News Review | ICANN61 & Puerto Crypto, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-02-11) with analysis and opinion: Features • 1) ICANN61 & Puerto Crypto, San Juan, Puerto Rico, 2) ICANN news: new gTLD .WEB CEP Closed and more, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Q4 2017 Verisign $VRSN results, Tucows $TCX reports Feb 14, 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News, 5) Most Read Posts.

UPDATE Puerto Crypto now named Blockchain Unbound.

1) San Juan, Puerto Rico: ICANN61 Mar 10-15 & Puerto Crypto Mar 14-16

Going to ICANN61 | San Juan 10-15 March 2018? You could also go to Puerto Crypto, 14-16 March 2018, being held at San Juan's finest hotel, the Condado Vanderbilt.

See Making a Crypto Utopia in Puerto Rico | NYTimes.com Feb 2, 2018: "... Dozens of entrepreneurs, made newly wealthy by blockchain and cryptocurrencies, are heading en masse to Puerto Rico this winter. They are selling their homes and cars in California and establishing residency on the Caribbean island in hopes of avoiding what they see as onerous state and federal taxes on their growing fortunes, some of which now reach into the billions of dollars ... After Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico’s infrastructure in September and the price of cryptocurrencies began to soar, they saw an opportunity and felt a sense of urgency ... “What’s happened here is a perfect storm,” said Halsey Minor, the founder of the news site CNET, who is moving his new blockchain company — called Videocoin [videocoin.io] — from the Cayman Islands to Puerto Rico this winter ..." [link added]

More info at PuertoCrypto.com. Note that Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello is scheduled to speak at Puerto Crypto on March 15, 4:00 pm, on "How Puerto Rico Will Embrace Blockchain & Crypto." 

"Puerto Crypto is a conference focused on connecting Puerto Rico with visionary entrepreneurs and investors in the blockchain, crypto currency and ICO vertical. Puerto Crypto is a non-profit event and 100% of profits will be donated to Puerto Rico's hurricane recovery efforts."--PuertoCrypto.com website.

Editor's note: sounds like Puerto Rico is aiming to become a "Silicon Valley" for cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. I wish them much success, but first a reality check: among Puerto Rico's foremost priorities are rebuilding its electric power capacity, hopefully to 100% clean energy, and "hardening the infrastructure" to be hurricane-resistant, which may require further federal assistance as well as liquidation of the bankrupt power authority (it was already bankrupt before Hurricane Maria), and replaced with a Puerto Rico Authority (PRA) modeled after the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).  As a U.S. territory, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens and free to move to any of the 50 U.S. States, and many have done so, but to encourage economic development on the island, Section 933 of the U.S. Tax Code provides a special exemption from federal income tax for qualified Puerto Rico sourced income. Together with tax breaks granted by the government of Puerto Rico, the island has a reputation as a unique (no need to renounce U.S. citizenship) tax haven for high net worth U.S. citizens who relocate there. At some point, the need for government revenue will have to be addressed, and the crypto buccaneers better have some answers.

See also: Is Puerto Rico а Crypto Tax Paradise? - Expert Take | News | Cointelegraph.com

Update: Puerto Rico Utility Files Urgent Request for $300 Million Loan | WSJ.com Feb 16, 2018: "Power provider says ‘operations are in jeopardy’ and warns of brownouts."

The Condado Vanderbilt is just a short taxi or Uber ride from the Convention Center where ICANN61 is being held:

 ICANN61 (Convention Center) & Puerto Crypto (Condado Vanderbilt), San Juan, PR

2) ICANN news

a. New gTLD .WEB--CEP and IRP Status Update – 31 January 2018 (pdf) excerpt:

Editor's note: Donuts and its affiliate Ruby Glen now have until Feb 14 to file an IRP--Independent Review Process proceeding.

b. New gTLD .GAY: Second Expert Opinion of Professor William N. Eskridge, Jr., in Response to FTI Consulting, Inc.’s Independent Review of the Community Priority Evaluation Process (pdf).

c. New gTLD strings .CORP, .HOME, and .MAIL identified as high-risk, delegation deferred indefinitely, applicants to receive full refund of their application fees ($185,000 each)--Approved Board Resolutions | Regular Meeting of the ICANN Board | ICANN.org. [Editor's note: too bad no one paid any attention to SAC045 (pdf) issued by the Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) on November 15, 2010.]

d. SSAC Advice Document SAC074 Scorecard--ICANN.org: 04 Feb 2018 resolutions-implementation-recs-ssac-advice-scorecard-04feb18-en.pdf [49 KB]. [Editor's Note: Role of the Security and Stability Advisory Committee: 12.2 (b) of the ICANN Bylaws found here.]

e. GAC Advice Scorecard - Abu Dhabi Communiqué: Actions and Updates 04 Feb 2018:
resolutions-abudhabi60-gac-advice-scorecard-04feb18-en.pdf [98.4 KB]

f. GDPR Models/Analyses | Comments | European Commission, European Union | ICANN-Proposed Compliance Models 07 Feb 2018 gdpr-comments-european-commission-union-icann-proposed-compliance-models-07feb18-en.pdf (pdf 59.9 KB)

g. ICANN.org Pre-ICANN61 Policy Open House Thursday, 1 March 2018, 10:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC: The webinar will run in English and will be conducted in Adobe Connect along with a dial-in conference bridge for audio. Recordings of the sessions will be made available here. Register via this form by 26 February 2018. More info here.

h. New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP - newsletter (pdf). See also:

• PDP Working Group Workspace Wiki 

• PDP Working Group Charter

• PDP Working Group Active Project Page

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. Verisign Q4 2017 results: revenue of $296 million for the fourth quarter of 2017, up 3.2 percent from the same quarter in 2016. Verisign reported net income of $103 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $0.83 for Q4, .NET registrations continued declining in Q4, but were more than offset by gains made in .COM registrations--more info here.

b. Tucows Inc. (NASDAQ: TCX) (Hover, OpenSRS, eNom) Q4 2017 earnings webcast: Feb 14, 2018, 8:00 am ET.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

• How New EU Data Privacy Rules May Apply to Your U.S. Business | Taylor English Duma LLP - JDSupra.com: "... The GDPR provides for penalties up to €20 million or 4 percent of global revenue (whichever is higher) for non-compliant handling of EU personal data ..." See also EU data protection law may end up protecting scammers, experts warn | TheGuardian.com.

• Internet Censorship Skyrockets in Russia in 2017, Study Says | TheMoscowTimes.com: "Under the "Yarovaya Law," Russian telecom and internet providers will be forced to store all user communication data for 3 years."  See also Report Shows 'Creeping Criminalization' of Russia's Internet | VOAnews.com.

• Cuba protests US internet task force on increasing internet access on the island | abcnews.go.com: The Cuban Foreign Ministry "rejected the goal of manipulating the internet to bring about illegal programs with subversive political ends."

• Who Should Police the Internet? Neo-Nazi Ban Was ‘Really, Really Dangerous,’ Says Cloudflare CEO | Newsweek.com

• Internet giants back Senate effort to reinstate net neutrality rules | TheHill.com

• How to Travel to (and Around) China, From VPNs to T.P. | NYTimes.com

• US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson: TheHill.com reports on the proposed plan to combine the State Department's Office of the Cybersecurity Coordinator and Bureau of Economic Affairs’ Office of International Communications and Information Policy, into a new Bureau for Cyberspace and the Digital Economy.

• Global Internet And Jurisdiction Conference 2018 | conference.internetjurisdiction.net: Feb 26-28, 2018, Ottawa, Canada.

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

1. News Review | GDPR & ICANN WHOIS: "We're all Europeans now"

2. Tech Review | Robot Revolution: A New Age of Manufacturing (video)

3. Beware Wall Street's Charging Bull: "We Are In A Massive Bull Market"

4. Tesla, Inc. $TSLA Q4 2017 Results, LIVE Webcast, Feb 7, 5:30pm ET 

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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News Review: EFF Warns Registrants To Avoid New gTLD Domain Names

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2017-07-30) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) EFF Warns Registrants To Avoid New gTLD Domain Names,  2) ICANN news: ICANN Chairman Tells GNSO new gTLDs' hucksters to stick it, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Cannabis Domainer has 7500 domain names, $20 million in losses, $199 in the bank, 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News, 5) Investing: Q2 2017 Results, R.I.P. Rightside $NAME: it wasn't supposed to end this way, 6) Most Read Posts This Past Week.

1)  EFF is now encouraging registrants to avoid domain names that are subject to the TMCH (i.e., all the new gTLDs delegated by ICANN since 2012):

Not all top-level domains are created equal. We've combed through hundreds of them to offer our advice. https://t.co/A02F9O1IEu

— EFF (@EFF) July 28, 2017

Read  How Threats Against Domain Names Are Used to Censor Content | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org July 27, 2017: "Today EFF and Public Knowledge are releasing a whitepaper titled Which Internet registries offer the best protection for domain owners? ..." (embedded below):

Excerpt from EFF's linked article above, also announced on an ICANN public mail list (emphasis added):

".... This probably means you'll want to think twice about registering in any of the newer global [generic] top-level domains ([new] gTLDs), which provide brand owners access to a privately-run Trademark Clearinghouse that gives them veto powers that go far beyond those they would receive under the trademark law of the United States or those of most other countries.

"For example, under U.S. trademark law, if a trademark applicant sought to register an ordinary word such as smart, forex, hotel, one, love, cloud, nyc, london, abc, or luxury, they would have to specify the category of goods or services they provide, and protection for the mark might only be extended to its use in a logo, rather than as a plain word. Yet each of the plain words above has been registered in the Trademark Clearinghouse, to prevent them being used in any of the new gTLDs without triggering a warning to prospective registrants about possible infringement.

"This applies regardless of whether the planned usage covers the same category of goods or services as the original trademark—indeed there isn't even any way for the registrant to find out what that category was, or even which country accepted the mark for registration, because the contents of the Trademark Clearinghouse database are secret. And since 94% of prospective registrants abandon their attempted registration of a domain after receiving a trademark warning, this has a drastic chilling effect on speech.

"EFF is currently participating in an ICANN working group fighting to ensure that brand owners' veto rights aren't extended even further (for example to catch domains that include typos of brand names), and to prevent these outrageous rules being applied to older gTLDs such as .com, .net, and .org. But for now, you can minimize your exposure to trademark bullying by avoiding registering your website in one of the new domains that is subject to these unfair policies. Our whitepaper explains what to look for."-- Jeremy Malcolm, Senior Global Policy Analyst, Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Also caveat emptor: The URS Also Applies to These Top-Level Domains (in addition to the new gTLDs).  [Editor's note: the Bottom Line? Stick with .COM domain names and "safe" ccTLDs, and leave the "garbage extensions" a/k/a new gTLDs for cybercriminals, spammers, cybersquatters, and those mostly ignorant speculators in China and elsewhere who are such easy prey for the con artists and hucksters of the new gTLDs domain name industry and its "partner" ICANN.]

2) ICANN news
•  ICANN Chairman a/k/a "old man Crocker" told (in a nice way) the new gTLDs' hucksters (members of the GNSO Registries Stakeholder Group a/k/a RySG), where to stick it--correspondence/crocker-to-diaz-26jul17-en.pdf:

•  Geographic Names: Final Paper – June 2017 | Country Code Names Supporting Organisation (pdf) Cross-Community Working Group - Framework for use of Country and Territory Names as TLDs: A substantial majority of the members recommend that the chartering organisations:

• Close this CWG in accordance with and as foreseen in the charter.
• Recommend that the ICANN community consolidate all policy efforts relating to geographic names (as that term has traditionally very broadly been defined in the ICANN environment to this point) to enable in-depth analyses and discussions on all aspects related to all geographic-related names. This is the only way, in our view, to determine whether a harmonized framework is truly achievable.
• Recommend that future policy development work must facilitate an all-inclusive dialogue to ensure that all members of the community have the opportunity to participate. Again, we believe that this is the only way to determine whether a harmonized framework is truly achievable.

•  ICANN’s new Chief Data Protection Officer (CDPO) | ICANN.org: Daniel Halloran who "will take on this role, in addition to his current responsibilities as [ICANN] Deputy General Counsel."
•  Public Comment: GNSO Operating Procedures and ICANN Bylaws | ICANN.org: Close Date 10 Aug 2017 23:59 UTC.
•   Contracting Stats | ICANN New gTLDs | newgtlds.icann.org
•  ICANN Active Cooperative Engagement Process (CEP) Proceedings Status Update 18 July 2017 (pdf):

The Cooperative Engagement Process (CEP) is a process voluntarily invoked by a complainant prior to the filing of an Independent Review Process (IRP). More info here (pdf).

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

•  Northsight Capital Makes Cannabis Stocks Look Bad | SeekingAlpha.com: "The company has recorded $20 million in losses and has $199 in the bank ... It's a media company that owns 7,500 domain names centered on the cannabis industry. The main platform is called The Marijuana Marketing Network and its biggest concept is WeedDepot.com."

•  Cannabis Industry FAQ | Pepper Hamilton LLP | JDSupra.com: "Can marijuana businesses receive federal trademark registrations? No. Because marijuana is still illegal under the Controlled Substances Act, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will deny applications for trademarks for marijuana retailers or marijuana products because they are not used in "lawful commerce.""

•  What's the Best Domain Name Registrar? | lifehacker.com: Namecheap or _____?

•  Do You Even Trademark, Bro? | Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. | JDSupra.com: "... According to the Complaint ... Defendants have . . . recently resorted to ... using a trademark eatketobro and domain name, EATKETOBRO.COM, that are confusingly similar to Plaintiffs’ EAT CLEAN BRO Trademarks and Plaintiffs’ EATCLEANBRO.COM domain name.” Giovinazzo alleges both trademark infringement and dilution. What do you think? Is Eat Keto Bro confusingly similar to Eat Clean Bro?  What about these other bro-related food services? DoYouEvenEatBro.com ... CookingForBros.com ... MuscleBrothersPerformance.com ... SuperMealBros.com ..."

•  Amazon Tips Its Hand With New Trademark Application | Weintraub Tobin | JDSupra.com: The trademark that Amazon.com, Inc., seeks to register is WE DO THE PREP.  YOU BE THE CHEF. Does this concept sound familiar? Perhaps even a bit like Blue Apron? If so, that’s probably because it is exactly like Blue Apron [domain: BlueApron.com]."

•  New gTLD domain name registrations continue to decline:

Source: ntldstats.com/tld

And remember, reportedly millions of those new gTLD domain names shown as "registered" above, are actually held by ICANN's new gTLD registry operators and their affiliates. How many millions? ICANN has no interest in finding out and doesn't want you to know. ICANN calls that operating in the "global public interest" with transparency and accountability, in order to foster a free, fair, open and competitive domain names market. LOL!

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

•   Internet Shutdowns: India shut down internet 29 times in 2017 | IndiaTimes.com: A list of internet shutdowns that have taken place at India in 2017 so far.

•  Court rules FBI can continue to request data in secret | CNET.com: "The US government can issue surveillance orders to tech companies without having to make them public."

•  Apple has removed all major VPN apps from its App Store in China which allowed users to bypass China's internet censorship.--TechCrunch.com

•  In Cuba, Growing Numbers Of Bloggers Manage To Operate In A Vulnerable Gray Area | WBUR.org

•  Liu Xiaobo: A Voice of Freedom | cato.org: "Denying China’s 1.4 billion people a free market in ideas has led to one of the lowest rankings in the World Press Freedom Index, compiled by Reporters without Borders."  See also Globe editorial: Liu Xiaobo’s death is one more reminder of who rules China | TheGlobeandMail.com: "Mr. Liu’s ... death at age 61, in a Chinese hospital with guards at the doors, stand as a reminder of exactly who runs things in Beijing, and what kind of a regime the Trudeau government is so eager to be friends with. The Communist Party of China has joined ignominious company; the only other Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in custody was imprisoned by Nazi Germany."

5) Investing

• Apple $AAPL (principal domain: Apple.com) conference call to discuss third fiscal quarter results is scheduled for Tuesday, August 1, 2017, at 5:00 p.m. EDT (US).

• Q2 2017 earnings webcasts this past week on DomainMondo.com: Alphabet $GOOG / $GOOGL, Facebook $FB, Twitter $TWTR, Verisign $VRSN, Amazon $AMZN--Verisign's .NET has been declining in domain name registrations since 2016, while .COM registrations continue to grow. ICANN and Verisign apparently plan to continue to exploit .NET registrants, including doubling Verisign's .NET registration fees every 7 years (10% increase per annum).

• Donuts (donuts.domains) Completes Successful Tender Offer for Shares of Rightside (rightside.co) (NASDAQ:NAME): "... As a result of the tender offer and the merger, Rightside will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Donuts and Rightside's common stock will cease trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market." [Editor's Note: Rightside's domain name registrar Name.com, is now also owned by privately-held Donuts.]

Rightside was a new gTLDs "true believer" until near the end--it wasn't supposed to end this way--

Rightside $NAME (2014-2017 R.I.P.)

6) Most read posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review: ICANN Accountability, FY16 IRS Form 990 Redux

2. Alphabet $GOOG $GOOGL Q2 2017 Results LIVE Video July 24 5pm EDT

3. Facebook $FB Q2 2017 Earnings LIVE Webcast July 26 5pm EDT

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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News Review: ICANN Accountability, FY16 IRS Form 990 Redux

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2017-07-23) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) ICANN FY16 IRS Form 990 Redux, 2)Other ICANN news: AMAZON IRP, .WEB DOJ Antitrust Investigation, CEP and IRP Status Update, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Bodog.com, Chinese Cybersquatter Registrars, Trademark Infringer, 4) ICYMI, 5) Q2 2017 Earnings July 24-27: $GOOGL, $FB, $TWTR, $VRSN, $AMZN,  6) Most Read.

1)  Holding ICANN Accountable: ICANN FY16 IRS Form 990 Redux

•  Background: News Review: ICANN Chairman and ICANN Accountability & Transparency
•  Follow-up email Monday, July 17, 2017, to ICANN Chief Financial Officer Xavier Calvez:

•  On Tue, Jul 18, 2017, ICANN CFO Xavier J. Calvez wrote:

Dear Mr. Poole,
Thank you for your note below [July 17 email above]. I acknowledge and agree that the document posted on 13 July in response to your questions left unanswered the specific question that you highlighted in the paragraph referenced below in quotes. This question is perfectly relevant to the topic of disclosures of information on compensation of directors, officers, key employees, etc… and answering it will help providing clarity and transparency on this matter which is technically complex and subject to legitimate and useful public scrutiny. The discussion you offered to explain further the quoted paragraph will be quite helpful to ensure we address fully your question, and I thank you for it. I suggest that we publish your email below and the response that I will provide in accordance with our Correspondence process.Thank you.
Best,
Xavier

My reply of July 18: Dear Mr. Calvez: Thank you for the quick reply, and yes, I agree with your suggestion. Best regards, John.

Stay tuned!

2) Other ICANN news:

a. New gTLD .AMAZON IRP Final Declaration, What Happens Next? | DomainMondo.com:

"The practical effect of the Panel's ruling is that the dispute is remanded for further proceedings. In other words, Brazil, Peru, the GAC and ICANN, as well as Amazon, may now supplement and strengthen their positions ..." --Hon. A. Howard Matz 

Go to the link above to read why Peru, Brazil, and the GAC may ultimately prevail and block .AMAZON.

b. New gTLD .WEB: ICANN Hands Over 7000 Pages to DOJ Antitrust Division | DomainMondo.com

ICANN Org Report to the Board Highlights June 2017 [covering 11 Apr-30 May 2017]: a. New gTLD .WEB - DOJ Antitrust Division Investigation; b. ICANN Headcount; c. New gTLDs Program; d. ICANN Security Operations team report; e. Gravy Train: ICANN59 "Supported Travelers"; f. ICANN.org website g. FY18 Projections for new gTLD transaction fees; h. Outstanding ICANN Board Issues from May 2017 Board Workshop."

c. Independent Review Process Documents | ICANN.org: CEP and IRP Status Update, 18 July 2017 (pdf, 327 KB).

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

•  Bodog.com and Calvin Ayre: US Prosecutors drop all charges against Calvin Ayre | GamblingInsider.com: ".... following last week’s ruling Ayre was allowed to reacquire the Bodog domain name [bodog.com] in exchange for a one-off payment of $100,000."

•  China: Cybersquatter asks Chinese court to declare its own domain names invalid | Hogan Lovells | JDSupra.com: "This is not the first case where the Beijing Haidian Court found against domain name registrars for participating in cyber-squatting activities. Would these cases support a brand owner in tackling cyber-squatting by arguing in court that the registrars involved are liable or at least jointly liable? This seems like a potential strategy. One advantage would be that unlike domain name proceedings under UDRP, courts can grant compensation to a winning plaintiff, and in a cyber-squatting case the plaintiff may find that the registrars are in a better position to pay compensation ..."

•  Trademark Infringement: Stone Creek, Inc. v. Omnia Italian Design, Inc. (9th Cir. July 11, 2017). "The court in Stone Creek held the defendant’s knowledge of the plaintiff’s trademark rights defeats any defense of good faith adoption of a mark in a remote geographic area ... [also] ruling that a plaintiff must prove willfulness in order to be awarded the defendant’s profits."--Dorsey & Whitney LLP | JDSupra.com.

•  What do you see as the biggest problems in the domain industry? | TheDomains.com: One comment:"One word: ICANN. Consistently wrong policy choices are being made there ..." --Another comment: "ICANN has become corrupt ..."

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

• Sexual Harassment and the Internet | Intellectual Freedom Blog | oif.ala.org: "... According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “From 1995 to 2010, the estimated annual rate of female rape or sexual assault victimizations declined 58%, from 5.0 victimizations per 1,000 females age 12 or older to 2.1 per 1,000.” But over the same period, internet access was on the rise. On the basis of this evidence, it looks like the more internet access there is, the less we see of sexual assault ..."

• China Bans LGBTQ Content From Internet | Out Magazine | out.com

• We Must Keep the Internet Free and Open. EFF, Tech Giants, Startups and Internet Users Tell FCC: Don’t Sell Out Net Neutrality To Appease ISPs | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org

• U.S. Department of State Internet Freedom Funding Opportunities | Open Technology Fund | opentech.fund

• IGF-USA on July 24 | igf-usa.org: Monday, July 24, 2017 from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM EDT in Washington, D.C.--Eventbrite registration for those who plan to attend in person--the event will also be live streamed and captioned. The program is here. 

5) Investing

Notable Q2 2017 earnings webcasts this coming week:

• Alphabet $GOOG / $GOOGL July 24 5pm EDT
• Facebook $FB July 26 5pm EDT
• Twitter $TWTR July 27 7am EDT
• Verisign $VRSN July 27 4:30pm EDT 
• Amazon $AMZN July 27 5:30pm EDT

6) Most read posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review: ICANN Chairman and ICANN Accountability & Transparency

2. Tech Review: How Google Cloud Plans to Overtake Amazon's AWS

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
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News Review: China Cyber Sovereignty vs ICANN Multistakeholderism

Domain Mondo's weekly review of internet domain news:

Features •  1. China Cyber Sovereignty vs ICANN Multistakeholderism; 2. ICANN Websites, More ICANN Incompetence; 3. Average Annual Cost of an ICANN Employee; 4. Class Action vs Neustar; 5. Google.com UDRP; 6. GoDaddy Q4 2016 Results; 7. InternetAssociation.org political fundraising; 8. Names, Domains, Trademarks; 9. The Internet's 'Seven Keys'; 10. DOA not a replacement DNS;  11. ICANN CEP & IRP update; 12. Internet Attack Mitigation; 13. ICANN mafia; 14. Verisign 10-K (.WEB); 15. One of ICANN's stupid ideas gets nixed; 16. 3 most popular posts this past week on Domain Mondo.

1. China Cyber Sovereignty vs ICANN Multistakeholderism: What's Next for ICANN in the Absence of U.S. Oversight? An Interview With Kal Raustiala* | Council on Foreign Relations - Net Politics | cfr.org, excerpts:

Q: One central criticism of the multistakeholder model is that it isn’t representative enough ..." How do you respond?

"There is no question there are inequities in participation ..."

Q: Do you think that China’s concept of cyber sovereignty is incompatible with the multistakeholder model? What are the implications?

"... For China, which isn’t a fan of private actor input in almost any decision making, the ICANN model is a problem."

*Kal Raustiala is a Professor of Law at UCLA, and Director of the UCLA Ronald W. Burkle Center for International Relations.

UPDATE March 5, 2017: News Review: China Will 'Vigorously' Promote the Reform of ICANN

 2.  ICANN Websites, More ICANN Incompetence:

ICANN NCPH Intersessional, 14-15 February 2017, Reykjavik, Iceland, Non-Contracted Parties House (NCPH)  meeting transcripts, documents, presentations, recordings--excerpt (NCSG Session with the ICANN CEO):

Question: "... So the easy one that surprisingly came up first and everybody but a few people asked, it’s been coming up today as well many times, why can nobody ever find anything on ICANN websites other than by Googling sometimes but no search function, there is no organization. It’s impossible to find anything. Why don’t you hire a librarian to sort it out?

ICANN President & CEO Göran Marby: "That’s a very good question. Actually it is a very good question ... The simple answer to that question is that you are right. We don’t have a library function. We don’t have a document management system at all and, even worse than that, we don’t have any system in place on how to store things, how to label things, how to categorize things, how to collect things, and how to sort them together ..."

3. Average Annual Cost of an ICANN Employee almost $160,000 based on "an average headcount of 339.5 which excludes 11.1 average headcount allocated to the IANA ..."--ICANN FY17 Q2 (ending Dec 2016) QUARTERLY REPORT: ICANN personnel costs--an average of $160,000 per employee per year--FY17 (Jul-Dec) $27million ÷ 339.5 x 2), source (pdf) (p. 56 below):

4.  A class action suit has been filed against registry services and technology provider Neustar, Inc. ("Neustar"), [NYSE: NSR | domain: Neustar.biz]--MarketWatch.com--Rigrodsky & Long, P.A. announced it had filed a class action complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware on behalf of shareholders of Neustar in connection with the proposed acquisition of Neustar by Golden Gate Capital and its affiliates (collectively, "Golden Gate") announced on December 14, 2016. The Complaint alleges violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 against Neustar, its Board of Directors, and Golden Gate, and is captioned Parshall v. Neustar, Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-00060-LPS (D. Del.). More information at MarketWatch link above.

5.  Google.com UDRP:

http://www.adrforum.com/domaindecisions/1710030.htm

6.  GoDaddy $GDDY Q4 2016 Results, LIVE Webcast (Replay)--Feb 15, 5:00pm ET | DomainMondo.com: "2016 Revenue Growth of 15% Driven by 7% Growth in Customers."

7. InternetAssociation.org, a trade group representing internet giants including Facebook and Google, is launching a new online political fundraising platform.--Internet Association Brings Political Fundraising Into The Digital Age With New Crowdsourcing Platform | InternetAssociation.org.

8. Fame Names, Domains & Trademarks--The Designer Formerly Known As…Intellectual Property Issues Arising From Personal Names As Fashion Brands | Ladas & Parry LLP | JDSupra.com--or how to lose your personal name.

9. The Problem with "The Seven Keys" | ICANN.org: "From time to time, articles are published about "the seven people who control the keys to the Internet.” These articles, while probably well-intentioned, are completely incorrect. Let’s be absolutely clear: there are no keys that cause the Internet to function (or not to function) ..." Read more at the link above.

10. Digital Object Architecture (DOA) not a replacement DNS--Letter to ICANN Board from Internet Service Providers and Connectivity Providers Constituency [ISPCP] | ICANN.org--holmes-to-icann-01feb17-en.pdf (pdf 256 KB)--

"... At the recent ITU World Telecommunications Standardisation Assembly (WTSA) held in Tunisia in November 2016 DOA dominated much of the discussion. It placed those countries that support the initiatives being pursued within the ITU (referred to above) in direct opposition to those who are currently fiercely opposed to that approach from both technical and political perspectives ... Although the subject of much discussion, both from a technical and political standpoint, there is clear evidence that in many cases there is a lack of understanding of what DOA really represents. Some people even speak of DOA as a replacement DNS, which it certainly is not ... The ISPCP bring this issue the attention of the ICANN Board with a request that the Board considers how best to work with its involved stakeholders and the technical community to raise awareness of DOA and ensure that the community has a true, factual understanding of the situation and its relationship to ICANN ..."

11.  ICANN CEP (Cooperative Engagement Process) and IRP (Independent Review Process) Status Update – 14 February 2017  – irp-cep-status-14feb17-en.pdf [426 KB] (embed below, highlighting added):

12. Internet Identifiers Attack Mitigation:  Identifier System Attack Mitigation Methodology (pdf, 876 KB)--"this effort addresses Recommendation #12 of the Security, Stability & Resiliency (SSR) Review"--excerpt: "ICANN is proposing a new Identifier System Attack Mitigation Methodology to: • Identify, prioritize, and periodically refresh a list of top Identifier System attacks; • Develop guidance on actual high-impact attacks and emerging high-risk vulnerabilities; • Describe corresponding attack mitigation practices that are commonly considered useful; and • Encourage broader adoption of those practices via contracts, agreements, incentives, etc. This document represents the first component of this methodology ...."

13. The ICANN mafia has taken my site hostage for 2 days now | levels.io and ICANN has taken my site hostage | Hacker News | news.ycombinator.com.

14. Verisign 10-K 

•  Geographic revenues disclosed by Verisign 10-K:

"Revenues for our Registry Services business are attributed to the country of domicile and the respective regions in which our registrars are located, however, this may differ from the regions where the registrars operate or where registrants are located. Revenue growth for each region may be impacted by registrars reincorporating, relocating, or from acquisitions or changes in affiliations of resellers. Revenue growth for each region may also be impacted by registrars domiciled in one region, registering domain names in another region. Although revenues continued to grow in the more mature markets of the U.S. and EMEA during 2016, China saw the highest growth rate due in part to the increased volume of new registrations during the second half of 2015 and the first quarter of 2016."

•  .WEB in Verisign 10-K:

Note 4. Deposits to Acquire Intangible Assets: "As of December 31, 2016 , the Company has paid $ 145.0 million for the future assignment to the Company of contractual rights to the . web gTLD, pending resolution of objections by other applicants, regulatory review, and approval from ICANN. Upon assignment of the contractual rights, the Company will record the total investment as an indefinite-lived intangible asset."

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS:
On January 18, 2017, the Company received a Civil Investigative Demand (“CID”) from the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice requesting certain material related to the Company becoming the registry operator for the .web gTLD. We are in the process of responding to the CID. It is not possible at this time to estimate a range of potential financial and non-financial outcomes in connection with this matter.

15. One of ICANN's many stupid ideas gets nixed at the public comments stage:

Names of ICANN "diseases"

Report of Public Comments | Identifier Technology Health Indicators: Definition | ICANN.org: "... several expressed concerns over the proposed use of Latin-like medical-based terminology [Datamalgia, Abusitis, Magnitudalgia, Perfluoism, Datafallaxopathy] to identify Internet health conditions. Since this feedback was so clear, ICANN is dropping the Latin terminology as the project goes forward." For background read: News Review: ICANN Busy Proving IANA Transition Was A Terrible Mistake: "8. ICANN is this a joke OR is ICANN the joke? ..." (01 Jan 2017).

16.  3 most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com:

1. Alphabet Inc at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Conferences 2017
2. TechReview | What's Really Wrong With Twitter & Why Trump Lost in Court
3. News Review: Who Needs a Domain Name and Website Anymore?

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

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DISCLAIMER

ICANN Litigation Update: .AFRICA, IRP & CEP Status Report .WEB

ICANN litigation, IRP, CEP,  Reconsideration Requests status update:

1. New gTLD .AFRICA
DotConnectAfrica Trust vs Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), and Intervenor ZA Central Registry (ZACR)
Case Number: BC607494, California State Superior Court, County of Los Angeles
Filing Date: 01/20/2016
Case Type: Other Commercial/Business Tort (General Jurisdiction)
Status: Pending
UPDATE 3 Jan 2017: ICANN not enjoined from delegating .AFRICA by California State Superior Court Judge
Future Hearings: 01/23/2017 at 08:30 am in department 53 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, Conference-Case Management (to set Trial date).

Parties & Counsel:

DOTCONNECTAFRICA TRUST - Plaintiff/Petitioner

BROWN NERI SMITH & KHAN LLP - Attorney for Plaintiff/Petitioner

SCHANTZ LAW FIRM - Attorney for Plaintiff/Petitioner

INTERNET CORPORATION FOR ASSIGNED NAMES - Defendant/Respondent
JONES DAY - Attorney for Deft/Respnt

ZA CENTRAL REGISTRY NPC - Intervenor
KESSELMAN BRANTLY STOCKINGER LLP - Attorney for Intervenor

DOES 1 THROUGH 50 - Defendant/Respondent

Documents Filed: listing at https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/dca-v-icann-2016-01-26-en and  12/22/2016 Declaration (Exhibit F  to the Declaration of Mokgabudi Lucky Masilela [Filed Under Seal Per Order Of 12-22-16] ) filed by Intervenor

More information:

• New gTLD AFRICA Redux: DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN and ZACR | DomainMondo.com 16 December 2016
• .AFRICA, .WEB, ICANN Litigation Update, IRP & CEP Status Report | DomainMondo.com 15 November 2016
• News Review: dotAFRICA, Public Interest, Judge Holds ICANN Accountable | DomainMondo.com 17 April 2016
• DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN (Trial Court Proceeding) | ICANN.org  

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2. New gTLD .WEB--Ruby Glen, LLC v. ICANN--Final Judgment (pdf) 28 November 2016, all of the claims asserted by plaintiff Ruby Glen, LLC (an affiliate of Donuts Inc.) dismissed with prejudice.

*******

3.  ccTLDs .IR (IRAN), .SY (Syria), .KP (North Korea)--Ben Haim v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Calderon-Cardona v. Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Stern v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Weinstein v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Wyatt v. Syrian Arab Republic --Motions for rehearing and hearing en banc denied 19 Sep 2016.  Formal Mandate of U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. (pdf) 27 September 2016. 

*******

4. ICANN Cooperative Engagement Process (CEP) And Independent Review Process (IRP) Status Report:

• Active CEP: .GCC, .SPORTS, .PERSIANGULF, .SPA, .CPA, .WEB, .MUSIC
• Active IRP: .SPORT, .ISLAM, .HALAL, .SHOP,  .AMAZON 

CEP & IRP Status Update (pdf) as of 22 December 2016 embed below (highlighting added).

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5. 2016 Reconsideration Requests Status Update – 22 December 2016 (pdf) embed below:

References / sources:

• https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/litigation-en
• https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/accountability/irp-en
• https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/accountability/reconsideration-en
• https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/mechanisms-2014-03-20-en.

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DISCLAIMER

.AFRICA, .WEB, ICANN Litigation Update, IRP & CEP Status Report

ICANN active litigation status update:

1. New gTLD .AFRICA--DotConnectAfrica Trust vs. ICANN and ZACR (trial court proceeding and interlocutory appeal)--case remanded to California state court for lack of subject matter jurisdiction by U.S. District Court Judge (pdf), Notice of Remand (pdf) filed by ICANN, October 25, 2016, and ICANN's Reply Memorandum Regarding the District Court's Lack of Jurisdiction (pdf) filed November 7, 2016, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

2. New gTLD .WEB--Ruby Glen, LLC v. ICANN--legal action filed in United States District Court for the Central District of California by Ruby Glen, LLC, affiliate of Donuts. Status: Motion to Dismiss filed by ICANN on October 26, 2016, hearing scheduled for November 28, 2016.

3.  ccTLDs .IR (IRAN), .SY (Syria), .KP (North Korea)--Ben Haim v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Calderon-Cardona v. Democratic People's Republic of Korea; Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Stern v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Weinstein v. Islamic Republic of Iran; Wyatt v. Syrian Arab Republic--Consolidated legal actions filed in U.S. federal courts to judicially attach ccTLDs in satisfaction of civil judgments of Plaintiffs/Appellants--Status: On appeal, DC Circuit Court of Appeals (pdf) affirmed judgment of District Court (on alternative grounds) that ccTLDs are not subject to judicial attachment. Formal Mandate of U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. (pdf) 27 September 2016. Motions for rehearing and hearing en banc denied. Possible next step, Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court (pdf), within 90 days after denial of rehearing (September 19, 2016).

__________

ICANN Cooperative Engagement Process (CEP) And Independent Review Process (IRP) Status Report: The Cooperative Engagement Process (CEP) is a process voluntarily invoked by a complainant prior to the filing of an Independent Review Process (IRP) for the purpose of resolving or narrowing the issues that are contemplated to be brought to the IRP. (See ICANN Bylaws, Art. 4 §4.3(e).) The requesting party may invoke the CEP by providing written notice to ICANN, noting the invocation of the process, identifying the Board action(s) at issue, identifying the provisions of the ICANN Bylaws or Articles of Incorporation that are alleged to be violated, and designating a single point of contact for the resolution of the issue. More info about CEP and IRP processes here (pdf).

• Active CEP: .GCC, .SPORTS, .PERSIANGULF, .SPA, .CPA, .WEB, .MUSIC
• Active IRP: .SPORT, .ISLAM, .HALAL, .SHOP,  .AMAZON

CEP & IRP Status Update (pdf) as of 9 November 2016 embedded below (highlighting added).

References:

• Previous litigation, IRP & CEP status report on Domain Mondo, Sep 6, 2016
• https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/governance/litigation-en
• https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/accountability/irp-en
• https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/mechanisms-2014-03-20-en.

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DISCLAIMER