Today's much anticipated meeting between the ICANN Board and the Government Advisory Counsel was marred by name calling and disagreement. The meeting scheduled to run from 4pm-6pm didn't start until 4:45 and ran until well after 7pm local time. The main topic of the day was once again Trademarks with the GAC wanting to recognize Trademark holders rights based off of the local law under which … [Read more...]
Looks Like The New gTLD Process May Hinge On Today’s Meeting Between The GAC & The ICANN Board
As Kevin Murphy chatted about on Domainincite.com today, a letter sent by the chair of the Government Advisory Council (GAC) Heather Dryden who happens to be the representative from Canada, to the ICANN board makes it clear that the GAC still has major issues with ICANN over the new gTLD program. One of the lingering issues The GAC has is "competition concerns in particualr those resulting … [Read more...]
USA Today Covers The New gTLD’s: “The Most Sweeping Transformation of the Domain Name System Since its Creation”
USA Today is just one of the many publications covering the ICANN meeting and the expected approval on Monday of the new gTLD program. In an article entitled: Internet braces for '.Vegas' and other not-coms USA Today Notes that: Coming soon to the Internet: website addresses that end in ".bank," ".Vegas" and ".Canon." calling it "the most sweeping transformation of the Domain Name System … [Read more...]
My Take On The New Guidebook: ICANN Will Approve The New gTLD Program In Singapore
After reading the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook (AG) that was published today, my feeling is that ICANN will approve the program in Singapore as planned while some of the specific rules in the Guidebook may and probably will change along the way. The newest version of the AG provides no material or substantive changes from the previous version. There is a lot of cleanup going on but no earth … [Read more...]
Mayor Bloomberg To Create Digital City Around .NYC Extension
According to Dnainfo.com, the Mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg announced today's his administration's plans to register the .nyc web domain name and overhaul the nyc.gov website as part of a new push to create what he called a "digital city." "Bloomberg and Rachel Sterne, the city's chief digital officer, rolled out the new initiative, called "Road Map for a Digital City" "This … [Read more...]
From House Hearing; ICANN: Domainers Are Against New gTLD’s Because They Will Lose The Value Of There Beachfront Property
The House subcommittee on the new gTLD's just ended in Washington and it was as bloody as expected. Of course the representative from ICANN, Kurt Pritz its Senior Vice President, didn't help himself or ICANN but making inaccurate statements, failing to explain the new gTLD process properly or putting the new gTLD process in a positive light. IP trademark interests dominated the hearing not … [Read more...]
Industry Leaders Send An Open Letter To The House Subcommittee on IP Regarding Today’s Hearing & Why I Signed It
Today some industry leaders submitted an open letter to the United States House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property and the Internet regarding the Oversight Hearing on new Top-Level Domains to be held on today, Wednesday 4 May. As you will note I signed the Letter. Actually somehow I wound up as the first signature on the letter, although its not alphabetical. I signed the letter … [Read more...]