News Review | Internet Governance: Macron's Call for a New Multilateralism

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-11-25 with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) IGF2019: What Is Internet Governance? Macron's Call for a New Multilateralism, 2) ICANN news: a. EPDP Initial Report, Webinar Nov 29, and EPDP Meeting Nov 27, b. Verisign & .COM, c. Public Comment, d. GNSO projects,  e. DCA Trust vs ICANN re: .AFRICA, 3) Names, Domains ... Akram Atallah, 4) ICYMI: EU Link Tax, and more, 5) Readership Stats.

1) IGF2019: What Is Internet Governance? Macron's Call for a New Multilateralism

"What rules apply to the internet? Who governs it? Internet governance is no longer just for technical experts, as it deals with political questions about the future of the internet – matters that affect everyone"--igf2019.berlin. 

Editor's note: The Internet Governance Forum was established in 2006 by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), to serve in an advisory capacity although there have been recent calls (see quote below) to expand its role. Having most recently been convened in Geneva (2017) and Paris (2018), the 14th Annual Meeting will be held on 25-29 November 2019 at the Estrel Congress Centre in Berlin, Germany.

"... The Internet, the depth of data and knowledge hosted by it, and the essential services it gives access to, are collective treasures that we need to manage together in order precisely to pass them on to future generations. And so it is here that we need to invent a new multilateralism both suited to the reality of cyber space and effective. That is why I am here today to propose a new collegial method. The Internet Governance Forum has now been around for 12 years, and the quality of the discussions here is renowned everywhere. But this Forum now needs to produce more than just debate and reflection. It needs to reform, to become a body producing tangible proposals. I will strongly support all initiatives in this direction. That is why France, with the assistance of the host country that preceded it – Switzerland – and ahead of the Forum that will meet in Berlin in 2019, would precisely like to promote this movement of reform. Starting this year and in the spirit of the approach tried in Geneva last year, we will gather the main conclusions of the discussions. But it will then be up to you, afterwards, to define the terms of production and recommendations for public policies – which is what the mandate of the Forum has invited you to do since its creation in 2005. I am also very in favour – this is a suggestion – of the Internet Governance Forum now being directly attached to the United Nations Secretary-General and for it to have its own Secretariat. Dear António Guterres, I will leave these various points to you, but I know how committed you are to the issue .... In Europe, we have already begun working hand in hand ... with the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is the best demonstration that, far from restricting innovation, regulation builds the user trust that businesses need so much. And this regulation came at a moment when, across the oceans, other scandals were emerging, demonstrating the sensitivity and the importance of this issue of access to data. In that respect, this regulation is on the way to becoming a global standard, but work is not finished in this area, even in Europe, and we need to go further. I have in mind, for example, the idea of establishing a common European framework for class actions as regards violations of personal data rights, enabling all European users to obtain compensation in accordance with a harmonized framework .... we need to invent – innovate – new forms of multilateral cooperation that involve not only states, but also all of the stakeholders you represent. This is what I want for us; this is what I want us to work towards. These issues are a huge responsibility for the Internet community, for you and for us. For this reason, I do not doubt that we will be able to follow in the footsteps of our founding fathers and rise to the challenge."--excerpts from IGF 2018 Speech by French President Emmanuel Macron (emphasis added).

2) ICANN News

29 Nov 2018 EPDP Initial Report Webinar slides:

a. UPDATE: EPDP Initial Report Webinar: Adobe Connect Replay, slides above, MP3, chat transcript (pdf).

EPDP Initial Report published (pdf) Wednesday, Nov 21. 2018. Public comment period ends December 21, 2018. ICANN blog post here.  ICANN webinar planned for Thursday,  Nov 29, 2018, at 14:00 UTC (9 am EST in US), sign up for the webinar: send an email to gnso-secs@icann.org. Editor's note: I'll have more to say in next week's News Review.

EPDP meeting Tuesday Nov 27 starting 14:00 UTC (9am EST). Observers use  Adobe Connect, or audio cast (browser or app). Tuesday's agenda (with docs and links), items (pdf) remaining to be discussed, and draft letter to the EDPB (pdf) (European Data Protection Board).

UPDATE: EPDP Meeting Nov 27 Adobe Connect replay, Chat transcript (pdf),  MP3 audio, action items. Next meeting Tuesday, Dec 4, 14:00 UTC 9am EST (US). Also below the CPH (Registrars and Registry Operators) feedback on the draft letter to the EDPB (referenced above):

See also GNSO Council EPDP page and updates. Links to all EPDP meetings' transcripts and recordings are on the GNSO calendar. Other EPDP links: wiki, mail list, action items, Temp Spec, EPDP Charter (pdf), Data Elements Workbooks (pdf).

b. Verisign & .COM: Letter (pdf) Nov 16, 2018, to ICANN from Zak Muscovitch, Internet Commerce Association, re: .COM. Editor's note: for background see last week's News Review 3) d.

c. ICANN Public Comment Periods closing in December (subject to change by ICANN org):

• Draft Final Report of The Second Security and Stability Advisory Committee Review (SSAC2) 3 Dec 2018 23:59 UTC

• Supplemental Initial Report on the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (Overarching Issues & Work Tracks 1-4) 12 Dec 2018 23:59 UTC

• Proposed Consensus Policy Concerning the Names of the Red Cross International Movement and Red Cross National Societies 14 Dec 2018 23:59 UTC

• Initial Report of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Team 21 Dec 2018 23:59 UTC

• Policy Status Report: Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy (IRTP) 24 Dec 2018 23:59 UTC

d. ICANN GNSO Active Projects List (pdf) updated Nov 19, 2018.

e. DCA Trust vs ICANN re: new gTLD .AFRICA

"NATURE OF PROCEEDINGS: Intervenor ZA Central Registery NPC's ex parte application to order plaintiff DCA to cooperate with the court-ordered in-person settlement meeting; The Court considers the moving documents and opposition and rules as follows:

"On November 19, 2018, defendant ZA Central Registry, NPC (“ZACR”) filed an Ex Parte Application to Order Plaintiff DCA to Cooperate with the Court-Ordered In-Person Settlement Meeting (“Ex Parte Application”). Plaintiff DotConnectAfrica Trust filed an opposition to the Ex Parte Application. The court finds that ZACR has not met its burden to show good cause to grant the relief requested in its Ex Parte Application. At the September 25, 2018 Trial Setting Conference, the court ordered the parties and their counsel to hold a settlement meeting in person to discuss and try to settle all disputed issues in the case no later than January 18, 2019. (September 25, 2018 minute order.) The court expects the parties’ counsel to meet and confer in good faith to schedule a mutually convenient date and place for that settlement meeting, so as to minimize the burden on all parties and their counsel. The court orders that, if the parties cannot agree on the place where the settlement meeting is going to be held, then it shall take place in Los Angeles, California. The court orders the ZACR to give notice of this order." (source)

Docket schedule:

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

Akram Atallah at ICANN53

Trust those who are greedy for money a thousand times more than those who are greedy for credentials.--Nassim Taleb

Akram Atallah starting a new adventure...

• Kirkland, Washington
• Current: Donuts Inc.
• Previous: ICANN, CoreObjects, Conexant
• Education: Harvard Business School 

Editor's note: does everyone lie about their qualifications today, or just former ICANN executives? Akram was never an undergraduate nor graduate student at Harvard Business School, much less graduate from there. He apparently did receive an "HBS Executive Education program certificate of completion" which is supposed to be listed on a LinkedIn profile or C.V. like this.

For more background read News Review | Fadi, Akram & Donuts, ICANN Conflicts of Interest.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

• EU Link Tax: Google News may shut down over EU plans to charge a "link tax" which Google is lobbying hard to stop. The purported reason for the tax is to compensate news publishers--TheGuardian.com.

• Surveillance Kills Freedom By Killing Experimentation--Bruce Schneier in wired.com.

• Internet Freedom in Asia--the region is a driving force behind annual declines in internet freedom at the global level--thediplomat.com.

• India Leads The World In The Number Of Internet Shutdowns--forbes.com. 

5) Domain Mondo's Readership Stats

Top 4 Countries for the week and month: 

1. United States
2. China
3. Germany
4. France 

Most read this past week:

1. News Review | EPDP Initial Report: ICANN GDPR Train Wreck #2

2. Tech Review: 1) Apple's Core Problems, 2) High Tech Wars of the Future

3. Peter Chernin On The Future of Digital Entertainment (video)

4. Dropbox CEO Drew Houston and the Evolution of a Tech Entrepreneur

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER

News Review | Fadi, Akram & Donuts, ICANN Conflicts of Interest

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-10-14 with analysis and opinion: Features • 1) a. ICANN News: Fadi Chehade, Akram Atallah & Donuts--Conflicts of Interest at ICANN--Who Me? b. GDPR & ICANN WHOIS Data EPDP, c. ICANN63 starts Saturday, 2) Q3 2018 Earnings Season: Verisign $VRSN & GoDaddy $GDDY, 3) ICYMI Internet Domain News, 4) Most Read.

EPDP Team F2F Saturday Meeting Oct 20, 2018 (1 of 4 at ICANN63) 8:30 CEST - 18:30 CEST

1) ICANN News

a. Fadi Chehade, Akram Atallah & Donuts--Conflicts of Interest at ICANN--Who Me?

Fadi Chehade (L) and Akram Atallah (R) at ICANN44 (source: icannphotos)

a. Donuts Press Release, October 9, 2018 – "Donuts Inc., the global leader in high-quality, new top-level Internet domains [new gTLDs], today announced that Akram J. Atallah [ICANN Global Domains Division President] will assume the role of chief executive officer [CEO], effective November 12, 2018 ..."

Clueless Goran Marby, ICANN President & CEO 9 Oct 2018:

"I want to extend my warmest wishes to Akram Atallah, President, Global Domains Division, who has decided to leave ICANN org for another opportunity after eight years, effective immediately ... I have asked Cyrus Namazi [crony of Akram Atallah], VP, DNS Industry Engagement, Global Domains Division, to serve as interim department head for the Global Domains Division, to help ensure a smooth transition ..."

Editor's note: as I previously noted--

source: abry.com/investment/donuts/ 10 Oct 2018

September 9, 2018--Editor's Analysis and Opinion:

"... The largest new gTLDs registry operator (more than 200 new gTLDs), Donuts Inc., announced Sep 5, 2018, that it had entered into an agreement "to be acquired by Abry Partners," a private equity firm in which former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade is now a partner. Terms and timing of the agreement were not disclosed, but Abry's investment is reportedly only for a majority stake in privately held Donuts, and does not provide any additional cash for the company, instead, it provides a way for original investors in Donuts to exit.

While still ICANN CEO, Chehade announced in May, 2015, he would leave ICANN in March 2016, long before his contract ended on June 30, 2017, and did not disclose his reasons for serving as ICANN CEO for only 3½ years, instead of his full term. In August, 2015, he announced that after leaving ICANN he would be a "Senior Advisor on Digital Strategy" at Boston-based Abry Partners, adding, "I expect to add other roles to my portfolio and will update you all as appropriate." Later in December 2015, Chehade announced from Wuzhen, China, that he would serve, after he left ICANN, as Co-Chair [other Co-Chair Jack Ma] of an advisory committee to the government of China's World Internet Conference (WIC), described by Professor Milton Mueller as "like almost everything in China, the WIC is unabashedly state-driven ... a vehicle for the Chinese [Communist] Party-state’s policy agenda ..." 

As ICANN CEO, Fadi Chehade's pet project was the NetMundial Initiative [Co-Chaired by Chehade and Jack Ma], which "crashed and burned" when ICANN and the World Economic Forum stopped funding it in 2016. In February, 2015, at a DNA meeting during ICANN52, Chehade stated, "I need to understand it [the domain name industry] more and spend more time in it, no question."

While at ICANN, Chehade was known for hiring and promoting his cronies to management positions within ICANN. Chehade promoted, in June, 2013, his childhood friend and former co-worker, Akram Atallah, to the then second-highest paid position at ICANN, President of the Global Domains Division (GDD), which is now [was] the highest paid position at ICANN at  $745,615.00 per the most recently available IRS 990 (pdf), p.56 of 81.

Perhaps it was for some or all of these reasons, that Abry Partners decided to venture into an industry where it has no experience--the domain name industry--despite what Abry says on its website, abry.com: "Abry invests in private equity, preferred stock and debt securities within our sectors of expertise ..."

October 2, 2016: "Fadi Chehadé quit as ICANN CEO 3½ years into a 5 year contract, but unfortunately, he left behind his legacy of cronyism at the organization [ICANN]:

"... Chehade and COO Akram Atallah – who are old friends – brought in more and more of their own people ... Not all of them were best suited or qualified, but real frustration developed when jobs were filled without the job even being posted internally. Nora Abusitta-Ouri, a former classmate of Chehade’s, became vice president of public responsibility programs. Former neighbor Susanna Bennett became Chief Operating Officer. Former co-worker Chris Gift became vice president of online community services. Former co-worker Allen Grogan became chief contracting counsel and then when that job finished, chief contract compliance officer. Neighbor of Atallah, Elizabeth Hoover became HR manager. Former co-worker Cyrus Namazi became vice president of industry engagement. Old friend Ashwin Rangan became chief innovation and information officer. The wife of a former co-worker, Maguy Serad, became vice president of contractual compliance. Another former neighbor, Christine Willett, became vice president of gTLD operations. In all, only one member of the C-suite hired since Chehade came on board has not been a friend or former co-worker ..."--IoNmag.asia Jun 25, 2015.

• Why Did ICANN Become a Member of Trademark Lobbyist Group INTA? Oct 15, 2016;

• ICANN Lobbying, Conflicts, Ethics, Transparency, Accountability, Disclosure Oct 23, 2015;

• News Review: ICANN Secretly Colludes With New gTLD Registry Operators July 17, 2016 ... and the list goes on ... 

• ICANN: Incompetent, Corrupt, Unfit.

Conflicts of interest at ICANN are nothing new--

“Given how quickly these two individuals sped through the revolving door [at ICANN], one can’t help but wonder if thinking about their next career move influenced their policy [implementation] decisions,’’ said Sheila Krumholz, executive director of the Washington-based Center for Responsive Politics.--Washington Post, August 20, 2011.

ICANN was admonished by NTIA in 2012, to little avail obviously--and ICANN's sordid history includes episodes involving an ICANN Board Chairman, and ICANN's Chief Strategy Officer "architect of the new gTLDs program." Now a former ICANN President & CEO and his crony President of the Global Domains Division add another chapter.

All of that "confidential" privileged and proprietary information ICANN required new gTLD applicants and their principals to submit to ICANN's Global Domains Division (GDD), is now (or soon will be) also known by their largest new gTLDs' competitor Donuts (240 new gTLDs) by virtue of the former GDD President being Donuts CEO--talk about an unfair competitive advantage!  ICANN runs such a slipshod operation that every new gTLD applicant should always assume all information they ever submit to ICANN, will also be known by at least one of their competitors in the future.

As I noted in my recent comment (pdf) to ICANN on the new gTLDs program, ICANN's founding Chair, Esther Dyson, warned the U.S. government and global internet community against both the IANA transition and the new gTLDs program, saying in 2011 about the proposed new gTLDs program:

We are not running out of domains. This is a “way for registries and registrars to make money.”--source.

Little did we know that among the people who would personally be enriching themselves the most from ICANN’s corrupt new gTLDs program and policy (developed solely for the benefit of “contracted parties,” i.e., registry operators and registrars, not registrants), would be the two most senior officers at ICANN, who guided and were in charge of the full implementation of the program!

In addition to the multiple Fadi-Akram-Donuts conflicts of interest at ICANN now, and in the future,  Donuts and ICANN are currently in litigation against each other, and Akram Atallah is a material witness in that case, as well as one other pending case, and possible future litigation. The very same day as Akram's appointment as Donuts CEO (and resignation as President of ICANN's Global Domains Division) was announced, the appeal of Ruby Glen (Donuts affiliate) vs ICANN was being argued before a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit:

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Oral Argument video: Ruby Glen, LLC v. ICANN

Oct 9, 2018, 16-56890 Ruby Glen, LLC v. ICANN oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Ruby Glen, LLC appeals the district court's Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of its diversity (jurisdiction) action against Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), seeking to temporarily enjoin ICANN from conducting the new gTLD .WEB auction [see District Court Order 2:16-cv-05505-PA-AS (pdf), and the Appellate Briefs].

Listen to the oral arguments of counsel for Ruby Glen (Donuts) and ICANN. At one point (starting at 21:19), counsel for ICANN concedes that Donuts (Ruby Glen) has a further right to file an IRP (Independent Review Process) whenever .WEB is no longer "on hold" status at ICANN, which sets up the interesting possibility that Donuts (Ruby Glen) could further attack the .WEB auction, as may also Afilias, either of which if successful in disqualifying Nu Dot Co (Verisign), could result in a new .WEB auction in which Donuts (Ruby Glen), now financed by Abry Partners' unknown investors a/k/a 'limited partners' (Chinese?), outbids Afilias for new gTLD .WEB.

UPDATE: The Ninth Circuit issued its "Not for Publication" decision (pdf) Oct 15, 2018, affirming the District Court's dismissal of Ruby Glen's (Donuts) First Amended Complaint, stating, inter alia: 

"... Ruby Glen is not without recourse—it can challenge ICANN’s actions through the Independent Review Process [IRP] .... Because Ruby Glen may pursue its claims through the Independent Review Process, the covenant not to sue is not “so one-sided as to shock the conscience.” See Walnut Producers of Cal. v. Diamond Foods, Inc., 187 Cal. App. 4th 634, 647–48 (2010) ..." (emphasis added)

Related: ICANN Board Liasons' Letter (pdf) re: ICANN New gTLDs' Filthy Lucre (new gTLD auction proceeds).

b.  GDPR & ICANN WHOIS Data EPDP 

ICANN EPDP Meetings this coming week:

• EPDP Meeting Tuesday Oct 16 wiki page (agenda and documents when available) 13:00 UTC, 9am EDT. UPDATE--Tuesday’s meeting will be focused on reviewing the agenda for the F2F meetings at ICANN63 and the High Interest Topic Sessions. (pdf). Purpose E (pdf), DrillingForData (pdf). 10/16 meeting Chat transcript, Adobe recording, MP3. High level notes and action items here. Meeting transcript (pdf).

• EPDP F2F Meeting Saturday, Oct 20 at ICANN 63, 8:30-18:30 local time Barcelona CEST (UTC+2). More info about other EPDP meetings at ICANN63 on next week's News Review.

Non-members of the EPDP working group can follow the Oct 16 meeting via Adobe Connect, or audio cast via browser or application. The EPDP meeting on Oct 20 can be followed remotely by clinking the link on the meeting's ICANN63 page. Links to all EPDP meetings' transcripts and recordings are on the GNSO calendar. Other EPDP links: wiki, mail list, action items, Temp Spec, EPDP Charter (pdf), Data Elements Workbooks (pdf), GNSO Council's updates, EPDP page.

Highlights of the EPDP Meetings Oct 9-11:
EPDP meeting to discuss retaining independent legal counsel Oct 10--chat transcript:
Stephanie Perrin (NCSG): we are not doing training, we are doing legal drafting. Let us not have any illusions about that. Who goes into a legal drafting exercise without an advising counsel? ...
Farzaneh Badii (NCSG): how much did they [ICANN] spend for the lawsuit against EPAG? Ayden Férdeline (NCSG): exactly Farzi ... perhaps we just weren't given an adequate budget ... Farzaneh Badii (NCSG): nope we were not. Stephanie Perrin (NCSG): So this is arguably the biggest policy argument in the history of ICANN, and we are pinching pennies? ... Berry Cobb (ICANN staff): From a budget perspective, we in effect have at most $168K without afffecting other line items such as funds set aside for F2F.

Thursday Oct 11 transcript (pdf), pp. 37-38:

Stephanie Perrin (NCSG): "... I’d just like to note that we had a discussion last night about why we need legal counsel independent, neutral legal counsel who is familiar with data protection law to be on this call to stop this going in circles. In my view this is a good example. We continue to conflate the legitimate interests of third parties, that would be BC interests, to combat trademark abuse, law enforcement interests, cybercrime interests to combat, you know, malware and other kinds of DNS abuse. We continue to conflate those interests with the purpose of the collection, use and disclosure of the information, which is a primary relationship between the individual or entity getting a domain name and the delegated party that provides the ability to the Internet with that domain name. Right? That’s the primary purpose of registering a domain name. All these other interests are interests, they are not purposes. ICANN was instructed to pay attention to all of these other interests but that does not make them purposes in a relationship. So really to suggest that we are not going to facilitate the legitimate interests is unfair. We are working on how to facilitate those legitimate interests. But that is an instrument. The purpose of ICANN is not to set up Whois; it is to permit the registration of domain names. And while the purpose of ICANN in the context of GDPR has been stated as being continuing the Whois to the maximum extent possible, that is not a shared belief; that is a position taken by ICANN Legal and the Board ...".

More info on the EPDP meetings Oct 9-11 in last week's News Review.

Note also: 8 Oct 2018 Letter from Theresa Swinehart to Manal Ismail (pdf) re: ICANN Unified Access Model Status Update to Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC).

c. ICANN63 Barcelona 20-25 October 2018

ICANN63 starts Saturday, October 20, 2018, with a full schedule (all times local Barcelona CEST UTC+2)--ICANN63 info here and here--more on ICANN63 in next week's News Review.

UPDATE:

17 Oct 2018 Letter (pdf) from NCSG (Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group), Dr. Farzaneh Badiei, and Dr. Stephanie Perrin to ICANN Board of Directors re: "ICANN org violates data protection laws and principles to advance the interests of certain parts of the community"  [Domain Name Registrants Data Protection (GDPR)].

Pre-ICANN63 Policy Report (pdf)

d. GNSO Policy Briefing ICANN63 Edition (pdf)

e. GNSO Council Chair Candidates' Statements: Keith Drazek (pdf); Rafik Dammak (pdf).

f. 10 Oct 2018 Letter from GAC Chair Manal Ismail (pdf) to ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby and ICANN CEO--Government Advisory Committee (GAC) Request for additional Secretariat Support: "it has become clear that in 2019 there will be a period of time during which the GAC will be without the resources to support a number of the functions currently being provided."

g. Emoji & Domains: 3 Oct 2018 Letter from ICANN CTO David Conrad to GNSO Council [published 8 Oct 2018 by ICANN org]:

"Thank you for your correspondence of 26 July 2018 concerning the GNSO's understanding of SSAC095 about emoji in domain names. We agree that no further action on this matter is needed at this time."

SSAC095 (pdf) recommendations re: emoji (highlighting added):

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

Q3 2018 Earnings Season:

Verisign $VRSN webcast Oct 25, 2018 at 4:30 PM EDT

$VRSN

GoDaddy $GDDY webcast Nov 6, 2018, 5:00 PM EST. Editor's note: Citi upgraded GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) from Neutral to Buy with a $86 price target, with Citi analyst Mark May citing $GDDY’s recent market correction, characterizing the company as a “nicely profitable, high FCF generative business with highly recurring subscription-based revenue, a stable competitive landscape, and a strong management team with a track record of execution.” Forecasts put revenue growth up 15% in Q3, 14% in Q4, and 11% in 2019.  Sources: Bloomberg First Word and SeekingAlpha.com Oct. 11, 2018.

$GDDY

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

Reasserting cyber sovereignty: how states are taking back control by Evgeny Morozov--TheGuardian.com--The digital debate is now about trade and security – and every major nation is insisting on its technological sovereignty.

Net Neutrality: ISPs Suing California Over Net Neutrality Law--broadcastingcable.com. See also fedsoc.org: A Reader on Net Neutrality and Restoring Internet Freedom.

China: China’s Internet guidelines a ‘serious violation of people’s freedoms’--adhrrf.org

Nepal: Freedom of Expression on the Internet in Nepal | Internet Society Nepal (pdf). See also  Nepal bans porn websites to curb sexual violence--over 24,000 pornography websites blocked but activists say the real problem is the lack of justice for women--aljazeera.com.

Laos: Overcoming a government crackdown on social media in Laos--aljazeera.com.

Africa: After Troubles In Myanmar, Facebook Charges Ahead In Africa--wired.com.

US: US State Department needs a makeover for the digital age--TheHill.com.

5) Most Read Posts this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review | GDPR, EPDP, and ICANN WHOIS Data Liability

2. Tech Review 1) Crypto & Crime, Innovation, Regulation, 2) $Esports (video)

3. Coinbase's Vision Beyond Bitcoin (video)

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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News Review | ICANN Board Executive Committee, Conflicts of Interest

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2017-11-26) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN Board Executive Committee, Conflicts of Interest, 2) ICANN news: a. ICANN61 Caravan, b. Public Comment Periods, c. 3 Peas in a Pod - ICANN is a "chummy private club", 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks:  a. DOJ Antitrust - ICANN & Verisign $VRSN Next?, b. ccTLD .au, c. GoDaddy $GDDY, d. SteelyDan.com, e. .COM Brand Credibility, f. Worth Reading, g. Good Advice, 4) ICYMI: Internet Freedom, 5) Most Read.

1) Executive Committee of the ICANN Board of Directors, Conflicts of Interest:

Background:

"A boardroom dispute over ethics has broken out at the organization that maintains the Internet address system after its most important supporter, the United States government, reproached the group for governance standards said to fall short of “requirements requested by the global community.” The Commerce Department said this month that while it was temporarily extending a contract with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers [ICANN] to manage the allocation of computers’ Internet protocol addresses ... it warned the organization that it needed to tighten its rules against conflicts of interest or risk losing a central role ... “ICANN must place commercial and financial interests in their appropriate context,” said Mr. [Rod] Beckstrom, who is scheduled to step down from his post [ICANN President & CEO] in July. “How can it do this if all top leadership is from the very domain-name industry it is supposed to coordinate independently? ..."--The New York Times March 18, 2012, under the title "Ethics Fight Over [new gTLDs] Domain Names Intensifies" (emphasis added).

"If one wanted to capture ICANN on a single issue, or a group of interrelated issues, the most practical tactic might be bribery" -- John C. Coffee Jr., Columbia University Professor of Law, IANA Transition advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce (NTIA). See News Review [24Jul]: IANA Transition & ICANN Corruption, Capture, and Control.

Executive Committee of the ICANN Board of Directors (source: ICANN.org)

ICANN Board Executive Committee "(A) To the extent permitted by law, the Committee shall exercise all the powers of the Board during the interval periods between regular Board meetings when the Board is unavailable or unable to meet. (B) The Committee shall not have the authority to adopt, amend or repeal any provision of the Bylaws or take any other action which has been reserved for action by the full Board pursuant to the Bylaws, a resolution of the Board or which the Committee is otherwise prohibited by law to take."--Executive Committee Charter | As approved by the Board of Directors on 2 November 2017.

Membership and Leadership of ICANN Board Committees | ICANN.org: "Executive Committee: Cherine Chalaby (Executive Committee Chair)[also ICANN Board Chair]; Becky Burr; Chris Disspain [ICANN Board Vice Chair]; Göran Marby [ICANN President & CEO]."

Becky Burr, a former U.S. government lawyer, is employed by privately-held Neustar, a domain name registry operator and backend registry services provider for hundreds of new gTLDs. Neustar also owns another backend registry services provider, which Burr failed to disclose in her SOI (see below), ARI Registry Services, which reportedly was involved in the secret conflict of interest which caused the resignation of Kurt Pritz, ICANN's Chief Strategy Officer "best known as the architect of ICANN's new gTLD program" in 2012. A complete list of the new gTLDs and new gTLD applicants for which Neustar or ARI Registry Services is the designated backend registry services provider is not readily available on the ICANN website, but ntldstats.com provides some information (via its listings) for delegated new gTLDs: Neustar (223 new gTLDs) and ARI Registry Services (58 new gTLDs). 

Burr's SOI (Statement of Interest)(June 2017):
"J. Beckwith Burr: Vice President and Deputy General Counsel for Neustar, Inc., which contract [sic] with ICANN to operates [sic] .Biz and .Neustar, and which provides back-end registry services for numerous other gTLDs under contract with ICANN."

[Editor's note: Burr not only failed to disclose Neustar's connection with ARI Registry Services, but also failed to mention pending new gTLD applicants for which either Neustar or ARI Registry Services may be providing services, now or in the future.]

Chris Disspain is the former CEO of .au Domain Administration Ltd. (auDA), which terminated his contract in 2016. A question relating to Disspain while at auDA may be involved in this Freedom of Information request, but that request, unfortunately, was refused by the Australian government. I say "unfortunately" because allegations relating to ccTLD .au, its administration and management, have been a continuing saga, and may have no basis in fact or nothing to do with Disspain as auDA CEO (see item at 3)b. below). On the other hand, it's possible some of allegations may be both relevant (to Disspain as auDA CEO) and true.

Disspain's SOI (June 2017):
"Chris Disspain: Until March 2016, was Director and CEO of .au Domain Administration Limited, the .au ccTLD manager; .au has sponsorship agreement with ICANN under which .au pays ICANN a yearly amount based on the amount of names under management. .au Domain Administration Limited licenses AusRegistry Pty Ltd to run the registry for the second level names in .au. Under the Registry License agreement, AusRegistry pays fees to .au Domain Administration Limited; companies affiliated with AusRegistry are affiliated with new gTLD applications and registry operators." (emphasis added)

[Editor's Note: AusRegistry is also owned by Neustar (acquired with ARI Registry Services and other subsidiaries of Bombora Technologies Pty Ltd. in July 2015), which Disspain failed to note in his SOI. Disspain's LinkedIn profile also states he is Chairman of the Board of WGP Global (Oct 2014 – Present) and CEO of DNS Capital Ltd (2017), neither of which are disclosed in his SOI.]

Marby's and Chalaby's SOIs state only: "Nothing identified."

[Editor's note: "Nothing identified" is a very inadequate SOI response by any Director of a nonprofit public benefit corporation such as ICANN, accountable to the global internet community, not just to ICANN's jurisdictional authorities, the U.S. government and State of California. "Nothing identified" is a purely subjective response, and gives stakeholders and other third parties, no information upon which they might alert the Director, ICANN organization, or ICANN community, of a possible conflict (of which the Director may not even be aware, e.g., in connection with a large enterprise). To avoid even the appearance of impropriety, at a minimum, all ICANN Director SOIs should state the present, recent, and prospective relationships or positions (if known), of each Director with any non-ICANN entity (see, for example, Steve Crocker's SOI), with more specificity as to any interest or connection to any entity that does, or may do, business with ICANN or any of its contracted parties, or any of their subcontractors or suppliers, including consulting or professional services. As a sidenote, I am alarmed by ICANN Director George Sadowsky's SOI disclosure: "also in discussions with registry operator(s) for potential independent contractor relationship, but nothing yet in place." Without knowing more, it's possible one or more registry operators may be trying to improperly influence an ICANN director by promising a future "independent contractor relationship"--see Professor Coffee's comment (first above) about capture of ICANN through bribery. It wasn't that long ago that the entire new gTLDs program was forever tainted, not only by an unethical ICANN Board of Directors (see first link above), or the resignation of ICANN CSO Kurt Pritz due to a secret conflict of interest as noted above, but also by the controversial resignation of ICANN Board Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush after a key vote on the new gTLDs program, followed by employment of that former Chairman by a new gTLDs applicant's parent company. The ICANN Board's Code of Conduct and Conflicts of Interest Policy (more info here) are in need of review and amendments.]

Interestingly, Burr and Disspain have not gone through the due diligence screening process (background checks) that the ICANN Nominating Committee (NomCom) utilizes for ICANN Board membership, but apparently both have recently volunteered to do so. 

[Editor's note: review of the above gives one an understanding of how ICANN--the Board, organization, and "ICANN community"--could have been so grossly negligent as to outsource "technical feasibility" testing of all new gTLDs [see RA §1.2 Technical Feasibility of String] to the new gTLDs' hucksters, i.e., the new gTLDs applicants, knowing (since at least 2003) that most new gTLDs would "fail to work as expected on the internet" which was again recently confirmed (pdf). Anyone ever seen a new gTLD applicant's report on the technical feasibility of any of their new gTLDs? Most, if not all, of the hucksters didn't bother, "it's all about the money." No wonder some have called ICANN's new gTLDs program a global "consumer fraud" upon both registrants and end users, about which ICANN has done nothing to warn or educate consumers or otherwise make consumers "aware" of all the defects of new gTLDs--no one at ICANN wants to talk about this kind of "awareness program." "It's all about the money."  See also on Domain Mondo:

• News Review: ICANN, New gTLD Domain Names, Consumer Fraud

• New gTLD Domain Names, Defects, ICANN Liability, FTC Complaints

• News Review | Report: ICANN's New gTLDs As Global DNS Malware

Hopefully the lax standards of ICANN and its Board of Directors, identified above and elsewhere, will be corrected before long.  Until then, members of the global internet community may rightfully ask, "When will ICANN be run like a nonprofit public benefit corporation accountable to the global internet community, instead of just a 'chummy private club' licensed by the State of California?" ]

"Those that cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it."--George Santayana

2) ICANN news

a. ICANN's 'Chummy Private Club' Caravan to ICANN61--CCWG-Accountability-WS2 Travel Funding for ICANN 61--If  ICANN didn't pay people to show up (including travel expenses, hotel, $60 per diem, $400 stipend), how many would bother to come? The people being paid to show up over and over again, are a small group of 'ICANN insiders' who (to paraphrase the words of former ICANN Board Chair Esther Dyson) pretend to represent the global internet community. The "gravy train" reports are published here. (Note: ICANN60 reports unavailable.)

b. Public Comment Periods Closing in December 2017 | ICANN.org: at 23:59 UTC on the respective dates indicated below (subject to change):

• Proposal for Cyrillic Script Root Zone‬ Label Generation Rules Dec 6 

• Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) Implementation Guidelines (2nd) Dec 10 

• Enhancing Accountability - Recommendations for Diversity Dec 15 

• Recommendations to Improve ICANN's Office of Ombudsman (IOO) Dec 22 

c) 3 Peas in a Pod

New #icann venue, same old friends 🤗 pic.twitter.com/ZRYHgjJ3Tp

— Frank Schilling (@Frank_Schilling) October 31, 2017

Uniregistry's 3000% Frank Schilling, with his pals ICANN GDD President Akram Atallah and ICANN GDD VP Cyrus Namazi at ICANN60. ICANN is a "chummy private club."
 
3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. Antitrust Enforcement: First AT&T, ICANN and Verisign $VRSN Next? 

"ICANN is just a scam and the entire industry is based on monopolistic fraud with DC payoffs."--Mike Mann, domain names registrant and domainer, March 30, 2017.

President Trump's new head of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, brings the Trump administration's first major antitrust enforcement action: AT&T, U.S. Prepare to Battle in Court Over Time Warner Merger | Bloomberg.com Nov 20, 2017: "The legal challenge ... [deals] a blow to a tie-up that appeared to be sailing toward approval as recently as a month ago. That was before Delrahim was appointed to his post. “This merger would greatly harm American consumers,” he [Delrahim] said Monday. “It would mean higher monthly television bills and fewer of the new, emerging innovative options that consumers are beginning to enjoy.”

[Editor's note: Maybe Delrahim can do something about monopolists ICANN and gTLD registry operators, which are shamelessly price-gouging consumers (registrants) in the United States and worldwide. For background, see this and this. See also: News Review | Global Public Interest: Why ICANN Will Always Be A #FAIL.]

b. ccTLD .au: Review of Australia’s .au domain management | Department of Communications and the Arts | gov.au: "seeking feedback on the management of the .au domain to ensure it remains fit for purpose in serving the needs of Australians online."  Consultation Period: Nov 16, 2017 16:00 AEDT to Dec 18, 2017 17:00 AEDT. Review of Australia’s .au domain management - Discussion paper for Review of Australia’s .au domain management published 16th Nov 2017: Download PDF (393.02 KB). More info at the first link above, and at Lexology.com.

c. GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY): Goldman Sachs has added GoDaddy to its hedge fund VIP list. Shares of the top five companies on that list--Facebook, Amazon, Alibaba, Google, and Microsoft--have outperformed the S&P 500 by 770 basis points this year--SeekingAlpha.com.

d. SteelyDan.com: Donald Fagen has sued Walter Becker's estate, alleging the Becker estate is improperly asserting control over the Steely Dan name, specifically, the band's website [domain: steelydan.com], which the estate currently operates, and that Becker's estate has not "relinquished or shared control of that domain name with Fagen" and "absent an injunction… will continue to misappropriate Steely Dan's website and otherwise inappropriately use the Steely Dan name.""--RollingStone.com.

e. How to make your brand look credible for overseas customers | startups.co.uk: 1. Get a .COM domain name. [Editor's note: the default TLD for business in the U.S., and globally, is .COM (and will continue to be for the foreseeable future despite all the misinformation coming from inept ICANN and its new gTLDs' "partners.") More info here.]

f. Worth Reading: The Big Issues in the Domain Industry - Part 2 | whizzbangsblog.com.

g. Good Advice: Only buy what (domains) you need | OnlineDomain.com.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

• Only 23% of the World Has a Free and Open Internet | Nextgov.com. [Editor's Note: soon to be far less than 23%--see next item below.]

• U.S.: Ajit Pai and the FCC want it to be legal for Comcast to block BitTorrent | TheVerge.com: "Pai says his rules will “significantly reduce the likelihood” ISPs like Comcast will engage in behaviors that harm consumers. Not prevent, mind you, but reduce the chances. Such trust in market forces to work in a broadband market where 51 percent of Americans only have one choice of broadband provider! And if there is harmful behavior? Well, it won’t be so bad because at least we didn’t impose regulatory costs on Comcast and Verizon." [Editor's note: sounds like FCC Chair Ajit Pai is reading from the same playbook as inept ICANN. The sh*t hits the fan on December 14--Orwellian agenda item: "Restoring Internet Freedom."]

• Pakistan: Study: Internet Freedom Worsens in Pakistan | VOAnews.com: "Pakistan among the top four countries, including Brazil, Mexico and Syria, where people have been murdered in each of the last three years for writing about sensitive subjects online."

• China: Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) Rejects Censorship Critics, Says Internet Must Be 'Orderly'--VOAnews.com.

• U.S.: Defense Department Spied On Social Media, Left All Its Collected Data Exposed To Anyone | Techdirt.com: "I know that the US government still has this "collect it all" mentality, but as we've discussed over and over again, adding more hay to the haystack doesn't make it easier to find the needles."

5) The Four Most Read Posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review | Incompetent Lawyers, Domain Names & ICANN's UDRP

2. How Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon & Facebook Make Their $Billions

3. Quad9: A Safer Internet Experience, A Free Global DNS Service

4. Retail Trends: Death of the Department Store, Is It Too Late? (video)

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

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