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

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 .AMAZON,  c..WEB IRP, d. New gTLDs Next Round; 3) 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' 

"... 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

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:

• Purpose O and ICANN org questions (Dec 22, 2018).

• Technical Study Group on Access to Non-Public Registration Data Charter (pdf) and blog post.

b. New gTLD .AMAZON: 

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: 

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."

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3) Names, Domains & Trademarks:  Verisign $VRSN

.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 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 

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: 

1. News Review | GDPR & WHOIS EPDP Initial Report Comments Due Dec 21

2. Tech Review | Semiconductor Chip Wars: China vs U.S. (video)

3. Technology & Innovation: What's Next in Consumer Startups?

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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DISCLAIMER

New gTLDs Registry Minds+Machines Reports Loss, Hopes for Profit 2016

Above: 1-year stock chart on MMX, note Sep 26, 2014 price of 12.00 pence=US$0.19 (source: google.com)

In a release today, new gTLDs registry operator Minds + Machines Group Limited (domain name: mindsandmachines.com), which trades on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol MMX  (LON: MMX), reported a H1 2015 loss of (US$3,695,000) for the 6 month period ending June 30, 2015, compared with a profit of $USD4.9 million for the same period in 2014, primarily due to lower profit from participating in new gTLD (generic top-level domain) auctions. Shares closed today at 8.62 pence which equals USD $0.13. Stockholders have lost money as MMX shares declined over the past year--e.g., see in chart above 12.00 pence (US$0.19) high in Sept 2014.

Among other highlights reported:

• Headcount has been reduced from 58 to 44 even as the sales and marketing teams grew from 2 to 12;
• Board committed to achieving its stated goal of crossing over into profitability in 2016;
• 217,200 domains were under management, representing 3.43% of new gTLD market;
• Cash reserves at period end up 2% at $46.9 million from 31 December 2014 reflecting private auctions taking place in period;
• Company authorised to purchase up to £15 million of shares in the open market during the next 12 months;
• A copy of the unaudited interim accounts is available at www.mindsandmachines.com. 

According to the company, Minds + Machines operates three distinct business lines: the registry, through which it is a major owner of generic top-level domains ("gTLDs"); the registry service provider, whose technology powers the top-level domains of MMX and its clients; the registrar, which provides an additional distribution channel through which the Company can target specific vertical markets.


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DISCLAIMER

ICANN New gTLD Auctions? Watch the FCC Spectrum Auction (video)

When it came to ICANN's new gTLDs' auctions, the highest bidders (deepest pockets) always had the power--so much for the public interest. Or was ICANN just interested in raising money to expand offices, and pay lavish amounts to ICANN staff, officers, directors, and favored contractors? Multi-stakeholderism sure pays! No wonder, the lobbyists are the stakeholders who make the rules! In ICANN, all stakeholders are equal, but some are more equal than others!

Government, or at least good government, is a different model--Hey ICANN fragilista watch how the FCC ends up conducting the upcoming spectrum auction--


The Battle for Wireless Freedom: The Fight to #DefeatDuopoly - Don’t let the evil duopoly take control of your mobile internet! It’s up to YOU to tell the @FCC reserve 40 MHz of the valuable resource called low-band spectrum and save wireless choice! Tweet at the @FCC and Take Action at savewirelesschoice.com to tell them you want to keep competition alive! (Published on Jun 22, 2015)

domain name: savewirelesschoice.com

More information: How the future of US wireless service hangs on a government auction - CNET: "... Smaller operators such as T-Mobile say they can't go head-to-head with deep-pocketed competitors AT&T and Verizon, which have enough money to easily outspend anyone. The FCC recognizes this challenge, and it agreed last year to restrict the participation of AT&T and Verizon in the auction by setting aside some spectrum for T-Mobile and other smaller carriers to bid on. It's not enough. T-Mobile and the rest of its coalition are asking the agency to increase the size of this reserve. Without this increase, T-Mobile argues, AT&T and Verizon will dominate the auction and shut out competitors. T-Mobile executives say getting the FCC to increase the reserve of spectrum in the auction is not just important for T-Mobile and its customers, but for all wireless customers and industry competition. "Every consumer in America loses," CEO John Legere wrote in a recent blog post. "You'll face higher bills, stifled innovation, crappy customer service -- all the usual AT&T and Verizon treatment! It would be a nightmare for American wireless consumers!"..."

How many of ICANN's new gTLDs does Donuts have? So much for promoting competition! 

Ask any domain name registrant--are your annual renewal registration fees higher for new gTLDs or .COM?

We are not running out of domains. This [new gTLDs] is a way for registries and registrars to make money. --Esther Dyson

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