aside ALL of the auction proceeds for the benefit of domain name registrants who have, indirectly, provided these funds ..." (emphasis added)
Editor's note: excerpts above from my comment to ICANN's Initial Report of the New gTLD Auction Proceeds Cross-Community Working Group, my comment is embed in full below:

See all the comments to ICANN's Big "Money Grab" here.

2) ICANN News
graphic "ICANN | Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers"
ICANN Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data (graphic)
a. GDPR & ICANN WHOIS: Next meeting of the EPDP working group is Jan 3, 2019. For information on last week's meetings (info, transcripts, recordings, etc.) see last week's News Review. All comments to the EPDP Initial Report (pdf) can be reviewed here.

Editor's note: for more on the EPDP Initial Report comment process (including an "easy to read" copy of the comment I submitted), go to last week's News Review.

Related:

b. New gTLD .AMAZON: 
new gTLD .AMAZON (graphic)
18 Dec 2018 Letter (pdf) (content below) from ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby to HE Jacqueline Mendoza:
Background: 7 Dec 2018 Letter from HE Jacqualine Mendoza to ICANN Board (pdf);

See also: (1) .AMAZON new gTLD application (pdf): "Geographic Names 21(a). Is the application for a geographic name? No." (2) 18 Dec 2018 Letter from ICANN CEO Göran Marby to GAC Chair Manal Ismail (pdf).

c. New gTLD .WEB IRP: 
new gTLD .WEB (graphic)
ICANN’s Opposition To  Afilias Domains No. 3 Ltd.’S Request For Emergency Panelist And Interim Measures Of Protection (pdf) embed below:

Remaining items on the .WEB IRP schedule:
7 January 2019 Afilias Reply on Its Request for Interim Measures of Protection
9 January 2019 I CANN Sur-Reply (if any)
14 January 2019 Video Hearing on Afilias Interim Request
28 January 2019 Emergency Panelist Decision on Interim Request
More info here.
d. New gTLDs Next Round: 18 Dec 2018 Letter from ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby to Cheryl Langdon-Orr and Jeff Neuman (pdf) re: new gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDPWG Supplemental Initial Report:
"We believe that any new recommendations should guard against bad faith applications to the extent possible. These concerns mostly center on the issues of auctions of last resort and on private auctions. We take special note of the possible practice of participating in private auctions for the sole purpose of being paid to drop out. We also take note of the abuse that becomes possible in alterations to the change request mechanisms. The Board has concerns about whether, and in what ways, the availability of private auctions incentivizes applications for purposes other than actually using the string; and we are interested in how these incentives for abuse might be minimized."
.
3) Names, Domains & Trademarks:  Verisign $VRSN
graphic "Names, Domains & Trademarks" ©2017 DomainMondo.com
VERISIGN (graphic)
.COM Registry Operator VeriSign (NASDAQ:VRSN) is one of the six companies joining the NASDAQ-100 index coincident with its annual re-ranking, effective prior to market open on December 24, 2018. Source: Bloomberg First Word.
NASDAQ-100 (graphic)
NASDAQ-100 Index
UPDATE: Dec 27, 2018: $VRSN UP 4% Since Added to the NASDAQ-100
Editor's note: The NASDAQ-100 Index is composed of the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market®, and was launched in January 1985.  

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 
graphic "ICYMI Internet Domain News" ©2017 DomainMondo.com
The EFF Gift Guide: What’s Creeping Us Out | EFF.org
  • Facebook’s Portal
  • Smart Home Hubs From Google, Amazon and Others
  • Verizon Phones with AppFlash Spyware
  • The Elf on the Shelf & the Mensch on a Bench
Editor's note: consider making a donation to EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) before 2018 ends.

5) Most Read Posts this past week on DomainMondo.com: 
graphic "Domain Mondo" ©2017 DomainMondo.com



-- John Poole, Editor  Domain Mondo 

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