News Review | Is ICANN Trying To Hijack The Global Internet DNS Root?

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-07-08) with analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Is ICANN Trying To Hijack The Global Internet DNS Root? 2) ICANN news: a. GDPR, RDS, WHOIS & ePDP Updates, and more, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Dot COM Still King, and more, 4) ICYMI Internet Domain News, 5) Most Read.

UPDATE: SSAC2 Organizational Review

Assessment Report Webinar 12 July 2018

Time: 20:00 UTC [local time] 4pm EDT (US)
Adobe Connect Room: https://participate.icann.org/OrgReviews – (upon log-in, please, use the automatic dial-out prompt to connect your phone). More information here.
Editor's note: I have already submitted a comment, view here.
The Assessment Report (pdf).
Comment Deadline Extension - SSAC Review Assessment Report - 2 July 2018 - comments on the report are encouraged and can be sent to mssi-secretariat@icann.org until the new deadline of 23:59 UTC on 27 July 2018.

The ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) advises the ICANN community and Board on matters relating to the security and integrity of the Internet's naming and address allocation systems. This includes operational, administrative, and registration matters.

Original Post:
1) Is ICANN Trying To Hijack The Global Internet DNS Root?

source: iana.org

"Internet overseer ICANN is considering a self-managed governance model for the world's Domain Name System root servers – and one of the outcomes could be a reduction in the number of root servers"--theregister.co.uk.

Apparently the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the California "non-profit" corporation known as ICANN, is not content in having:

1. wrecked the global DNS by delegating into the global internet root hundreds of new gTLDs that "fail to work as expected on the internet" (see last week's News Review 2)c. SSAC2);
2. designed and implemented an ill-conceived new gTLDs program founded upon consumer fraud, a .BRAND extortion racket, exploitative pricing power and greed, and ICANN incompetence (pdf);
3. expropriated for itself and its "contracted" third parties, potentially every geographic term and reference in the world--cities, regions, states, etc.--for privatized monetary gain and exploitation (in perpetuity);
4. completely bungled its response to the European Union's data protection law (GDPR).

Now, ICANN, together with its dysfunctional, codependent and captive "ICANN community" dominated by "special interests" (lawyers, lobbyists, contracted parties), apparently wants more--the world's DNS root zone itself configured as 13 named authorities (see graphic above).

ICANN62 Presentation:

ICANN62 Transcript (pdf).

RSSAC037 A Proposed Governance Model for the DNS Root Server System | ICANN.org (pdf).

Editor's note: anything ICANN touches usually does not end well. For that pragmatic reason alone, before there are any other changes to the DNS root servers, I would suggest first that ICANN be prohibited from ever playing any role in the operation or management of the global internet DNS root servers, and that ICANN be required to divest itself from operating the L root server (transfer its operation and management to IETF or another affiliate of the Internet Architecture Board or the Internet Society).

2) ICANN News

a. GDPR, RDS, WHOIS & ePDP Updates: 

•  European Data Protection Board - Second plenary meeting, Thursday, 5 July, 2018 (pdf) excerpt below:

•  5 July 2018 Letter from European Data Protection Board Chair Andrea Jelinek to ICANN CEO Göran Marby (pdf) embed below, responding to 10 May 2018 letter (pdf) from Göran Marby, in which the EDPB reiterates what it (or its predecessor WP29) had previously told ICANN:

See also ICANN't get no respect: Europe throws Whois privacy plan in the trash | theregister.co.uk.

•  It didn't take long for the ePDP process to start going "off the rails"-- Stacking the deck? The ePDP on the Whois temp spec | internetgovernance.org. See also Proposed Temp Spec EPDP Membership Structure 27 Jun 2018 (pdf).

•  ICANN.org: ICANN Temporary Specification Model Registry Registrar Agreement Amendment Terms 02 Jul 2018--rra-amendment-terms-temp-spec-02jul18-en.pdf [pdf 58.4 KB]

•  Registry-Registrar Agreement (RRA) Amendment Procedure to be used with Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data | ICANN.org.

•  Temp Spec's Effects on Registry Agreement (RA) and Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA) - ICANN Org Operations and Policy Research 11 June 2018 working draft (pdf) embed below:

See also: Expressions of Interest Sought for Chair of GNSO ePDP on the Temporary Specification for gTLD Registration Data--ICANN.org.

Editor's note: follow GDPR, RDS, WHOIS & ePDP updates on the mail lists here and here and on the wiki. Also note: "development of a post mortem on the RDS PDP and the closure of that PDP. Request that Post mortem is completed by end of July so that it can be shared with the Council" --minutes of the GNSO Council meeting on Wednesday 27 June 2018.

b. ICANN's next round of new gTLDs:
Initial Report on the New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process (Overarching Issues & Work Tracks 1-4) } ICANN.org--comment period closes 5 Sep 2018 23:59 UTC.

c.  Issues Open For Public Comment Closing in July--issue and close date (subject to change):

• Draft Community Travel Support Guidelines 16 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC

• Open Data Initiative Datasets and Metadata 27 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC

• Proposed Renewal of .COOP Sponsored Registry Agreement 27 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC

• Draft Proposal of the New Fellowship Program Approach 27 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC

• Short-Term Options to Adjust the Timeline for Specific Reviews 31 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC

• Long-Term Options to Adjust the Timeline of Reviews 31 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC

• Initial Report on the Protections for Certain Red Cross Names in all gTLDs – Policy Amendment Process 31 Jul 2018 23:59 UTC

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a. Dot COM Is Still King: "Afnic has published its 2017 study on the global domain name market, based on ICANN statistics, registry figures, specialized site information and internal research ... With nearly 135 million domain names, .COM remains the "heavyweight" in legacy TLDs and saw its market share increase from 38.9% to 39.5%, ... The "Other Legacy" TLDs suffered in 2017, losing 2% in stock. Overall market growth was 1.2% in 2017, down from 7.1% in 2016 ... nTLDs came to an abrupt halt in 2018, and saw their market share decrease ... The study of the distribution of domain names at the global level clearly shows a  predominance of North America for "Legacy" TLDs with nearly 58% of the .COM names, Europe for ccTLDs (49%), and Asia-Pacific for nTLDs (51%). The domain name market in 2017 was also marked by a phenomenon of change and recomposition. The concentration of players continued at all levels while the financial situation remained tense ..."--Afnic Study: The Global Domain Name Market in 2017 (June 28, 2018) | afnic.fr (emphasis added).

b. Designer Michael Kors is seeking injunctive relief and millions in damages from 150 entities operating in South Florida selling knockoffs online. The 28-page complaint (pdf) was filed June 21, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for Florida's Southern District Miami Division, according to flarecord.com, and alleges the defendants are committing "federal trademark counterfeiting and infringement, false designation of origin, cybersquatting, common law unfair competition and common law trademark infringement."

c. Australia ccTLD .au -- point vs counterpoint -- registry service providers Afilias vs Neustar (Neustar a/k/a ausregistry and ARI Registry Services):

Afilias: ".au Completes Historic Transition to Afilias, 3.1M Domain Names Transferred to New Infrastructure"--circleid.com
vs
Neustar: "Setting the story straight: Neustar’s role in auDA’s Registry Transformation Project"--ausregistry.com.au

Meanwhile auDA's share of .au domain name fees raises eyebrows--afr.com: auDA used to take "$2.66 a year from every domain fee, with $7.70 going to Neustar. The new breakdown, auDA told us, is a staggering $6.13 to auDA per domain per annum. Which presumably gives $2.54 per annum to Afilias ..." 

d. Brexit Notice--eurid.eu:  "... On 10 April 2018 EURid, the .eu registry manager, received a communication from the European Commission stating the following:

“The revocation of existing holders’ rights and the prohibition for registrars from processing any more requests for registrations or renewals for .eu domain names whose holders are no longer eligible must be prepared so that the necessary measures are effective as from 1 January 2021 or, in case that there were no withdrawal agreement in force before 30 March 2019, as from 30 March 2019.”

"Upon request of the Commission, we drafted a high-level plan to implement the domain name revocation scenario(s). At the same time, we highlighted several pending matters that should be communicated to the registry manager before we can enforce any measure. Among them:

• What is the earliest date on which the European Commission will be able to inform EURid of the chosen option?
• What domain names are affected by the decision of the European Commission? For example, will there be any difference of approach where the registrant is from Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar or other British overseas territories?
• What will happen to domain names reserved by the UK government as listed in the Annex of EC Regulation 874/2004?

"We understand the concerns of our stakeholders about this decision. We are fully committed to share further details as soon as they become available to us and invite you to regularly visit this webpage for updates."

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

a. Top 5 Things you should know about DNS--The Domain Name System, or DNS, could be slowing you down or even exposing you to security issues--techrepublic.com.

b. U.S.: EFF Sues to Invalidate FOSTA, an Unconstitutional Internet Censorship Law--EFF.org.

c. The great firewall of China: Xi Jinping’s internet shutdown--TheGuardian.com 29 Jun 2018--"today the country has the largest and most sophisticated online censorship operation in the world."
See also  Freedom segregated--"a proposal of the Hainan government that would enable access to overseas social media platforms that are otherwise censored in China"... "was met with firm criticism when it was released on June 21, on the provincial government website"--hongkongfp.com [Editor's note: as the news story cited indicates, the proposal to allow full access to the internet on China's island province of Hainan has been withdrawn from the website where originally published.]

d. Russian activists turn to UN Human Rights Council about Internet censure--crimerussia.com.

e. Venezuela blocks Tor browser--cnet.com

f. EU: European Parliament to review copyright rules in September--the plenary voted by 318 votes to 278, with 31 abstentions to reject the negotiating mandate, proposed by the Legal Affairs Committee on 20 June. As a result, Parliament’s position will now be up for debate, amendment, and a vote during the next plenary session, in September--europarl.europa.eu.

g. Politically Correct? What Happens When Social Media Censors the News: Facebook apologizes to a Texas newspaper after it initially flagged a post of the text of the Declaration of Independence as "hate speech"--TheHill.com.

h. App Traps: How Cheap Smartphones Siphon User Data in Developing Countries - Tension between privacy and sharing of user data stokes a debate in West, but much less so in developing economies--WSJ.com.

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

1.  News Review | ICANN Brought Its GDPR Train Wreck To ICANN62 Panama

2. Tech Review | Digital Advertising's Disruption and Data Addiction (video)

3.  World's Fastest Supercomputer, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (video)

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER

News Review | GDPR & Antitrust: Europe Is The World's Tech Regulator

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2018-05-06) with analysis and opinion: Features • 1) GDPR & Antitrust: Europe Is The World's Tech Regulator, 2)  Other ICANN News: ICANN's Response to My Complaint, and more, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: France.com, ccTLD .au, $MMX, and more, 4) ICYMI: China & Multilateralism, and more, 5) Most Read.

UPDATE May 10, 2018: ICANN CEO's Desperate 6-page Letter to WP29 Chair, embed below:

Original Post:
"The EU is fast becoming the world's de facto technology regulator. Without much in the way of home-grown global tech, they can act where the U.S. and China cannot"--DataTrekResearch.com.

1) GDPR & Antitrust: Europe Is The World's Tech Regulator

ICANN's GDPR Train Wreck: How Many Days Until May 25? 

Data Protection/Privacy Update: Meeting with Contracted Parties on Apr 27 re GDPR Compliance  | ICANN.org: "We aim to have a draft temporary specification to share with the community in the next few days."--Akram Atallah, ICANN Global Domains Division President, May 1, 2018 [Editor's note: no more delusional talk at ICANN about a fantasy "GDPR enforcement moratorium." ].

Letter from Graeme Bunton, Registrar Stakeholder Group Chair, to ICANN GDD's Akram Atallah 4 May 2018: "... Because of the uncertainty posed by GDPR and any Temporary Policy established by ICANN, including the immediate incorporation of such Temporary Policy into the Registrar Accreditation Agreement, the RrSG formally requests that the language of the Temporary Policy specifically include a statement that immediately pauses the work of the AFAV WG (Across-field Address Validation Working Group) and PPSAI IRT (Privacy/Proxy Services Accreditation Implementation Review Team) and keeps it paused until the announcement of the permanent policy that results from the EPDP."

Behind the EU's record $2.7B fine for Google

Few realized it at the time, but this was just the beginning: CBS News video above published Jun 27, 2017: The EU says search giant Google must pay for antitrust violations.

'Accept and continue': billions are clocking into digital sweat factories without realising it | European Data Protection Supervisor | edps.europa.eu 20 Apr 2018: "... lawyers will always be able to fashion ingenious arguments to justify almost any practice. But with personal data processing we need to move to a different model. The old approach is broken and unsustainable ... We must all be vigilant about attempts to game the system ..."--Giovanni Buttarelli, European Data Protection Supervisor (appointed by a joint decision of the European Parliament and the Council on 4 December 2014 for a term of five years).

"... The EU must use all tools, in particular antitrust ..."--Buttarelli speech 24 April 2018 embed below (highlighting added):

2) Other ICANN News

a. ICANN published its Response (pdf) (dated March 30, 2018), to my Complaint (pdf) of Feb 22, 2018--Editor's note: for whatever it's worth, you can read ICANN's response at the link above, but the true backstory, with apologies to ICANN's Brad White, is here:

My conclusion: After spending a year trying to get honest and straight answers from ICANN management about its filed IRS Form 990 (pdf), including about Sr. VP Sally Costerton's Secret Contract $$$, I have decided to refer the ICANN IRS Form 990 / Sally Costerton Secret Contract $$$ matters (along with other info), to the IRS, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and other governmental authorities. As for future ICANN Quarterly Stakeholder calls, I would advise others  "don't waste your time" trying to get honest answers from ICANN's management. For more on this, read News Review | ICANN Pays Senior VP Sally Costerton Secret Contract $$$ Oct 15, 2017.

b. How are gTLD Policies Implemented? | ICANN.org: 01 May 2018 how-gtld-policies-implemented-01may18-en.pdf [555 KB] embed below [Editor's note: LOL]:

c.  ICANN Board to Hold Three Public Sessions ["listen-only"] and Board Meeting ["listen-only"] During Vancouver Workshop | ICANN.org 11-13 May 2018.

d. ICANN New gTLDs Consumer Fraud and .BRAND Extortion Racket Next Round(s): 

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

a.  Former registrant of France.com files legal action in U.S. District Court--France seized the domain name France.com following entry of a French judgment in its favor (see notice below). On March 12, 2018, the registrar Web.com transferred the domain name registration to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The former registrant reportedly had held the domain name registration of France.com continuously since 1994--ArsTechnica.com.  More info: Complaint filed in U.S. District Court (pdf) and Notice of French Judgment (pdf).

b. Australia's ccTLD .au: In-fighting continues at domain name authority auDA | afr.com 1 May 2018.

c. $MMX: new gTLDs registry operator Minds + Machines Group Limited (AIM: MMX) (LON: MMX) (domain: MMX.co) announced on Friday morning its agreement to acquire ICM Registry LLC (operator of 4 gTLDs: .XXX, .ADULT, .PORN, .SEX), more info here and here. MMX shares closed Friday down 11.19% at 8.97 GBX −1.13. MMX discussion board here.

d. Google Product Forums: "Did I make the wrong decision to change Domain Name ..."--[Editor's note: short answer may be "YES" if you have been publishing for some time, unless you are willing to lose traffic (at least short term), and do ALL the work (or spend the money to have someone else do it for you) to correctly set up redirects (in the case at the link above there are 39,000+ redirects needed).]

e. Etsy Adds Another Basic Feature to Pattern Stores: Reviews | EcommerceBytes.com: "Pattern launched with limited features – Pattern stores were basically just mirrors of sellers’ existing Etsy shops but with the ability to have a unique domain name ..."

f. 20,000 [new gTLD .XYZ] domains registered and not 1 sale | TheDomains.com: the story of a registrant (domainer) who bought the hype and drank the Kool-Aid, but fortunately, only lost $200 (each domain had been registered for $0.01 each), plus 'his time' and now, hopefully, is a little wiser.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

a. China: Xi outlines blueprint to develop China's strength in cyberspace | xinhuanet.com: "a model of cyberspace governance with Chinese characteristics ... Cyberspace governance under the framework of the United Nations should be advanced and non-state entities should play a better role ..." and Axios.com: "... Xi also reiterated China’s goal of reforming global internet governance to better accommodate China’s approach: Xi said it is a general trend and common aspiration of the people to promote the reform of the global cyberspace governance system by sticking to a multilateral approach with multi-party participation from the government, international organizations, internet enterprises, technology communities, non-governmental institutions, and individuals." (emphasis added)

b. Chinese media giants hit snag with piracy block | ZDNet.com: "Cut the cord, the communication -- the domain name, that is -- between the application and the target application market, and that will prevent the infringement," counsel for TVB said in court."

c. Russia: Assault on Internet Freedom, Cybersecurity | Human Rights Watch | hrw.org.

d. IFF2018: Experts assess state of internet freedom in Africa | guardian.ng.

e. Amazon threatens to suspend Signal's AWS account over censorship circumvention | signal.org: "With Google Cloud and AWS out of the picture, it seems that domain fronting as a censorship circumvention technique is now largely non-viable ..."

5) Most read posts this past week on DomainMondo.com: 

1. News Review | GDPR Moratorium Just Another ICANN 'Fantasy'

2. Tesla $TSLA Q1 2018 Results, LIVE Webcast May 2, 5:30pm EDT

3. DocuSign $DOCU IPO, Electronic Signatures & EU GDPR (video)

4. Fintech Startup Revolut CEO on Expansion Plans, Hiring Strategy

5. Tech Review | Big Tech's First Quarter 2018: $AMZN $FB $GOOG $AAPL

6. Tech Review | Tech Regulation and Volatility in the VC Landscape (video)

7 Apple $AAPL Q2 FY18 Results LIVE Webcast May 1, 5pm EDT

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo
Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER

News Review | Brazil Opposes Draft Report re: ICANN U.S. Jurisdiction

Domain Mondo's weekly internet domain news review (NR 2017-10-22) with analysis and opinion: Features • 1) Brazil Opposes Draft Report re: ICANN U.S. Jurisdiction,  2) Other ICANN news: ICANN60, GDPR, CPE Review, auDA FOI, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Malware Domains, Vanity.com sale, Q3 Verisign $VRSN, 4) ICYMI: Digital Data & Privacy, 5) Most Read Posts.

Update: see ICANN Jurisdiction: CCWG-Accountability WS2, Friday Oct 27, Abu Dhabi

UPDATE: CCWG-ACCT WS2 Jurisdiction draft report. Brazil's revised dissenting statement Oct 25, 2017--"Dear Co-Chairs, Dear All, Please find attached the revised version of Brazil's dissenting statement, which I submit on behalf of Brazil, and which is to be attached to the draft report on jurisdiction. Best regards, Thiago"--Brazil's revised dissenting statement (pdf) embed below:

1) ICANN Accountability WS2: Brazil Opposes Draft Report on ICANN Jurisdiction (U.S.) 

Excerpt from Statement of Brazil (pdf) highlighting added

[CCWG-ACCT] Jurisdiction Subgroup. Draft Report. Statement of Brazil | ICANN.org: "On behalf of the Brazilian Government, I hereby submit the "Statement of Brazil" and its annex, which are to be annexed to the draft report of the jurisdiction subgroup, submitted on 11 October 2017, for consideration by the CCWG plenary."--Thiago Braz Jardim Oliveira, Sun Oct 15, 2017--Statement of Brazil, Brasília, 13 October 2017 (pdf).

See also Tunis Agenda for the Information Society (2005):

"... 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 ..."

The Accountability-Cross-Community October 2017 mail list select responses (links) below (nationality of each respondent in parenthesis):

• Greg Shatan (US); Jorge Cancio (Switzerland); Raphaël Beauregard-Lacroix (France); 

• Parminder Jeet Singh (India)(1 of 2); Parminder Jeet Singh (India)(2 of 2) dissent (pdf); 

• Paul Rosenzweig (US); and 

• Milton Mueller (US)16 Oct 2017: "This is a disappointing statement [from Brazil], but it needs to be understood that this is a dissent from a tiny minority whose ideas were not accepted because they were unrealistic and unattainable. It was already known that proposals for an intergovernmental organization governed by some as-yet-nonexistent form of international law had support from only two or three people, and overwhelmingly strong opposition from everyone else. And it was also clear that petitioning the Trump administration and a Republican Congress for an act of Congress granting ICANN immunity would be a blunder of unprecedented magnitude that would achieve exactly the opposite of the proponents' stated objectives. While a small minority was wasting time on a futile attempt to turn the clock back to 1997, the rest of us were confronting real, practical jurisdictional issues. We came up with tangible progress on OFAC and choice of law. These recommendations enjoy overwhelming consensus. Thus, I do not see that this dissent causes any problems. Let them display their petulance and in Abu Dhabi  we can discuss and debate it as needed to expose their fallacies and move on."

• Ambassador Benedicto Fonseca (Brazil) 17 Oct 2017; Olga Cavalli (Argentina): "We support what Ambassador Benedicto Fonseca expresses in his message, specially what is stated in point 4."

Notes for CCWG Accountability Plenary #24 | 18 October 2017 Action item: "Co-Chairs to consider various suggestions made as to the way forward for the Jurisdiction report [pdf] and post their decision to the list." (emphasis and link added)

CCWG-Accountability-WS2-Plenary-Jurisdiction | Co-Chairs Statement on way forward | 20 Oct 2017: "... the Co-Chairs would propose that Brazil submit its revised minority opinion to the plenary list by 23:59 UTC 25 October so that the members and participants can consider it prior to the 27 October plenary. In order to be responsive to the issues raised, we will change the format of the face to face meeting and will be providing ample room for opinions and positions to be expressed and put on the record. This will allow for our group to recognize the different viewpoints and challenges that either could not be dealt with in the report or could not be reflected in the report to everyone’s satisfaction. During this time slot, we will be offering Brazil the opportunity to present its revised minority opinion to the plenary and answer questions on it from the members and the participants. Jurisdiction challenges have been discussed and caused controversial debates since ICANN’s inception and we hope and expect that these discussions will not end with the completion of work stream 2. Thus, a record of this discussion will surely serve as a valuable source of information to inform further discussions beyond the contents of our report. The Co-Chairs also recommend that the second reading of the Jurisdiction draft recommendations be conducted at the 27 October face to face meeting as staff have confirmed that any significant delay in approving these recommendations could endanger their inclusion in the WS2 Final Report. This would allow for the Jurisdiction draft recommendations to be published for public consultation soon after ICANN 60 and would allow the entire community to comment on the recommendations as well as the minority opinions. Although not a perfect solution we believe that this is the one which represents the majority of views." (emphasis and link added)

2) Other ICANN news

a. ICANN60, Annual General Meeting, takes place 28 Oct - 3 Nov 2017, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE):

Pre-ICANN60 Policy Open House Oct 19th slides (pdf)

Friday-Saturday, October 27-28, 2017, (times are local Abu Dhabi time unless otherwise indicated):

• CCWG Accountability WS2 Face to Face Plenary Session Friday, Oct 27, 08:30-17:30. Remote observation: Adobe Connect or English audio.

• CCT Meeting #62 Friday Oct 27, 09:00-17:30 (time converter). Remote: Adobe Connect.

• 27 October, 11:30–13:00 UTC: ICANN Board Technical Committee discussion on blockchain naming systems impact, design for a tamperproof root zone update system, next steps for KSK rollover. Observation via Adobe Connect or Dial in via phone access numbers Participant Code: 5542211258.

• ICANN60 Saturday (Oct 28) sessions schedule.

Next week's News Review will have more on ICANN60, from Sunday, October 29 through November 3, 2017.

Also note that ICANN61 is scheduled for 10-15 Mar 2018 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which is recovering from the devastation caused by a direct hit from a category 4 (at landfall) hurricane on Sep 20, 2017. AT&T has restored, as of Oct 20, wireless service to 60% of Puerto Rico's population, and has limited LTE connectivity in remote areas in partnership with Project Loon.

b.  GDPR--Data Protection and Privacy Update | ICANN.org--"... we engaged the European law firm Hamilton to provide an independent legal analysis, that will be developed in phases ... the first part of the initial independent legal analysis was published (pdf, 252KB) ... which includes an appendix with the general questions we provided to Hamilton as "food for thought" in analyzing GDPR in relation to gTLD registration data ..."

See also ICANN Correspondence | ICANN.org: 

• 19 October 2017 Letter from Rafik Dammak to Theresa Swinehart and Akram Atallah[Published 20 October 2017] Policy Committee Chair | Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group re General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Concerns 
• 13 October 2017 Letter from Paul Diaz and Graeme Bunton to Göran Marby [Published 19 October 2017] Registries Stakeholder Group & Registrars Stakeholder Group re General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Concerns
• 10 October 2017 Letter from Jean-Jacques Sahel to Elena Plexida - ICANN Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement & Managing Director, Europe | ICANN Fact-finding exercise on GDPR
• 09 October 2017 Letter from Jetse Sprey to Göran Marby [Published 19 October 2017] Versteeg Wigman Sprey Advocaten FRL Registry B.V. Registry Agreement (.FRL): "... ICANN states that my clients are in breach of Clause 2.5 of the RA. My clients believe ICANN’s position is mistaken. Publishing all of the registrants’ data as required by the RA is a clear breach of the EU Regulation 2016/679 (the General Data Protection Regulation, “GDPR”) that will go into effect 25 May 2018 and also a breach of the Dutch Data Protection Act which is based on the EU Directive 95/46/EC. In particular when the registrants are private citizens ..." (emphasis added)

c.  CPE Review: Letter from Chris Disspain to Arif Ali | ICANN.org re: CPE Review for Dot Gay LLC disspain-to-ali-10oct17-en.pdf  (pdf 507KB)

d. Community Travel Support at ICANN--ICANN.org: 16 Oct 2017 community-travel-support-consultation-questionnaire-16oct17-en.pdf [pdf -731 KB]

e. .au Historical Financial Irregularities? - a Freedom of Information request to Department of Communications and the Arts | righttoknow.org.au--Ron Andruff made this Freedom of Information request to Department of Communications and the Arts (Sep 15, 2017)--".... we request access to the following documents: • a copy of the PPB Report;  • copies of any findings or reports relating to "the under-reporting of FBT to the ATO" as noted in item 4(a) of the minutes of the Board meeting held on 13 February 2017;  • internal meeting minutes or any other record (in any form) of matters discussed at in-camera discussions held during auDA's board meeting on 24 March 2016 relating to the termination of the ex-CEO Chris Disspain (excluding the board minutes dated 24 March 2016 which are published on the auDA website); and  • copies of any reports or other records relating to expenses incurred by the ex-CEO Chris Disspain during the period(s) the subject of the PPB Review and rational for extensive international travel and explanation of benefit to auDA and the Australian public in general ...." (link and emphasis added). [Editor's Note: At ICANN60, auDA ex-CEO Chris Disspain will become Vice-Chair of the ICANN Board of Directors. .auDA (.au) is a member of ICANN's ccNSO.]

f. About FY18 ICANN Board Activities & Priorities | ICANN.org

g. Framework for Registry Operator's Response to Security Threats--ICANN.org 20 Oct 2017: "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers today announced a voluntary Framework for Registry Operator's Response to Security Threats (Framework). The Framework provides guidance to registry operators to respond to security threats ..."

3) Names, Domains & Trademarks

Malware Domains: "Swift on Security said the developer used Cyrillic Unicode characters in the extension name allowing the malicious plugins to again sidestep Google’s malware filters.--Google Busy Removing More Malicious Chrome Extensions from Web Store | Threatpost.com--“We need to stop Unicode until we can get a handle on the situation,” Swift on Security said. “No more Unicode” [i.e., use of Unicode characters to represent Cyrillic and Greek alphabets in order to mimic Latin characters and fool users into thinking they’ve landed on a legitimate domain]." [Editor's Note: see News Review | Report: ICANN's New gTLDs As Global DNS Malware.]

Notice at http://www.hilcostreambank.com/assets/vanity-intellectual-property-assets

Vanity Shop selling Vanity.com domain name and Vanity® brand in Chapter 11 Auction "... The auction will open with a stalking horse bid from Media Options S.A. for the Vanity.com and Vanity.net domain names for $100,000. The minimum overbid amount for the domain names is $115,000. The opening price for the Vanity® brand and related customer data has been set at $67,500. Interested parties have until Monday, October 23, 2017 @ 5:00PM CST to submit competing bids. If competing bids are received, an auction will be held on Wednesday, October 25, 2017 @ 10:00AM CST ..."--hilcostreambank.com

Q3 2017 Earnings Webcasts Oct 26: .COM & .NET Registry Operator Verisign, Inc. $VRSN, and Twitter, Inc. $TWTR, Alphabet Inc. $GOOGL $GOOG, Amazon.com Inc. $AMZN.

4) ICYMI Internet Domain News 

•   US: (a) Trump to Nominate Antitrust Lawyer Joseph Simons to Lead FTC--Bloomberg.com. (b) The internet IS interstate commerce | aei.org.

•  Digital Data & Privacy: U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether law enforcement officials conducting a criminal investigation can demand data held overseas by Microsoft Corp. and other technology companies in a high-stakes clash over digital privacy.--Bloomberg.com

•  Study: One in four emails from a federal .gov account is a fraud | TheHill.com: "There is a newer protocol that can automatically authenticate emails, known as DMARC. That protocol double-checks that messages were sent by their listed senders, allowing fake emails to be deleted or sent to spam. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) this week issued a directive requiring all federal agencies to implement DMARC."

•  Pass the Protecting Data at the Border Act | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org: "... The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims that border officers—from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)—can freely ransack travelers’ smartphones and laptops and the massive troves of highly personal information they contain. This practice is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy and free speech rights. Congress can and should fix this problem by enacting the bipartisan Protecting Data at the Border Act (S. 823 and H.R. 1899). The need for reform is urgent ..."

•  NSA Declassifies Internet Surveillance Files from 2011 Case: In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by The New York Times, the National Security Agency (NSA) has declassified previously secret documents from  a 2011 case before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court. The case concerned problems with the NSA's so-called "upstream" Internet spying conducted under the FISA Amendments Act warrantless surveillance program, and resulted in a then-secret ruling, made public in August 2013, that the agency had violated the Fourth Amendment. The NSA previously released two other tranches of files--NYTimes.com.

•   First Amendment protects the right to disclose government requests for telephone and Internet services subscriber information | Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press | rcfp.org: "the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and a coalition of 20 media organizations submitted a friend-of-the-court brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in the case of In re National Security Letter."

•  China: President Xi Nails Shut Chinese Internet's Coffin | international.thenewslens.com: "... weeks ahead of the Congress, which is expected to renew Xi’s mandate for another five years, the U.S. encrypted messaging app WhatsApp suddenly began malfunctioning in China ... control of the Chinese internet has grown day by day for more than a year. President Xi ... has established a very sophisticated system of information censorship and surveillance in recent years, one that has now gone to a whole new level ..." and China's Xi lays out vision for 'new era' led by 'still stronger' Communist Party | Reuters.com.

•  EU: The European Union's first annual review of the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield framework: "On the whole, the report shows that the Privacy Shield continues to ensure an adequate level of data protection. However, there is room for improvement."--European Commission | ec.europa.eu. 

•  EU--"Rather than allowing the internet monopolies to call the tune ["false digital freedom”], we should try to establish a system of smart governance and regulation, out of a sense of European self-awareness, leading to the installation of a regulatory framework enabling us to benefit fully from our fundamental rights and civil liberties on the internet. The example of Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager, who is in the vanguard of a progressive competition policy with her proactive approach towards Apple, Google & co in the US, shows that this can be done. The first ideas for new structures and instruments are close at hand, with a more robust right to access algorithm-linked data for citizens coming into force in May 2018. New tax models for digital companies trading in Europe are being drawn up by the Commission ..."--EURACTIV.com 

•  UK eyes regulating Google and Facebook like news providers--cnbc.com

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

1. News Review (Oct15) | ICANN Pays Senior VP Sally Costerton Secret Contract $$$

2. News Review (Oct8) | RySG Requests $$$ and "Detailed Accounting" From ICANN

3. Automotive Disruption: Electric Car Dreams Come At A Cost (video)

4. Technology To Disrupt Fossil Fuels: Solar, Wind, Batteries, Electric Vehicles

5. News Review (Oct1) | Esther Dyson Interview, ICANN Founding Board Chair

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo 

feedback & comments via twitter @DomainMondo or via email.
Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER

News Review: France Blasts IANA Proposal, Berkman to Assess ICANN

Domain Mondo's review of the past week and look ahead--[pdf of this post here]--with major markets closed on Good Friday throughout much of the world (including the U.S.), the news cycle was shortened, and many were enjoying their three-day holiday weekend and spring weather in the northern hemisphere. Nevertheless, things continued to churn and turn in domain world:

This past week, the government of France did the world (and Congress) a favor and exposed the false narrative ICANN has been pushing since ICANN55 that 'all Chartering organizations approved the IANA Transition proposal'--#FALSE, GAC did not 'approve'--by blasting the IANA transition & ICANN accountability proposal. The office of French Secretary of State for Digital, Axelle Lemaire, issued a press release (pdf)--Google's English translation here--and the French press widely reported the French government's dissatisfaction with the proposal now being assessed by the US government (NTIA). The following excerpts are from French media (translated from the original French):

• Le Figaro: Negotiations for a new Internet governance result in "unsatisfactory" solution, according to the [French] Ministry of Foreign Affairs ... Secretary of State for Digital, Axelle Lemaire, said Thursday the proposal "marginalized" the role of governments in ICANN, strengthening , ultimately, the U.S. stranglehold on the internet;
• Le Monde: France denounces IANA Transition Plan as a "privatization" of global Internet governance in favor of special interest lobbyists [full text English translation here];
• Silicon.fr: "France calls on the US government, which must now examine this reform project, to give greater attention to the concerns expressed by many nations. It will also be particularly attentive to the continuing work to improve the accountability of ICANN as part of the "Work Stream 2", particularly on strengthening the geographical diversity and the fight against conflicts of interest." 
• LesEchos.fr: For France, Internet governance is in the hands of GAFA* "... the Foreign Ministry is very disappointed with the turn of events. According to France, it is like giving control of the Internet to private actors ... Paris denounces the roles taken by lobbyists in the process in recent months and regrets that the role of governments is still reduced within ICANN ... the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) will have to vote unanimously. A complicated imperative to keep ... "The Americans gave with one hand, and took back with the other" concludes one in Paris ... Other problematic issues, starting with the diversity of ICANN as too Anglo-Saxon [that's a pejorative in France for American-British or English-speaking], its lack of transparency and difficult litigation procedures, lengthy, costly and favoring U.S. companies - ICANN is a California corporation and will remain so..."

*Note: The term "GAFA" (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon) is also used loosely for what some call American cultural imperialism, particularly in the context of the U.S. government advancing the interests of Silicon Valley, i.e., U.S. technology companies--see, e.g., They Made Him a Moron | The Baffler, about Alec Ross, innovation adviser to (then) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton--"... This book by the State Department’s former innovation adviser merely attests to the intellectual bankruptcy of the term “innovation,” which in the hands of people like Ross has ceased to have any substantive meaning ... I soon became a critic of the U.S. government’s “Internet freedom agenda,” while Ross and his colleague and friend Jared Cohen (then on the policy planning staff of the State Department and now the head of Google Ideas) embarked on adventures so reckless and ridiculous, so obsequious to the interests of Silicon Valley and offensive to anyone well-versed in the diplomatic trade, that some career staffers at the State Department began to ridicule, anonymously, of course, their cluelessness on social media ..."

On Wednesday, March 23, the U.S. government published its award of a contract between the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society | Harvard University to provide an independent review and assessment of  ICANN "a non-profit corporate governance structure designed for a multistakeholder setting" in support of NTIA's broader evaluation and assessment of the proposal to enhance ICANN's accountability related to the IANA Stewardship Transition .... "This contract requires the contractor to have detailed knowledge and a thorough understanding of ICANN, a California-based, non-profit corporation that currently performs the IANA functions and manages these technical functions through a governance model in which a multistakeholder community--interested parties from all over the world and from multiple sectors and industries, including technical, government, business, and public-interest organizations--develop policies that support how the Internet DNS is operated ..." According to the notice, Congress mandated this review, which is to be completed by June 30, 2016, although the award is 'anticipated' to last for five months.

Berkman Center for Internet & Society | Harvard University also conducted the 2010 Independent Review of ICANN Accountability and Transparency, finding many problems within ICANN, and made recommendations, some of which were never implemented by ICANN.

Meanwhile, implementation work required by the IANA Transition & ICANN Accountability (WS1) Proposal proceeds at ICANN and within its "ICANN community." ICANN also posted on Friday, March 25, a Call for Volunteers: Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) Implementation and Work Stream 2 (WS2).

Below is the tentative timeline for the IANA transition and ICANN Accountability Work Stream 1 (WS1) work, going forward:

IANA Transition Tentative Timeline (source: Congressional Testimony)

Also this past week the GNSO's PDP (policy development process) to review all rights protection mechanisms (e.g., URS and UDRPs) in gTLDs began to organize--with the work divided into 2 phases:

"Phase One will focus on a review of all the RPMs that were developed for the New gTLD Program (i.e. the Trademark Clearinghouse and associated notification and sunrise mechanisms, the Uniform Rapid Suspension procedure, and the Post-Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedures), and Phase Two will focus on a review of the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP)." (source: ICANN, link added)

For more information see Call for Volunteers: New GNSO Policy Development Process Working Group to Review All Rights Protection Mechanisms in All gTLDs - ICANN (March 21, 2016), the Charter (pdf), the List of Members & Observers - Review of RPMs in all gTLDs PDP Working Group, and Review of all Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPMs) in all gTLDs PDP Working Group webpage.

This past Thursday auDA, Australia's policy authority and industry self-regulatory body for the .au top-level domain, published a brief note on its website, announcing longtime CEO, and prominent member of ICANN's Board of Directors, Chris Disspain, had been replaced by Jo Lim (current Chief Operations and Policy Officer) as interim CEO, while the Board undertakes an executive search for a new CEO:

"The Board of auDA (.au Domain Administration Ltd) announced today that it was ending the contract of CEO, Chris Disspain. Mr Disspain’s contract was due for renewal later this year, but the Board agreed new leadership was required to take the organisation forward. The Board acknowledged and thanked Mr. Disspain, as founding CEO of auDA, for the hard work and visionary leadership he has demonstrated throughout his tenure, helping to cement the organisation’s standing as a one of the world’s best practice ccTLD managers..." (source: auDA)

* * * * * * *

Five most popular posts/pages at DomainMondo.com this past week (# of pageviews Sun-Sat):

1. News Review [March 20]: ICANN, IANA, NTIA, Congress, the American People (this post attracted, by far, the largest U.S. and global readership for most of the week); 
2. Digital Currency and Blockchain Technology, Congressional Hearing Video
3. Election2016 (our 'backpage' coverage of 2016 US Presidential politics in this year of the IANA Transition--edited by analyst @UnderMyPalm--opinions are his own);
4. Fintech Startup Stash: Investment App for Millennials
5. (tie) New gTLD AFRICA: DotConnectAfrica Trust vs ICANN, End of the Line? (to be updated after the April 4th hearing in LA); and Mobile Connectivity Explosion, Internet of Things, Cybersecurity, IoT (video).

Have a great week!

-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo


Follow @DomainMondo

DISCLAIMER