News Review 1) .ORG Comments, 2) When To 'Short Sell' Verisign $VRSN

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2019-04-28) with analysis and opinion: Features • 1) .ORG Comments Close April 29, 2) a. When to 'Short Sell' Verisign $VRSN, b. Domain Industry Collapse? c. A Trademark Is NOT A Monopoly, 3) .AMAZON Chaos, 4) EPDP Phase 2 'Daunting Task Ahead' 5) ICYMI: Warning re: Google Chrome browser, and more, 6) Most Read.

1) Public Comments Closing Soon on .ORG, .INFO, .ASIA, and .BIZ

Public Comments close at ICANN at 23:59 UTC (7:59 pm EDT) on the respective dates shown for each issue below:

• .ORG Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement 29 Apr 2019 

• .INFO Proposed Renewal of .info Registry Agreement 29 Apr 2019

• .ASIA Proposed Renewal of .asia Registry Agreement 7 May 2019 

• .BIZ Proposed Renewal of .biz Registry Agreement 14 May 2019 

Editor's note:  say “No” to Unlimited Price Increases on .Org Domain Names (and other gTLDs).

• Use this Easy Form for submitting .ORG comments, or write your own.

• Read the .ORG comments submitted here, [UPDATE: including my comment (pdf) embed below].

• UPDATE: read the .INFO comments submitted here, including my comment (pdf).

• Read News Review 1) ICANN Org Policy-Making Trashes Legacy gTLD .ORG 24 Mar 2019.

• Read Help Keep Domain Prices in Check | namecheap.com 24 Apr 2019: "... Sky-high .Org Prices Could Be Coming ... ICANN’s Bad Justification ..."

UPDATE: .ORG comment from Editor of DomainMondo.com (w/o attachments filed with original but links to same--link updated to ICA comment after ICANN org changed the URL):

2) Names, Domains & Trademarks 

a. When To Short Sell Verisign $VRSN: VeriSign $VRSN Q1 2019 Earnings Results: Verisign ended the first quarter of 2019 with a total of 154.8 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 4.4 percent increase* from the end of the first quarter of 2018 (a net increase of 1.82 million during the first quarter of 2019), $1.25 billion in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities, Q1 revenue of $306 million, up 2.4 percent YOY, net income of $163 million (vs  $134 million Q1 2018). Nothing new reported re: ongoing discussions with ICANN re .COM pricing or .WEB arbitration (IRP). More info at the link above. 

*Editor's note: .net registrations have actually declined due to .net price gouging by both ICANN and Verisign (see also this News Review 4)a.), so all the growth is attributable to .com. Verisign shares are nearing their all-time highs of year 2000 (graphic below) when Verisign bought Network Solutions  (see archive.org) which at that time controlled .COM, .NET and .ORG, a virtual monopoly on all gTLD domain names. Verisign acquired Network Solutions for "$21 billion in [Verisign] stock" which afterwards declined over 96% in value:

$VRSN

Once ICANN is completely "successful" in trashing .COM the same way ICANN is now trying to trash .ORG--see feature #1 above--may be the time to "short sell" $VRSN shares (see also next note below).

b. Domain Industry Collapse? 75% of websites today are not active, but parked domains or similar--internetlivestats.com. Editor's note: "what's this mean?" It means that total domain name registrations today of about 350 million could drop (not be renewed, etc.) by more than 50%, and internet "end users" would not notice anything different. It means that ICANN policy of enabling each gTLD registry operator to unilaterally price gouge all gTLD domain name registrants will eventually backfire with severe consequences for both the domain name industry and ICANN.

c. A Trademark Is NOT A Monopoly: "Trademark rights actually arise based on use of the mark ... exclusive rights in a trademark are inextricably linked to the goods and services with which the mark is used. Except in rare circumstances, a trademark is not a monopoly that allows its owner to prevent others from using the same word(s) in all circumstances."--Hutchison PLLC.

3) More .AMAZON Chaos:

To ICANN Board Chair Cherine Chalaby: 

• 23 April 2019 Letter from Achilles Zaluar, Department of Technological Promotion | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil; 
• 23 April 2019 Letter from Brian Huseman,Vice President, Public Policy, Amazon.com, Inc., excerpt:  "the issue before the Board is to: 'make an objective and independent judgment regarding whether there are, in fact, well-founded, merits-based public policy reasons for denying Amazon’s applications.'”

Editor's note: first, know that ICANN continuously misidentifies the applicant as "Amazon Corporation." The new gTLD .AMAZON applicant is Amazon EU S.à.r.l., a European legal entity owned, controlled, and formed by Amazon.com, Inc., primarily to dodge taxes.

"Amazon EU S.à.r.l. ... was incorporated in 2004 and is based in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Amazon EU S.à.r.l. operates as a subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc."--source.

Second, as I've said before, "the idea of having private .BRAND gTLDs was a mistake from the beginning, a corruption of the concept of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) as set forth in RFC 1591 written by Jon Postel, which predates the formation of ICANN and its "Californication" of the internet and global DNS. I'm with the South American countries. ICANN should do the "right thing" for once and end the .BRAND gTLD program, refund the application fees, and "undelegate" all .BRAND gTLDs from the internet "root," while allowing every owner of a distinctive trademark to block use of that mark as a gTLD in the future. End the ICANN extortion racket -- see .PING testimony."

4) EPDP Phase 2, The "Daunting Task Ahead"

UPDATE: First Meeting of  EPDP Phase 2, Thursday, May 2, 2019, at 14:00 UTC (10am EDT) but no video for observers, and transcript will be at least 72 hours delayed. Details of agenda and 'audiocast' here. Letter from Goran Marby (ICANN CEO) here (via GNSO Chair Keith Drazek).

Dear Members of the EPDP Team,
As I assume the duties of the Chair of the EPDP team of the second phase of the process, I would like to thank the GNSO Council for placing trust in me and appointing me to perform this important function. I also would like to pay tribute to the EPDP Team for the work accomplished during the first phase and their dedication to a task, which is far from trivial.

We have a daunting task ahead, which is exacerbated by the ambiguity surrounding the precise outline of implementation of the GDPR. We will be targeting a moving object as we develop the most effective way forward. It won’t be simple, but extremely interesting from a systemic point of view.

I hope that my previous experience in handling diplomatic negotiations in different circles at the UN as well as chairing the ICANN GAC from 2007 to 2010 will be beneficial for the team in advancing our objectives.

I have been with the Latvian diplomatic service for the past 27 years holding different positions in bilateral and multilateral settings. From 2000 to 2007, I was Latvian ambassador to the UN in Geneva and in that capacity was chosen to lead the preparations of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that culminated with the adoption of the Tunis Agenda*, partly devoted to global Internet governance issues. Since then my activities have been linked, directly or indirectly, with ICANN, either chairing the GAC or engaging with ICANN in different UN fora (Internet Governance Forum, WSIS Forum or UN Commission on Science and Technology for Development). At the time of chairing the ICANN GAC, I was involved in the development of the IDN Fast Track policy and opening of the GAC meetings to the ICANN community.

I look forward working with the team as well as ICANN supporting staff and rely on team’s collective wisdom and desire to reach a successful outcome. As soon as all members of the team will be announced, we will start our substantive activities.
Thank you in advance, Janis Karklins, EPDP Phase 2 Chair, 22 Apr 2019 (emphasis added)

*Tunis Agenda: "INTERNET GOVERNANCE 29. We reaffirm the principles enunciated in the Geneva phase of the WSIS, in December 2003, that the Internet has evolved into a global facility available to the public and its governance should constitute a core issue of the Information Society agenda. The international management of the Internet should be multilateral, transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations. It should ensure an equitable distribution of resources, facilitate access for all and ensure a stable and secure functioning of the Internet, taking into account multilingualism."

From the EPDP mail list: Professor Mueller schools Ambassador Karklins and ICANN Vice-Chair Chris Disspain:

Greetings, Janis
Welcome aboard!
Recalling your role as IGF Director I look forward to working with you. This job will require all of your diplomatic skills. I say that because the problems we have are political, they are not caused by ambiguity in the law. There are stakeholders who want registration data to be available to anyone as quickly and as easily as possible, and there are stakeholders who want it to be protected as much as possible, and various positions in between. The law overriding this process is fixed, it is not a “moving target.” What moves and introduces ambiguity are the compromises and coalitions that form in the attempt to reach agreement. I hope you understand the importance of your role, which is not to drive policy or take sides, but to fairly broker agreements and get results in this contentious environment.--Milton Mueller 23 Apr 2019, Georgia Institute of Technology, Internet Governance Project (emphasis added)

Milton Mueller, 23 Apr 2019 replying to Chris Disspain (Vice-Chair of the ICANN Board of Directors and Board liaison to the EPDP), re: European Commission comments on Phase 1 report:

Chris
There is no inconsistency between the two statements. I am struggling to understand why key members of ICANN’s board do not understand this. Purposes determine what data is collected and how it can be used by the controller. Disclosure to third parties with legitimate interests is not a purpose ICANN has in collecting and using registrant data, but disclosure is nevertheless something that can happen legally when certain conditions are met. When a credit card company collects PII about me, its purpose is to facilitate financial transactions, it is not to provide my name and address to the police. But legally, the police can request disclosure of that information from the credit card company under certain conditions set by law. What is so difficult to understand there?

In the statements below, the EC merely insists, correctly, upon distinguishing between ICANN’s purposes for collecting and using registrant data, and its reasons for disclosing it to third parties. This does not rule out all disclosure to third parties with legitimate interests.

During the EPDP deliberations, the same point was made repeatedly by public comments, and a majority of the EPDP members. The law is clear. Some in this debate are trying to erect a false dichotomy: either we have ICANN collecting and disclosing registrant data indiscriminately, as it did during the old Whois, or there is no disclosure to third parties at all. Do you really think this is the choice we have? [link and emphasis added]

Also replying to Chris Disspain, Volker Greimann 24 Apr 2019:

Hi Chris,
I am with Milton here as I felt that the statements in the [European Commission] letter were more than clear when it comes to disclosures to law enforcement and third parties.  The purposes of law enforcement and third parties are not purposes of ICANN and ICANN should stop trying to fit a square peg through the round hole of its own purposes.

Law enforcement has legal rights under which access to data processed for various other purposes may be requested, for example under Art. 6 I (c) GDPR. Similarly, third parties will need a legal basis for any and every access request and controllers must in their own responsibility carry out a balancing between the rights of the data subject affected in each case and the rights of the requester. 

When they note under "Next Steps" that law enforcement needs a timely and workable solution going forward to ensure the ability of LEAs to access the data legitimately, that does not invalidate the basic legal assumptions they make before that. On the contrary, it supports their view that a disclosure model for LEAs that is compliant with the legal requirements as well as stable, transparent and predictable is necessary. 

No one said this was going to be easy but there is no contradiction in the letter when it comes to its messages. 

EPDP Links:  EPDP wiki & mail list, Phase 1 Final Report (pdf), GNSO mail list & calendar. Link to legal questions and memos.

EPDP related notes:

• 9th EDPD (European Data Protection Days) 20-22 May 2019, Berlin--euroforum.de.
• Annual Privacy Forum 2019--ENISA, DG CONNECT, the University of Rome Tor Vergata and LUISS University are organizing the Annual Privacy Forum (APF) 2019 on 13-14 June 2019 in Rome.--enisa.europa.eu.
• The most stringent privacy law in the U.S. goes into effect January 1, 2020--California Consumer Privacy Act: A Compliance Guide | Skadden.com: "the law applies to any company that has California customers or employees, not just those based in the state."

5) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

Warning over Google Chrome browser--thetimes.co.uk: "... Google’s plans to encrypt Chrome will make it harder to block harmful material, including child-abuse images and terrorist propaganda. The new version will bypass most parental control systems and undermine the government’s attempts to stop under-18s viewing pornography ..."  See also Google Caves to the Intolerant Left, Betraying Its Own Ideals--dailysignal.com and "Former Mozilla exec: Google has sabotaged Firefox for years"--zdnet.com.

U.S. congressional leaders question Google's massive tracking database known as Sensorvault that allegedly contains precise consumer location information from hundreds of millions of devices.

Governments vs internet freedom--spiked-online.com: "British and Australian officials are killing off free speech online."

US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D–CA) declares a ‘New Era’ of Internet Regulation; EU Threatens Same--reason.com.

US: Analyzing the Republican net neutrality bills--aei.org.

Sri Lanka’s ban on social media forces a question nobody wants to ask: What if a global media network is impossible?--theatlantic.com.

Austria is About to Outlaw Anonymous Internet Comments--technadu.com.

Russia's parliament votes to unplug internet from world--dw.com.

To Battle Russian Disinformation, Ukraine Mimics … Russia--justsecurity.org.

It’s U.S. vs. World as Big Tech Faces Specter of Limiting Speech Online--nytimes.com.

EU: Good Ends, Bad Means? The EU’s Struggle To Protect Copyright--cfr.org and What the EU’s copyright overhaul means — and what might change for big tech--niemanlab.org. See also "New European Law Will Change the Internet"--voanews.com, and Europe looks to remold internet with new copyright rules--abcnews.go.com.

India Is Leading the World in Internet Shutdowns--slate.com.

India: after TikTok Ban, Internet Freedom Foundation recommends alternatives to App Bans in India.

Venezuela: 'Venezuelans Are Starving for Information' in a Country in Chaos--time.com.

Brazil: Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Censures Online News Outlets--Supreme Court Justice Moraes went further and later blocked Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram accounts of seven people who wrote negative comments about his decision--riotimesonline.com.

Russia isn’t the first country to protest Western control over global telecommunications--theconversation.com.

Pakistan's Internet Landscape 2018--bytesforall.pk (pdf)

6) Most Read this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

#1 News Review | ICANN EPDP Phase 2 Chair Janis Karklins

#2 Tech Review | How Uber Is Preparing For Its $UBER IPO (video)

#3 Amazon $AMZN Q1 2019 Earnings LIVE Webcast Apr 25, 5:30pm EDT

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

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DISCLAIMER

VeriSign $VRSN Q1 2019 Earnings LIVE Webcast, April 25, 4:30pm EDT

VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), earnings call for the first quarter 2019: Thursday, 25 April 2019, at 4:30 p.m. EDT  via listen-only LIVE webcast and teleconference call direct dial at (888) 676-VRSN (U.S.) or (786) 789-4776 (international), conference ID: Verisign. An audio archive of the call will be available at https://investor.verisign.com/events.cfm. Transcript here.

UPDATE 25 Apr 2019: Verisign First Quarter 2019 Results (pdf)
First Quarter GAAP Financial Results: VeriSign, Inc. and its subsidiaries (“Verisign”) reported revenue of $306 million for the first quarter of 2019, up 2.4 percent from the same quarter in 2018. Verisign reported net income of $163 million and diluted earnings per share (diluted “EPS”) of $1.35 for the first quarter of 2019, compared to net income of $134 million and diluted EPS of $1.09 for the same quarter in 2018. The operating margin was 65.4 percent for the first quarter of 2019 compared to 62.0 percent for the same quarter in 2018.

Financial Highlights: Verisign ended the first quarter of 2019 with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $1.25 billion, a decrease of $17 million from the end of 2018. During the first quarter of 2019, Verisign repatriated $249 million of cash held by foreign subsidiaries, net of foreign withholding taxes. Cash flow from operating activities was $187 million for the first quarter of 2019, compared with $90 million for the same quarter in 2018. Deferred revenues as of March 31, 2019 totaled $1.05 billion, an increase of $29 million from the end of 2018. During the first quarter of 2019, Verisign repurchased 1.0 million shares of its common stock for an aggregate cost of $175 million. As of March 31, 2019, there was $891 million remaining for future share repurchases under the share repurchase program which has no expiration date. 

Business Highlights: Verisign ended the first quarter of 2019 with 154.8 million .com and .net domain name registrations in the domain name base, a 4.4 percent increase from the end of the first quarter of 2018, and a net increase of 1.82 million during the first quarter of 2019 [Editor's note: .net registrations actually declined (see this News Review 4)a.), so the growth is all attributable to .com]. During the first quarter of 2019, Verisign processed 9.8 million new domain name registrations for .com and .net, compared to 9.6 million for the same quarter in 2018. The final .com and .net renewal rate for the fourth quarter of 2018 was 74.3 percent compared with 72.2 percent for the same quarter in 2017. Renewal rates are not fully measurable until 45 days after the end of the quarter.

Editor's note: during the conference call webcast 25 Apr 2019, CEO & Chairman James Bidzos said Verisign was in negotiations with ICANN in regard to .COM pricing and Amendment 35 to the  Cooperative Agreement with the US government (NTIA), but had nothing to report of substance, and likewise, there was nothing new to report in regard to .WEB other than Verisign is still attempting to intervene as a party in the pending arbitration (IRP), Afilias vs ICANN. Guidance for total 2019 (domain name base) growth in .COM & .NET combined: 2.5 to 4.25 percent.

VeriSign, Inc. (domain: verisign.com), is registry operator for .COM and other Top-Level Domains (TLDs), manager of 2 of the world's DNS root zone's 13 authoritative name servers, serves as the root zone maintainer, and is a global provider of other domain name registry services and internet infrastructure. VeriSign's headquarters: Reston, VA; Chairman & CEO: D. James Bidzos.

$VRSN

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News Review 1) Almost No One Wants To Be ICANN EPDP Phase 2 Chair

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2019-03-31) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) Almost No One Wants To Be ICANN EPDP Phase 2 Chair, 2) EPDP Needs Independent Legal Counsel, 3) Other ICANN News: a.Public Comment Periods Closing in April, b. Tweet of the Week, 4)a. New gTLDs' Cannibalization, b. Digital Identities & Privacy, 5) ICYMI: EU Copyright Directive, and more, 6) Most Read.

1) Almost No One Wants To Be ICANN EPDP Phase 2 Chair:

"The deadline for the EOI response has passed and there was only one respondent. In light of the EPDP and GNSO Council discussions in Kobe, I think it’s appropriate to extend the deadline for two weeks to Monday, 8 April while providing some additional details about the anticipated work load and pace/intensity of Phase 2. I hope this will inform potential Chair candidates and encourage a more robust response.  We have updated the attached EOI document accordingly, which will be posted later today."--Keith Drazek, GNSO Chair, 25 Mar 2019.

More info at Deadline Extended | ICANN.org: Expressions of Interest Sought for Chair of GNSO EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data – Phase 2. 

Editor's note: it's not hard to understand why almost no one wants the job--the dysfunctional and endless meetings, inept work plans, and ill-informed EPDP team members, all apparent in Phase 1 and its Final Report, should give pause to anyone considering the position--plus ICANN Org's push to be the 'sole gateway' for third-party access to redacted WHOIS data, and ICANN Org controlling all EPDP resources and support, including legal advice (EPDP does not have independent legal counsel). Anyone competent would likely demand assurances and changes in the EPDP meetings, work plans, processes, legal counsel arrangements, and available resources, agreed to up front and signed off by both ICANN Org and the GNSO Council, which might not be acceptable to an ICANN Organization used to manipulating PDPs in order to get the outcomes it wants. Otherwise, I suggest GNSO hire, and ICANN pay for, a competent professional knowledgeable in the GDPR, to co-chair EPDP Phase 2 along with current Acting Chair, Rafik Dammak. Under that scenario, there likely would be no need for professional mediators as were used extensively in the dysfunctional EPDP Phase 1, with mixed results.

2) The EPDP Team Needs Independent Legal Counsel: 
As noted above, the EPDP team does not have independent legal counsel. Bird & Bird, a London-based international law firm is advising both ICANN Org and the EPDP team. The Bird & Bird legal memos are here.

Editor's note: the most recent Bird & Bird memo dated 8 Mar 2019 "Advice on the legal basis for transferring Thick WHOIS" is indicative of the problems in having the EPDP team use ICANN Org's counsel (Bird & Bird) for legal advice. This March 8th memo is troublesome, in part, because it appears to approach its analysis cognizant of ICANN Org's known preference for a thick Whois model, and states one or more substantive factual errors, for example:

3.13. The thick Whois model eliminates a step that stakeholders might need to undertake in order to access the full Whois data set. Whereas under the thin Whois model, a stakeholder might need to first consult the registry to identify the relevant registrar before approaching the registrar to access the data, under the thick Whois model, the stakeholder would be able to obtain the full data set from the registry directly (provided the stakeholder can demonstrate an Authorised Purpose).--Bird & Bird legal memo, p.4.

The bold language in the quoted paragraph above from the March 8 Bird & Bird legal memo is factually incorrect. The identity of the registrar is non-redacted free public information available online under both thick and thin Whois models, so there is no need to "first consult the registry to identify the relevant registrar." Unfortunately Bird & Bird repeats this error again in its legal memo at page 5:

"The difference between a thick and thin Whois policy would mean that stakeholders would need to take only one minor additional step (i.e. checking a registry to identify the relevant registrar) in order to access restricted data."

How the lawyers at Bird & Bird came to this misunderstanding is unclear. Almost everyone understands the registrar is still listed in the public WHOIS data post-GDPR, irrespective of whether the Thin or Thick WHOIS model is being used (see graphic below).

source: http://archive.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/thick-thin-whois-30may09-en.pdf

I can think of many more factual reasons why the 'Thin model' is much more preferable than the 'Thick model' under the GDPR, none of which were apparently ever presented to, nor considered by, Bird & Bird's lawyers before conducting their legal analysis and issuing their legal opinion memo. I think most would agree that any attorney's 'legal opinion' or 'legal analysis' based upon an incomplete or erroneous set of factual reasons, may be worthless.

Apparently no one on ICANN's legal staff or the EPDP 'Legal Committee' bothered "articulating" an accurate and complete set of facts to the Bird & Bird lawyers in connection with the 'Question Presented.' The main input to Bird & Bird for the memo appears to have been GNSO's "Thick Whois Report" issued 21 October 2013, before enactment of the GDPR. To get a good legal memo, there first needs to be a dialogue between attorney and client. Who communicated with the lawyers at Bird & Bird about this memo, the factual setting and background, and the 'Question Presented,' on behalf of the respective clients, the EPDP team, and ICANN Org?

The name of the registry operator is not in the WHOIS data set (Thick or Thin, redacted or non-redacted). The registrar's name is the only 'contracted party' identified, so it makes even more sense under Bird & Bird's logic and reasoning for registrars (which also collect the data) to hold the data and not transfer the personal data constantly to 3rd parties the registrar does not control, and for good reason should not trust (i.e., registry operators and ICANN), who might then unlawfully process the data or erroneously disclose the data to fourth parties, in violation of the GDPR or other privacy laws.

From a practical point of view, ICANN set up its ill-conceived new gTLDs program of over 1200 new gTLDs so that the new gTLDs could be (and are) 'bought and sold' like used cars, so the public never knows whether a particular new gTLD is in the process of "changing hands" from one registry operator to another, until the process has been completed and notice of that fact is then published somewhere in the bowels of ICANN's website, whereas a change of the registrar of record is always reflected in the unredacted WHOIS data. Any party desiring data on a domain name or registrant should, optimally, always seek out the registrar of record, not the registry operator nor ICANN. The registrar will not only have the full WHOIS record, but also other data not within the WHOIS data set which could be provided in response to a lawful Court order, subpoena, warrant, or other legal process, sought by law enforcement, a governmental agency, or even a private party, including in an 'emergency' situation. Neither ICANN nor the registry operators have, nor should they have, access to that additional personal data. I recognize ICANN Org's apparent desire to expand its power and authority beyond that ever contemplated, to be the 'sole gateway' to registrants' personal data. In fact, like most registrants, I am particularly uncomfortable with ICANN Org holding or having unlimited access to registrants' personal data since ICANN Org has a record of acting imprudently in so many cases as to render itself de facto "untrustworthy." 

It may be that the Bird & Bird lawyers are confused about what is provided in the Whois distributed data base of publicly available non-redacted information, irrespective of whether the Whois model is "thin" or "thick." Unfortunately, the legal memo appears to rely on the apparent factual error above to support its reasoning and conclusions, stating that "ICANN and the relevant parties articulated clear benefits to implementing the thick Whois policy for security, stability and reliability purposes."

In other words, ICANN Org and unknown 'relevant parties' have been "articulating" to Bird & Bird an incomplete or erroneous version of "facts" and "reasoning" in order to get the legal opinion ICANN Org and 'relevant parties' wanted. One really can't blame Bird & Bird, ICANN Org is the "paying client" not the EPDP team. However, this is a serious problem for the EPDP team, not having independent legal counsel. This last legal memo from Bird & Bird is also troublesome for reasons other than given above. But since it is only ICANN and its contracted parties who are going to be sued under GDPR, maybe we shouldn't care?

Remedy? 1. The EPDP team should add a few non-lawyers to its EPDP Legal Committee in order to keep the EPDP lawyer-members honest; and 2. the EPDP Team should retain its own independent legal counsel free from ICANN Org and unknown 'relevant parties' interference, inappropriate influence, and ex parte "articulating."

3) Other ICANN News

a. Public Comment periods closing in April, 2019:

• GNSO EPDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data Policy Recommendations for ICANN Board Consideration 17 Apr 2019 23:59 UTC

• Proposal for Hebrew Script Root Zone Label Generation Rules 18 Apr 2019 23:59 UTC

• Proposed Renewal of .info Registry Agreement 29 Apr 2019 23:59 UTC

• Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement 29 Apr 2019 23:59 UTC

b. Tweet of the Week: From .SUCKS to .ORG - How ICANN Californicates the World Wide Web

4) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. New gTLDs' Cannibalization--Verisign Domain Name Industry Brief as of end of Q4 2018: 

• 348.7 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs), up 4.9% YOY  (net increase of 16.3 million YOY).

• 154.3 million ccTLDs up 5.6% YOY (net increase of 8.2 million YOY);

• Total .COM registrations 139.0 million (net increase of 7.1 million YOY);

• Total .NET registrations 14.0 million (net decrease of .5 million YOY);

• Total new gTLDs' domain name registrations at year's end 23.8 million (net increase of 3.2 million YOY);

• World's 10 largest TLDs (graphic).

Editor's note: after subtracting the net increases of ccTLDs (8.2M) and .COM (7.1M) from the total net increase of all TLDs (16.3M), the grand total net increase of all the other gTLDs (including new gTLDs), is only 1 million YOY, indicating ICANN's mismanagement of gTLDs, irresponsibly flooding the market with over 1200 new gTLDs since 2014, which have generated little net new growth overall in gTLDs (if you exclude .COM which is in a class by itself). The new gTLDs'  cannibalization of all gTLDs overall--both within new gTLDs and older gTLDs (except for .COM)--will only get worse when ICANN and its "community" mindlessly continue to delegate even more new gTLDs in the next round. There is no "lack of awareness" problem with new gTLDs, that's a 'false narrative' pushed by the new gTLDs domain industry and some at ICANN as an excuse as to why the new gTLDs have failed so miserably in the marketplace from original predictions and expectations. Go to GoDaddy.com and look around, you have to step around and over the new gTLDs in order to register a .COM domain name.

b. Digital identities and privacy: Time to change how domain names are registered?--aei.org:

"... A new digital identity service has both government and commercial viability for validating transactions, record keeping, and regulatory compliance. Instead of trying to fit old policies with new regulations, let’s hope innovators embrace technology to move us forward to a better, more productive way of using the internet."

5) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

EU Copyright Directive: "The European Parliament has abandoned common-sense and the advice of academics, technologists, and UN human rights experts, and approved the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive in its entirety ... Unlike EU Regulations like the GDPR, which become law on passage by the central EU institutions, EU Directives have to be transposed: written into each member country’s national law. Countries have until 2021 to transpose the Copyright Directive, but EU rarely keeps its members to that deadline, so it could take even longer. Unfortunately, it is likely that the first implementation of the Directive will come from the countries who have most enthusiastically supported its passage. France’s current batch of national politicians have consistently advocated for the worst parts of the Directive, and the Macron administration may seek to grab an early win for the country’s media establishment ..."--eff.org. See also: Europe is splitting the internet into three--how the Copyright Directive reshapes the open web--theverge.com.

FTC announces inquiry into the privacy practices of broadband providers--The Federal Trade Commission wants to know what data your ISP is collecting about you--theverge.com.

For-Profit Monopolies Which Censored RussiaGate Skeptics: "We either take down Facebook and Google and turn them into tightly regulated transparent public utilities available to all or they will destroy what little is left of American democracy."--CharlesHughSmith.

Fighting censorship and expanding internet freedom--cfr.org: "internet rights advocates would do well to reign in their exuberance for the power of markets alone to expand political liberties." See also The State of Internet Freedom Around the World--pcmag.com.

From freedom to despair: the internet’s short but fast highway to hell--crikey.com.au.

Net Neutrality: Will Congress Save Internet Freedom?--entrepreneur.com.

The global rise of Internet sovereignty--China and Russia want the global internet to look more like theirs. Some argue they are beginning to succeed--codastory.com.

Russia: Vladimir Putin signs sweeping internet-censorship bills--publishing "unreliable socially significant information" can lead to big fines--arstechnica.com and Russia is Censoring More Than Just the Internet--themoscowtimes.com.

New Zealand Christchurch massacre another internet-enabled atrocity?--thehill.com.

Every Minute Online Is a Battle for Consumer Attention--pcmag.com.

South Africa In Risk of “Passive” Internet Censorship with New Law--technadu.com, and Why South Africa’s online freedom is at risk--The Film and Publication Amendment Bill stands to change South African content creation drastically--thesouthafrican.com.

"How Cam Models Are Finding Freedom in Cryptocurrency"--"online performers are moving into the high-tech realm of digital currency"--rollingstone.com.

"Alleged Child Porn Lord Faces US Extradition"--websites that could only be accessed using the Tor Browser Bundle, which is built on the Firefox Web browser--defendant holds dual Irish-US citizenship, was denied bail and held pending his nearly six-year appeal process to contest his extradition--krebsonsecurity.com.

6) Most Read this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

#1  News Review 1) ICANN Org Policy-Making Trashes Legacy gTLD .ORG

#2 UK Dysfunction | Brexit Or Not, Final Days Or Kick The Can Again? (video)

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

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News Review 1) ICANN Org Policy-Making Trashes Legacy gTLD .ORG

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2019-03-24) with analysis and opinion: Features • 1) ICANN Org Policy-Making Trashes Legacy gTLD .ORG, 2) Other ICANN news: a. EPDP Team Members at WSIS? b. .HONEYWELL, c. .AFRICA Litigation, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: .AMAZON, Tucows $TCX, Escrow Q, INTA, Starbucks, 4) ICYMI: Data Privacy, EU, Russia, Splinternet, 5) Most Read.

1)  ICANN Org Policy-Making Trashes Legacy gTLD .ORG

Proposed Renewal of .org Registry Agreement | ICANN.org: "ICANN organization is posting for public comment the proposed agreement for renewal of the 2013 .org Registry Agreement (herein referred to as ".org renewal agreement"), which is set to expire on 30 June 2019. The .org renewal agreement is a result of bilateral discussions between ICANN and Public Interest Registry, a Pennsylvania non-profit corporation, the Registry Operator for the .org top-level domain (TLD)."
Public comment period closes 29 April 2019 at 23:59 UTC.

UPDATE 29 Mar 00:00UTC: ALL Comments To Date OPPOSE removing .ORG Price Caps.

What's the Problem? ICANN Org has once again subverted its own ICANN community's policy-making processes by proposing drastic changes to a legacy gTLD registry agreement, to wit: removing all price controls on .org domain names and subjecting .org domain names to a new Section 2.8 and Specification 7 in the proposed renewal agreement as well as  the new gTLD program's Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) (which are currently being reviewed and revised in a PDP, and were never intended to apply to legacy gTLDs .COM, .NET, and .ORG when adopted in connection with the new gTLDs program). The RPMs are set forth in Specification 7 of the new gTLDs Registry Agreement and include the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) system, the Trademark Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure (PDDRP) and the Registration Restrictions Dispute Resolution Procedure (RRDRP).

Reactions:

• The problem with price hikes on legacy TLDs | DomainNameWire.com: “It should not be a goal to align legacy [g]TLD policies with new [g]TLD policies.”--comment: 'Exactly, it should be the other way around. But, this is ICANN we are talking about. Backwards thinking.'
• This Means War! ICANN proposes lifting price cap provisions on .org and .info domains! | OnlineDomain.com.

Submit .ORG comments here by April 29, and read submitted comments here. 

See also: Proposed Renewal of .info Registry Agreement, public comment closes April 29.

Analysis & Opinion Editor's note: this ICANN & PIR .ORG proposal crafted in secret, is policy-making at its worst, by the management and staff of ICANN, a California corporation, operating as a rogue "global internet coordinator" without any governmental mandate and accountable only to itself and its non-representative "ICANN community" dominated by its own "contracted parties" and lawyers and lobbyists representing "special interests." ICANN shows once again it has little regard for domain name registrants, and is unfit for any role in global internet governance.

This proposal, apparently agreed to by the current .ORG Registry Operator PIR's management and its Board of Directors, also indicates that PIR is unfit to manage the TLD .ORG in the global public interest in accordance with RFC 1591 and its contract should therefore be terminated, and .ORG opened for bidding in conformance with the advice of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division, attached to a letter sent to ICANN in 2008, by NTIA.gov.

PIR's new President, Jonathon Nevett, a co-founder of new gTLDs registry operator Donuts, who 'cashed out' when Donuts was taken over by former ICANN CEO Fadi Chehade and his crony, former ICANN GDD President Akram Atallah, now, apparently, wants to turn PIR into another "Donuts" and .ORG into a new gTLD like .SUCKS.

Registrants should consider dumping all of their .ORG domain names, or renewing any retained .ORG domain name for 10 years. In 10 years, we might be rid of ICANN and its corrupt culture of monopolistic crony capitalism based upon pure greed and the shameless exploitation of both domain name registrants and trademark owners.

2) Other ICANN News

a. EPDP Team Members at WSIS? 

Kurt Pritz, who quit as EPDP Chair in February and has been replaced by acting Chair Rafik Dammak, inexplicably reappeared on the EPDP mail list March 19, soliciting for 2-3 EPDP members to travel at their own expense to Geneva, Switzerland, and participate in ICANN Org's Thematic Workshop: ICANN, the GDPR and WHOIS (pdf), scheduled for April 11, 2019, 16:30-18:15. The only response to date came from Ayden Férdeline (NCSG EPDP member):

"I am afraid I do not understand why this session is taking place. May I suggest we re-think whether we even need to present our work at WSIS? Do we know who from ICANN org will be in attendance? Will there be a large ICANN org staff delegation? In the past when I have gone to WSIS, Theresa Swinehart has been there sitting on the panels, and often other ICANN staff, reading the same slides we've all seen countless times, but the attendance from the 'community' is often sparse - if the room not empty. Is this session taking place to fulfill a legitimate need to update people on our work, or is it furthering a different goal, i.e. because ICANN is seeking sectoral membership to the ITU and WSIS is an ITU event? I believe ICANN is obliged, as a sponsor of this event, to host a number of workshops - are we just helping ICANN meet its quota? I don't want to sound too negative here but I'm really not sure what the goal for this session could be. WSIS is no longer an important forum and has been struggling to fill its slots for sessions. They extended the workshop submission deadline multiple times this year. Mightn't we might be better off focusing our attention planning for Phase 2 of our work?" (emphasis and link added)

No reply from Kurt Pritz or anyone else on behalf of ICANN Org as of Mar 26, 22:00 UTC (updated).

b. Goodbye .HONEYWELL: Honeywell Voluntarily Terminates Its Honeywell .BRAND New gTLD. Back end registry services provider Neustar, Inc. [Editor's note: another one of ICANN's extortionate .BRAND new gTLDs meets its end, what a waste of time, resources, and money!]

c. New gTLD .AFRICA Litigation: DotConnectAfrica Trust v. ICANN et al

Los Angeles Superior Court - Trial Court Proceeding:

• ICANN's Judicial Estoppel Post-Trial Brief (pdf) and Appendix A (pdf) March 2019

• Plaintiff's Judicial Estoppel Post-Trial Brief (pdf) March 2019

• More documents now published by ICANN here.

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

.AMAZON--Colombia & Other Amazon Countries Go To ICANN To Keep .amazon Domain Name From Amazon.com--financecolombia.com March 19, 2019: "the Colombian government stated through its MinTIC (Ministry of Technologies of Information and Communications) delegates said in a statement: 'from the beginning there has been a firm rejection of any pretense of appropriation by third parties, of the geographical names of the states, without their due consent and without taking into account the right that they must have to participate in the governance of the domain ‘.amazon '.'“

Tucows $TCX acquired wholesale domain name registrar Ascio Technologies from CSC, for $29.44M, adding ~1.8 million domains under management and approximately 500 active resellers. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to operating cash flow, and provide synergies over the next 12 to 18 months. Pre-acquisition, Ascio generated ~$4M of annual EBITDA. Purchase price funded through Tucows’ existing credit facility. More here.

Q. Will all domain name marketplaces have to become licensed escrow agents?--TheDomains.com.

INTA: Effects of ICANN’s WHOIS Reforms Under GDPR--published March 14, 2019, by INTA's Internet Committee 2018/2019 (pdf). A report summarizing the results of the INTA Internet Committee's call for comments during the summer and fall of 2018 regarding ICANN's Temporary Specification for WHOIS and its impact on access to thick WHOIS registrant information.

How Starbucks protects its brand in China (about half of Starbucks’ enforcement workload): (a) relationship building with government departments in provinces is key to success; (b) “light touch” used when dealing with non-willful infringement of brands such as Frappuccino--more here.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

Data Privacy: "It’s clear after this hearing that companies who deliberately over-collect data and sidestep user privacy are making a business choice"--Why the Debate Over Privacy Can't Rely on Tech Giants--eff.org. See also: Here’s Why You Can’t Trust What Cops and Companies Claim About Automated License Plate Readers--eff.org.

EU: with final vote on the controversial EU Copyright Directive, Articles 11 and 13, scheduled for this coming week, a number of European Wikipedia sites went 'dark' for the day, blocking all access and directing users to contact their local EU representative to protest the laws. Many fear that the directive will adversely impact freedom of speech in Europe.

Russia: Russians, Fearing Internet Isolation, Protest Government Plan--npr.org. Also: Russia Passes Law Preventing Criticism Of The State As Citizens Worry About Loss Of Internet Freedom, Or Worse--tsarizm.com.

Splintered internet result of freedom of speech: Khan--pacbiztimes.com.

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

1. News Review 1) ICANN64 Report, TSG Model A House Built On Sand?

2. Airbnb Buying HotelTonight (video), Likely To Delay IPO

3. Brexit Madness - UK PM Theresa May to Ask EU for Brexit Delay (video)

4. Federal Reserve Chairman's Press Conference LIVE Wednesday, March 20

-- John Poole, Editor • Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
Follow @DomainMondo

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