Showing posts with label TMCH. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TMCH. Show all posts

2017-10-08

News Review | RySG Requests $$$ and "Detailed Accounting" From ICANN

News Review | ©2016 DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2017-10-08) with analysis and opinion: Features •  1) RySG Requests $$$ and "Detailed Accounting" From ICANN,  2) Other ICANN news: .AMAZON Diplomacy, 3)Names, Domains & Trademarks: Donuts' "struggling" new gTLDs, 4) ICYMI: Project Loon in Puerto Rico, 5) Most Read Posts.

1) RySG Requests $$$ and "Detailed Accounting" From ICANN
The RySG (gTLDs Registries Stakeholder Group) has requested $$$ (again), and a "detailed accounting" from ICANN--the latest in the festering spat between the failing new gTLDs' registry operators and the ICANN organization, specifically its "Global Domains Division" set up by ICANN ex-CEO Fadi Chehade and primarily staffed by incompetent cronies of Chehade, including its President, Akram Atallah, who, collectively, required 5½ months to summon up the courage to tell the RySG "No" in its reply dated August 29, 2017, to a previous RySG letter--see News Review | New gTLDs Hucksters Lose Again: ICANN Says No $$$ | DomainMondo.com.

In the latest correspondence from Paul Diaz, RySG Chair, the RySG requests to ICANN have multiplied and now include (emphasis and link added):
"An obvious request relates to an apparent double charging and a refund of the additional $5,000 ICANN collected from each registry operator to set-up the TMCH ... ICANN is very much in a position to refund registry operators for this overcharge, and we request that ICANN do so."
"We think that ICANN should launch a broad awareness campaign for the new gTLDs" [Editor's note: this request that ICANN become, in effect, a PR and marketing agency for new gTLD registry operators, seems incompatible with ICANN's Articles, and federal and state laws, and could cause ICANN to lose its 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Code:"The organization must not be organized or operated for the benefit of private interests, and no part of a section 501(c)(3) organization's net earnings may inure to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual."].
"This letter requests a fee reduction of the exact type contemplated in Section 6.7 of the Registry Agreement" [Editor's note: 6.7 is a new section negotiated in secret between RySG and Atallah's "Global Domains Division"--see News Review: ICANN Secretly Colludes With New gTLD Registry Operators | DomainMondo.com--which became effective July 31, 2017, over objections of the ICANN community and others--see "Note" in paragraph "c." below].
 "... ICANN to provide the RySG with a detailed accounting of expenses to date ... If the ICANN organization anticipates further spending our application fees in this or other manners, we request, first, a reasonable forecast for their likely use, and second, deeper involvement in the associated budgeting process. The RySG does not necessarily presume the cogency of such expenditures ..."
"I will be in touch shortly to schedule an in-person discussion in Abu Dhabi. In the near term, we anticipate your more immediate reply regarding the TMCH fees request and an accounting of costs to date and potential future costs." 
The full embed of the latest letter is further below. The history of the correspondence in this matter (as published by ICANN), is as follows:

a. RySG asks for $$$ from ICANN
14 Mar 2017 Letter from Paul Diaz (RySG Chair) to Akram Atallah, Xavier Calvez, and Cyrus Namazi  [published by ICANN 16 March 2017]: "... the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG) proposes that a portion of the 2012 excess application fees be used right away to offset registry fixed fees owed to ICANN ... we propose that registry operators of all delegated new gTLDs receive a 75% credit for their $6,250/quarter Fixed Registry Fee. Upon approval, this $4,687.50/quarter offset would last for four consecutive quarters, and would be eligible for renewal based on ICANN approval ... We ...  also propose that ICANN create a fund, to be seeded with US$3M at start-up, to promote universal awareness of new gTLDs ... This proposal does not preclude ICANN from considering at a later date some form of refund to all applicants ..."

b. ICANN Says "No"
29 Aug 2017 Letter from Akram Atallah to Paul Diaz [published by ICANN 30 August 2017]: "... We do not yet know how much of the New gTLD Program remaining funds will be required to address future unanticipated expenses, and by when. As such, at this time, ICANN is not in a position to commit to the dispensation of any potential remaining funds from the New gTLD Program applications fees. Thank you for your thoughtful proposal and for your understanding." 

c. RySG asks ICANN for $$$ again and to provide a "detailed accounting" etc.  
03 Oct 2017 Letter from Paul Diaz (RySG Chair) to Akram Atallah (President of ICANN's "Global Domains Division") [published by ICANN 06 October 2017] embed below (highlighting and note added)--Note: Diaz (p.2) fails to note that Section 6.7 of the Registry Agreement was an amendment added effective July 31, 2017, negotiated in secret by and between Akram Atallah's "Global Domains Division" and the Registries Stakeholder Group (RySG), and approved by the ICANN Board over the objections and concerns expressed by members of the ICANN community and others during the public comment period (see comments here). Full embed:

Editor's note: The new gTLDs do not suffer from a "lack of awareness" problem. That's just a false narrative being pushed by the new gTLDs lobby to explain the lack of consumer (registrant) demand for what is essentially, an unwanted and defective product. As I've stated before:
"ICANN foolishly and incompetently expanded gTLDs (generic top-level domains) from just 22 (.com, .net, .org ... .gov, .mil, .edu, .int) to over 1200 starting in 2014, and now the new gTLDs hucksters (registry operators et al) are finding out that hundreds of new gTLDs are "unwanted and unneeded" and they are going broke, and want ICANN to "bail them out." ICANN has slowly begun to realize its own "pipe dream" about new gTLDs was delusional, and is now "looking out for #1" (#1 is the ICANN organization and its budget that pays the obscenely extravagant salary and benefits packages to ICANN management and much of the staff)."
Of course, all of this is nothing new--just read Why new top-level web domains are doomed to fail | Media Network | TheGuardian.com 12 Feb 2013;  or FTC Warns That Rapid Expansion of Internet Domain Name System Could Leave Consumers More Vulnerable to Online Fraud | Federal Trade Commission Dec 16, 2011; or Expanding Internet Domains | The New York Times Dec 25, 2011: "There is no pressing need to create hundreds of new suffixes next year. It would be far better for ICANN to start with a pilot program to work out problems before expanding the system."

 Bottom Line: With its new gTLDs expansion, ICANN made a "mess of the DNS," and now its most influential "stakeholder group"--the RySG (which represents all of the generic top-level domains' (gTLDs) registry operators)--has essentially been "captured" by the new gTLDs registry operators (no need for a theDNA.org), and will continue its relentless push that ICANN essentially cave-in to all its demands.

2) Other ICANN news
a. .AMAZON Diplomacy--new gTLD .AMAZON and What It Means For ICANN--Council on Foreign Relations: "... Brazil and its allies are not without tools outside of ICANN to act on its views, including sovereign authority over commerce in their markets. This is a sensitive situation that requires diplomacy, the exercise of mutual respect, and creative mechanisms for ensuring all sides feel fairly treated."--Daniel Sepulveda, former U.S. Ambassador, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and Coordinator for Communications and Information Policy from 2013 to 2017.

b. ICANN60 Meeting schedule will be posted on Monday, 9 October 2017. Pre-ICANN60 Policy Open House | ICANN.org: Thursday, 19 October 2017, 10:00 and 19:00 UTC (via Adobe Connect and dial-in), register via this form by 17 October 2017. The "Pre-ICANN60 Policy Report" and "Generic Names Supporting Organization Policy Briefing: ICANN60 Edition" will be published by 12 October 2017. More info here.

c. ICANN's SSR2 Team already off-track? 03 October 2017 Letter from Patrik Fältström, Chair | ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee, to ICANN Board (pdf) [published by ICANN 04 October 2017] re the Security, Stability and Resiliency of the DNS Review (SSR2). See also Letter from ICANN Board to SSR2 Team concerning scope of proposed work plan for SSR2’s Subteam 2.

d. WHOIS & GDPR: 02 October 2017 Letter from IPC to ICANN's Theresa Swinehart and Akram Atallah re GDPR Ad-Hoc Working Group [published by ICANN 04 October 2017] Letter signed by Greg Shatan, President | Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC), excerpt below. .
IPC Letter (pdf) re: ICANN's GDPR Ad-Hoc Working Group
Editor's note: ICANN stated at its October 4 webinar that "at the request of the Business Constituency" a cross-community session will be scheduled for ICANN60 in Abu Dhabi, on Thursday, November 2, 10:30am to "work with the community" on GDPR issues.

ICANN Legal Memorandum (final version) re: Final responses to EU data protection (GDPR) questions re gTLD Registration Directory data (WHOIS)
GDPR legal memorandum to ICANN
Full memo--https://gnso.icann.org/en/drafts/wsgr-icann-memorandum-25sep17-en.pdf (pdf).

e. ICANN Webinar on the KSK Rollover Delay and Next Steps--ICANN.org: "The webinar [October 11, 2017, 1500–1600 UTC] will be conducted by Matt Larson, Vice President of Research in ICANN's Office of the Chief Technology Officer. Larson will be joined in the webinar by Duane Wessels, Distinguished Engineer at Verisign, Inc. Wessels has compiled data about the readiness of resolvers for the upcoming root KSK roll." Webinar Details & How to Attend are here.

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 
  • Project Loon in Puerto Rico (via WIRED.com): Alphabet (a/k/a Google $GOOGL $GOOG) gets approval from FCC to fly 30 Project Loon balloons over Puerto Rico for 6 months, after Irma and Maria left 90% of the island without voice or internet connectivity.

 5) Top 4 most read posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo


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2017-07-30

News Review: EFF Warns Registrants To Avoid New gTLD Domain Names

News Review | ©2016 DomainMondo.com
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):
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:
nTLDStats.com
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).
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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2017-02-26

News Review: ICANN Multistakeholder vs Multilateral Internet Governance

News Review | ©2016 DomainMondo.com
Domain Mondo's weekly review of internet domain news:

 Features • 1. ICANN Multistakeholder vs Multilateral Internet Governance; 2. Why ICANN Multistakeholderism Is Failing; 3. Private Agreements and Antitrust Liability; 4. How ICANN threatens DNS Security & Stability; 5. Phishers shifting to ICANN's new gTLDs; 6. Bogus DMCA Take Down Notices; 7. TMCH Revised Report; 8. Internet Freedom Report: Malta, Cameroon, China; 9. A 'Digital Geneva Convention'; 10. Trump's Trademark in China; 11. Outlook email for your domain name; 12. SHA1 collision; 13. Hacked ICANN data still sells; 14. ICANN events May 9-15 in Madrid; 15. ICANN Public Comment Periods closing in March; 16. Most popular posts this past week.

1. ICANN Multistakeholder vs Multilateral Internet Governance
"I think if we get rid of that [IANA functions] contract we will be free of the pressures"--ICANN President and CEO Fadi Chehade, February 10, 2015.
February 2017: "... The reformed [ICANN] multistakeholder internet governance approach faces significant challenges ... If the multistakeholder model is seen as ineffective in addressing the vulnerabilities that enable cybercrime, or being completely peripheral to the issue, developing economies could question its legitimacy and seek answers in the multilateral system .... "There are also worries that ICANN, the operator of the IANA functions, will abuse its authority and ignore the interests of internet users. In the past, ICANN has been accused of ignoring the views of governments, prioritizing private sector interests, and mismanaging its finances. ICANN recently implemented enhancements to address these and similar concerns. Nevertheless, ensuring that ICANN remains accountable will be critical to demonstrating that the multistakeholder approach works. It will also act as a bulwark against Russian and Chinese efforts at greater intergovernmental control over the internet."--Maintaining U.S. Leadership on Internet Governance | Council on Foreign Relations | cfr.org (emphasis added).

2. Why ICANN multistakeholderism is failing--"industry self-regulation often fails to protect the public"--"lack of transparency, accountability, participation, and representation"--
source: Presentation on DNS and Content Regulation | Electronic Frontier Foundation
source: Presentation on DNS and Content Regulation | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Note re: Public Interest Registry's arbitration process--Systemic Copyright Infringement Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy (SCDRP) | Public Interest Registry | pir.org February 23, 2017--"Given certain concerns that have been recently raised in the public domain, Public Interest Registry is pausing its SCDRP development process to reflect on those concerns and consider forward steps. We will hold [i.e., stop] any further development of the SCDRP until further notice." (emphasis added)
UPDATE: Shadow Regulation Withers In The Sunlight | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org: "... It’s not surprising that a plan developed in secret, without input from Internet users, would disregard users’ rights. As we’ve explained, truly “healthy” Internet governance requires inclusion, balance, and accountability, all of which were absent here. Public Interest Registry did the right thing by hitting the brakes on this proposal. Its brief announcement today acknowledges the importance of good policy-development processes ..."
ICANN's Commercial and Business Users Constituency (BC), Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC), ISPs and Connectivity Providers Constituency (ISPCP) complain about the NonCommercial Users Constituency (NCUC.org) session at ICANN57 "DNS and Content Regulation" (one leading participant was Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF.org)--
15 Feb 2017 Letter from BC, IPC and ISPCP (pdf) to Göran Marby, Steve Crocker, and ICANN Board of Directors, published by ICANN on 21 February 2017:
"... for the Hyderabad meeting, a single sponsor group proposed a HIT (High Interest Topic) session on DNS and Content Regulation. Initially, the sponsoring group was allowed to select panelists and designate the moderator, who was also part of the sponsoring organization. Through persistence by other stakeholders, panel participation was broadened considerably. Still, during the HIT session, the sponsoring organization opened with a presentation of their position. In our view, this did not meet the level of broad participation of the ICANN community to warrant a high-interest session ..."
Response from Göran Marby, ICANN President & CEO (embedded below, highlighting added)--or how ICANN subtly shuts down free speech, participation, and representation that conflicts with powerful private profit-seeking corporate interests such as represented by BC, IPC, and ISPCP, and the other unelected non-governmental special interests that dominate ICANN--



 3.  Private Agreements and Antitrust Liability--Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45 "(a)(1) Unfair methods of competition in or affecting commerce, and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce, are hereby declared unlawful .... (4) (B) All remedies available to the Commission with respect to unfair and deceptive acts or practices shall be available for acts and practices described in this paragraph, including restitution to domestic or foreign victims." (emphasis added)--See Opinion and Order of the Federal Trade Commission (pdf) In the Matter of 1-800 Contacts, Inc., Docket No. 9372 (keyword advertising bidding agreements):
",,, Given that the Complaint alleges liability based only on private agreements that do not constitute government petitioning, 1-800 Contacts’ Third Defense fails .... Because the Complaint alleges that 1-800 Contacts violated Section 5 solely by entering into private bidding agreements, we hold that the Noerr-Pennington doctrine does not apply and 1-800 Contacts’ Third Defense fails as a matter of law. Similarly, because Complaint Counsel need not prove 1-800 Contacts’ lawsuits to be objectively and subjectively unreasonable to establish a Section 5 violation, 1-800 Contacts’ Second Defense also fails. We therefore grant Complaint Counsel’s motion." (emphasis added)

4.  How ICANN threatens Domain Name System Security & Stability:
"In 2015, ICANN's compliance department caused financial harm to a domain name registrant because of a minor, perceived inaccuracy in their domain name's WHOIS records. In this instance, the registrant had a mailing address in Virginia and a phone number with a Tennessee area code. While both details were valid, and the registrant was contactable, a "violent criminal” filed a complaint with ICANN alleging that the details were inaccurate. The complaint was accepted by ICANN and passed along to the domain name registrar. The registrar, fearing a non-compliance notice from ICANN, suspended the domain name without performing any investigation into the claim, resulting in the registrant losing access to their business email account and website."--source infra--
At the NCPH Intersessional, [ICANN] Compliance Concerns Take Centre Stage | circleid.com Feb 23, 2017: ".... as things stand at present, if a domain name can be repossessed from a registrant for any reason at all, without any due process being followed, and in direct violation of Article 1 of the organisation's bylaws, it might well be ICANN that is posing a threat to the security and stability of the Domain Name System" (emphasis added).  See also ICANN Compliance Lends a Hand to a Violent Criminal While Trashing a Legitimate Business | circleid.com.

 Editor's note: never forget that among the real core values of ICANN, as established during the Fadi Chehade-Akram Atallah regime (2012-2016), are dishonesty, incompetence, and cronyism.

5. New study reveals phishers are shifting their sights to ICANN's new gTLDs and the cloud: "A study by cybersecurity firm PhishLabs indicates that the volume of phishing attacks grew by almost one-third last year, with cloud storage brands set to overtake financial services as the top targets. Researchers also found that phishing perpetrators are increasingly turning to new gTLDs to dupe internet users."--WorldTrademarkReview.com (emphasis and link added).

6. Bogus DMCA Take Down Notices: in a comment to the U.S. Copyright Office (pdf), Google reports that 99.95% of URLs it was asked to take down last month didn't even exist in its search indexes. "For example, in January 2017, the most prolific submitter submitted notices that Google honored for 16,457,433 URLs. But on further inspection, 16,450,129 (99.97%) of those URLs were not in our search index in the first place."

7. Trademark Clearinghouse Revised Report | ICANN.org: On 23 February 2017, ICANN published the Revised Report of the Independent Review of the Trademark Clearinghouse (pdf): "...  we find that although trademark holders value access to the Sunrise period and many submit proof of use to become eligible for Sunrise registrations, few trademark holders make [new gTLD] Sunrise registrations. This could be due in part to the expense of Sunrise registrations or because other protections of the TMCH services reduce the need for trademark holders to utilize Sunrise registrations." (emphasis added)

8. Internet Freedom Report: Malta, Cameroon, China:
  • Maltese protest proposed internet news laws: Several thousands people took to the streets of the capital of Malta on Sunday to protest against a new bill that will force Internet news sites to register with the government.--Reuters.com
  • Cameroon must urgently free the internet in Anglophone regions - UN expert | AfricaNews.com: "Cameroon should immediately reverse the ‘‘appalling violation of their (citizen’s) right to freedom of expression,” in its Anglophone regions by restoring internet access, a United Nations expert has said."
  • China Ramps Up Control of Domain Names, Adds New Layer to Great Firewall | rfa.org: "The draft regulations, which were first released for public consultation in March 2016, would require any websites operating in China to register with a Chinese domain name, which is subject to state control and can be used to shut down entire websites within the country-level .cn top-level domain."
Also note: Internet Freedom Festival | 6 – 10 March 2017: The Global Unconference of the Internet Freedom Communities, March 6-10, 2017, Valencia, Spain.

9.  A 'Digital Geneva Convention': "... Just as the Fourth Geneva Convention has long protected civilians in times of war, we now need a Digital Geneva Convention that will commit governments to protecting civilians from nation-state attacks in times of peace. And just as the Fourth Geneva Convention recognized that the protection of civilians required the active involvement of the Red Cross, protection against nation-state cyberattacks requires the active assistance of technology companies. The tech sector plays a unique role as the internet’s first responders, and we therefore should commit ourselves to collective action that will make the internet a safer place, affirming a role as a neutral Digital Switzerland that assists customers everywhere and retains the world’s trust ..."--Brad Smith, Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, blogs.microsoft.com. See also Bruce Schneier: It's time for internet-of-things regulation | searchsecurity.techtarget.com.

10.  Names, Domains, Trademarks: President Trump wins trademark rights for his name in China | worldipreview.com.

11.  Outlook email for your domain name:
  • Hands-On with Outlook.com Premium | Thurrott.com: "if you sign up now, “your subscriptions will auto-renew annually at $19.95 (Outlook.com Premium) .... This is an affordable option*, and it’s a nice way for a family to get a custom domain and not be stuck with an outlook.com or hotmail.com address."
  • More info:  https://premium.outlook.com/#/Offer  "you can create personalized addresses for up to 5 people and sync everything to your existing Outlook.com mailbox."
  • See also: "the $20 offer is still available, so if you’re looking to save some money, you might want to move quickly: This offer expires March 31, 2017. Note that you still need to pay for your custom domain. You can do that via an outside registrar or through Microsoft"--Thurrott.com

12. Announcing the first SHA1 collision | security.googleblog.com: "For the tech community, our findings emphasize the necessity of sunsetting SHA-1 usage. Google has advocated the deprecation of SHA-1 for many years, particularly when it comes to signing TLS certificates."

13. Hacked ICANN data still sells for hundreds of dollars years after breach | cyberscoop.com: "Three years after hackers used a spearphishing attack to successfully gain access to internal data at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the data is still being passed around and sold on black markets for $300, complete with claims that it’s never been leaked before."

14. ICANN events May 9-15 in Madrid: 1) ICANN GDD Industry Summit May 9-11, 2017; 2) 6th Registration Operations Workshop May 12, 2017; 3) ICANN DNS Symposium May 13, 2017; 4) OARC 26 May 14-15, 2017. Read more at InternetSociety.org.

15. ICANN Public Comment Periods that close in March, 2017:

16.  Most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com:
  1. News Review: China Cyber Sovereignty vs ICANN Multistakeholderism
  2. Three Business Lessons You Can Learn From Airbnb (video)
  3. Splunk $SPLK Helping Companies Make Sense of Machine Data (video)
  4. TechReview | Zuck's Facebook Letter and the Snapchat $SNAP IPO (video)

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

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2014-11-10

ICANN Dysfunctions and Abuse, New gTLDs, TMCH

More ICANN dysfunctions and abuse re: new gTLDs and TMCH--

"As explained in my letter dated March 20th 2014, Domainoo, a French domain name provider for big companies, has been facing a big issue concerning TMCH labels authorized for trademarks with accents (umlaut, acute accent …).

"In order to meet your requirement concerning exact match between trademark and proof of use, many clients have been obliged to protect in the TMCH trademarks with accents. Unfortunately, we learned later, checking the corresponding labels, that corresponding domain names without accents were not authorized and non-addable. 

"We have participated to many meetings in which we met people from other countries facing the same issues. Despite our letters, nothing has changed and we have been obliged, in order to offer a strong protection to our clients to ask them to protect in the TMCH new trademarks without the accents. Thus, they have been invoiced twice to obtain the good protection.

"As already explained, until TMCH was created, all previous Sunrise Periods have accepted these trademarks to lock or register domain names without accents (trademark Moët used to protect moet.xxx for example) and you can check with .PARIS that the Registry will authorize these trademarks during its priority phase.

"The big French company MHCS, part of Moet Hennessy group, a subsidiary of LVMH group, is associated to this letter and would like to receive a reimbursement or a compensation for all the unnecessary costs they have had to bear with the inscription of many useless trademark (according to your conditions of course) !

"Thank you in advance for your attention and your efforts so that our customers have not the feeling that they have been abused by ICANN and the TMCH." (emphasis added)

Online document (pdf):

Domainoo Letter to ICANN re TMCH, trademarks











































Domain Mondo comment: Not to worry--lots of companies and people have been abused by ICANN, excepting of course, its favored customers: certain registry operators; service providers; and registrars;--remember, for ICANN, "it's all about the money"--the public interest be damned.




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