Domain Name Money Grab by ICANN
ICANN LAUNCHES new tl domain names
87 major national and international business associations and companies oppose the rollout of ICANN's top-level domain expansion program.
LaunchesTop-Level Domain (gTLD) program
Launches ICANN Trademark "Protection Service"
ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 330
Marina del Rey, CA 90292
Phone: 310.823.9358
Mar 26, 2013 ICANN Trademark "Protection Service" Clearinghouse
Icann Launched a centralized fee-based global trademark repository that is part of ICANN's generic
Top-Level
Domain (gTLD) program.
The clearinghouse has been developed to address the lack of a global database for global trademarks. ICANN
is contracting with IBM and Deloitte to implement the global clearinghouse. IBM is providing the backend
database for the clearinghouse. Deloitte Enterprise Risk Services is providing the UI and authentication
and
validation services. An API for bulk uploads by trademark agents is forthcoming. Trademark holders should
participate if they want their "brands to be protected," Kupferschmid said. The SIIA has
published
an alert for its members on the new clearinghouse. The clearinghouse "doesn't necessarily prevent
trademark infringement or cybersquatting, but it
does help trademark owners and brand owners somewhat in mitigating the damage that might occur," he
added. "We've been telling brand owners it's not that expensive to protect themselves and they ought
to
do it."
Pay an annual fee to "protect" each trademark from domain infringement from new
gTLDs for which there was no public need ordemand except to enrich the domain-industrial complex and to
confuse consumers, with the extra bonus that these fees don't even promise any actual protection. If you
need any more proof that this has all become a giant protection racket.
agent: "you know, another TLD could just appear out there, and in that new TLD maybe you can't, you know, guarantee that nothing bad happens to your brand, right?"
Merchant: " but who is it who can just make TLDs just show up, where I have no brand protection? who IS the threat to my BRAND anyway? I thought I was safe?"
agent: "you know, it's a dangerous namespace out there kid, and you need to have some powerful friends to make SURE that nothing happens to your BRAND, you know..."
You can't take ICANN's trademark play seriously
becuase if they respected trademark and didn't make it so easy for a single typo to misdirect a query and
deal with other perceptual issues and dealt with context such as a name that is meaningful in a location
or
a line of business. But unlike real trademark law they are allowing one company or agency to own a generic
word like "book"! They might distinguish gTLDs from trademarks but how much distinction can they
make if they are using the trademark registration to manage the DNS namespace.
Think of ICANN like one of the services that allows you to temporarily register your friends name for a
star
for a fee. It's a great novelty but you certainly wouldn't want to make such a scheme the basis for tying
together the world's information.
2013 Security
disasters loom with rollout of new top-level domains By Dan Goodin Ars Technica Apr 4 2013
The introduction of Internet addresses with suffixes such as ".corp", ".bank",
and ".ads" are particularly alarming to these officials because many large and
medium-sized businesses use those strings to name machines inside their networks. A secure sockets layer
certificate used by employees to access a company intranet designated as ".corp", for instance,
might be able to spoof a public credential for the website McDonands.corp or Ford.corp.
Plans to populate the Internet with dozens of new top-level domains in the next year could give criminals
an easy way to bypass encryption protections safeguarding corporate e-mail servers and company intranets,
officials from PayPal and a group of certificate authorities are warning.
If the names become available as top-level domains to route traffic over the Internet, private digital
certificates that previously worked only over internal networks could potentially be used as a sort of
skeleton key that would unlock communications for huge numbers of public addresses.
Employee laptops that are used at an Internet cafe or other location outside of a corporate network might
also be tricked into divulging private information. "If the appropriate service endpoints are
available, these clients will next begin to dump confidential data and potentially pull incorrect
information and apply damaging state changes," PayPal Information Risk Management officials
Brad Hill and Bill Smith wrote in recently published letter to Fadi Chehade and Stephen
D. Crocker, the chief executive and chairman respectively of the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). "The potential for malicious abuse is extraordinary, the
incidental
damage will be large even in the absence of malicious intent, and such services will become immediate
targets of attack as they inadvertently collect high-value credentials and private data from potentially
millions of systems." [...]
DONUTS Inc.
Demand Media
eNom
Donuts Inc.'s major play for new Web domain names raises fears of fraud. But the single most aggressive
bidder for lucrative new Web domains is a little-known investment group with an intriguing name:
Donuts Inc. Its $57 million play for 307 new domains — more than Google, Amazon and
Allstate combined — has prompted alarm among industry groups and Internet watchdogs.
They warn that Donuts has close ties to a company with a well-documented history of providing services to
spammers and other perpetrators of Internet abuses. Should Donuts come to control hundreds of new domains,
including “.doctor,” “.financial” and “.school,” consumers could see a spike in online misbehavior, these
critics warn.
Overseeing the issuing of Web addresses is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit group — the Internet Corporation
for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN — whose sharply growing revenue is tied to the continued
expansion of domains. Its revenue grew from $5.7 million in 2002 to $68 million last year,
according to federal tax documents.
The complaints about Donuts stem from its relationship with Demand Media, a major player
in
Internet services that pioneered the creation of content linked to popular search terms, leading to a
proliferation of Web pages on almost any imaginable subject (sometimes disparaged as “content
farms”). Demand Media also owns eNom, the second-largest Internet registrar ,
selling more Web addresses than any company other than Go Daddy.
http://ow.ly/dYIv6
OUTRAGOUS! CFO for company that applied for the most gTLDs from ICANN, used to be CFO of
ICANN
This group of four industry experts quietly incorporated in the early part of last year with the sole
intention of becoming a domain name registry, according to Schindler. "We've been in stealth
mode
for quite a while because, obviously, this is a very competitive landscape," he said. ...
And, frankly, they are banking on all of them being successful. Donuts, whose Los Angeles
office is just a few miles from the nonprofit agency deciding the fate of its applications, has deep roots
in the industry. In fact, the company's CFO chief financial officer used to be CFO for
ICANN. - - -
Donuts
- co-founder Dan Schindler
- chief executive Paul Stahura, who founded domain-name registrar eNom in 1997;
- chief operating officer Richard Tindal, who had formerly managed the registry of .biz and .us domains
for
NeuStar;
- vice president of corporate affairs Jon Nevett, who earlier led policy for Network Solutions.
http://ow.ly/juRYr
- Kevin Wilson is the CFO of Donuts. He joined Donuts on May 1, 2012. Wilson has previously been the CFO
at
ICANN and new gTLD consultancy company Sedari. http://ow.ly/juSGQ
What is a gTLD?
4/2013 EBEROs Back End Registry Operators Selected
The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), U.S. based Neustar and the U.K. based Nominet were
selected, as the
emergency back-end registry operators to guarantee domain names within a new generic top-level domain
(gTLD)
will resolve in the event of a failure at a new TLD operator. If a registry operator fails to provide or
is
unable to sustain five critical registry functions temporarily, or in the case of transition from one
registry operator to another the EBERO will step in.
Reveal Day 13 June 2012 - New gTLD Applied-For Strings
ICANN developed the New generic Top-Level Domain Program to increase competition and choice by
introducing new gTLDs into the Internet's addressing system. What is a gTLD? It is an Internet domain name
extension such as the familiar .com, .net, or .org. There are 280 ccTLDs but only 22 “generics” in the
domain name system right now, but that is all about to change. The new gTLD application window opened on
12
January 2012 and closed on 30 May 2012. The following list displays all of the gTLD strings that were
applied for during this round.
2012 As predicted -- .xxx TLD is all about money, not "helping the Net" http://j.mp/TZWBfx (Guardian)
"Instead, according to a new analysis by MetaCert, a web-blocking firm, the .xxx domains contain just
0.56% of the sites that it has to block to create a "clean" web - while the original .com, .net,
and .org domains contain 83.32%, 8.13% and 0.9% of the relevant domains respectively, adding up to 92.35%
of
the total that it blocks. Meanwhile a surprisingly high number of pornography sites - around 26% - are
located in the Netherlands, and the countrywide .nl suffix hosts 2.41% of the pornography found by the
company ...
Major companies have questioned the benefits of .xxx, feeling it was necessary to preserve their brand by
defensively buying .xxx domains and not using them. Meanwhile pornography businesses have been less quick
to
buy them because they would be too easy to filter out. Many search engines automatically filter out
searches\ containing ".xxx" on their default "safe" settings."
ICANN: '.Apple,' '.Sex' Among Suffixes Proposed In Massive Internet 'Upgrade' Amazon.com wants .joy, Google wants .love and L'Oreal wants .beauty. Big brands are behind hundreds of proposals for new Internet addresses, including scores for generic terms such as cruise,.kids and .tires. If approved, Amazon could use .author in an attempt to dominate online bookselling, while Google could use .love to collect registration fees from its rivals.Amazon and Google also are vying for .app and .music,"while the wine company Gallo Vineyards Inc. wants .barefoot.
Monitoricann.org for the official launch dates. ICANN expects all new gTLDs to be
operational. gTLDs are expected to be delegated within one year of signing a registry agreement with
ICANN.
How much is the evaluation fee?
The evaluation fee is estimated at US $185,000.
Applicants will be required to pay a US$5,000 deposit fee per requested application slot when registering.
The US$5,000 will be credited against the evaluation fee.
Are there any additional costs I should be aware of in applying for a new gTLD?
Yes. Applicants may be required to pay additional feesin certain cases where specialized process steps
areapplicable, and should expect to account for their ownbusiness startup costs. See Section 1.5.2 of the
ApplicantGuidebook
What will happen during the application window and how long will it last?
The application window will likely last for three months. Applicants will use a dedicated web-based
application interface named “TLD Application System” (TAS) to apply, where they will answer questions and
upload supporting documents. After the application window, there are several evaluation stages, each with
its own estimated duration.
2012
The RIAA was complaining that any such TLD might (gasp!) be used to infringe, and arguing that ICANN shouldn't allow it unless it was completely locked down. Now The Recording Industry Association of America has picked a side. It's supporting Far Further's application for the .music generic top-level domain, according to the company. Now the RIAA Backs .music Proposal... If It's Only Limited To 'Accredited' Musicians
In other words, it goes against the reality we know today, which is that new technologies are allowing anyone to become a musician. Instead, it's based on the obsolete notion that only those in a special club are "really" musicians. What you end up with is exactly what the RIAA wants: a system where it gets to "accredit" musicians.Its .music would be restricted, along the same lines as gTLDs such a .pro, to card-carrying members of what the company calls "accredited Global Music Community Members".
"It's not open to everyone," Styll said. "You'd have to join an organization."
Amateur bands would have to be members of an accredited songwriters association to get a .music address, for example.
November 15, 2011
87 major national and international business associations and companies have joined forces with the ANA
(Association of National Advertisers), forming the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight
(CRIDO) to oppose the rollout of ICANN's top-level domain expansion
program.
http://www.ana.net/
Icann approved The porn industry .XXX DOMAIN in 2010/.
Registrations will be managed by Florida-based Stuart Lawley, head of ICM Registry, and bidding for domains with .xxx suffix begins 9/7/2011 .
Pornographers will have a 50-day “sunrise period” to bid on the first batch of .xxx URLs, and highly sought after domains like “sex.com”. The 50-day sunrise period for adult entertainment companies begins September 7th, 2011 and they will then have free rein over unsold domains for 17 days beginning November 8th. After that, .xxx registrations open up to the world.
How long will the evaluation process take?
The evaluation process is expected to last from 8 to 18 months. There are several stages that an
application
might be required to pass through prior to a final determination being rendered.
What can I do if someone applies for a string that represents my brand or
trademark?
You can file an objection with the DRSP selected to administer “legal rights” objections. Details about
these procedures, such as who has standing, where and how objections are filed, and how much objections
will
cost can be found in Module 3 of the Applicant Guidebook and the related New gTLD Dispute Resolution
Procedure.
How can I object to an application?
After the list of all TLD applications has been published on ICANN's website, there will be a period
of
time for third-parties to file a formal objection using pre-established dispute resolution procedures. In
all but exceptional circumstances, objections will be administered by independent Dispute Resolution
Service
Providers (DRSP), rather than by ICANN.
Will this have and effect Censorship and the Great China Fire Wall?
- Review the current version of the Applicant Guidebook.
http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/dag-en.htm - Review the full set of FAQs.
http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/strategy-faq.htm - Visit the New gTLD site.
http://icann.org/en/topics/new-gtld-program.htm - contact newgtld@icann.org
COMMENTS
ICANN PIRATES:
In its strategic plan ICANN claims that its mission is to “ensure the stable and secure
operation of the Internet's unique identifier system”.
Yet with the introduction of new TLDs it is doing just the opposite. In 2000 http://rmf.vc/DNSSafeHaven suggested that we provide at least an
option for stable identifiers. During that period the importance of the DNS names themselves has
decreased.
As I (http://rmf.vc/NNTLDs) and other (such as Esther
Dyson on NPR) have noted the unified search bar in newer browsers has shifted the focus from using the DNS
name to searching using human cues.
Today the idea of maintaining a table of a trillion stable identifiers seems very doable. So why don't
we have an option of owning our own identifies in the DNS?
We need to examine the finances and ask whether the large sums of money made by forcing us to lease our
own
names has had a corrupting influence on ICANN. Charging $185K for TLDs and garnering additional sums as
large corporations are forced to pay any price asked to protect their trademark in the new TLDs provides
more incentive to profit from instability.
This is not entirely ICANNs fault as its policies reflect implicit assumptions. For example the phrase
“Internet's unique identifier system” represents an architectural choice and not a necessary choice.
We
tend to confuse network routing identifiers with identifiers we use as humans. It's as if you
couldn't have “John Smith” as a name because JohnSmith.name wouldn't be unique. This is part of
the
larger confusion I write about in http://rmf.vc/InternetLostInTranslation.
This confusion is even more reason to be concerned about ICANNs incentives. We can start by asking whether
ICANN, as a non-profit, is more loyal to its income stream than to society's need for an Internet that
isn't designed to unravel.
Bob Frankston
www.frankston.com Bob19-0501 [ at ]bobf.frankston.com
more --
- There are 22 top-level domains already (plus about 200 two-letter country domains).
I don't think many people would recall more than 6 or 7 domains. How many websites in domains other than .com, .net. .org, .gov, or .edu do you know? - millionare's going to be who buy GTLDs like .cloud and .blog and .music
- Unifiedroot is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this new approach by ICANN:
1) You can start using your company or brand name immediately;
2) You can register specific generic TLDs like .music or .game;
3) You pay a fraction of the cost compared to ICANN;
4) You can register names in non-Latin scripts.
see: press release on www.unifiedroot.com
A Stronger Net Security System Is
Deployed
2013
2011 The introduction of Secure DNS by governments and other organizations.
At some point the trust gets diluted, and it's just not as good as it used to be, said Rick Lamb, the manager of Icann's Secure DNS program.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/25/science/25trust.html
Internet security specialists start up a global system to make e-mail and e-commerce more secure so that
Internet users will be able to authenticate everyone and affect Web traffic and e-mail. Most users should
be
mostly protected by the end of the year, but the effectiveness for a user depends on the participation of
the government, Internet providers and organizations and businesses visited online. Eventually the system
is
expected to have a broad effect on all kinds of communications, including voice calls that travel over the
Internet, known as voice-over-Internet protocol.
One reason for these flaws is that from the 1960s through the 1980s the engineers who designed the
network's underlying technology were concerned about reliable, rather than secure, communications. The
first directory was created by Internet Pioneer Dave Farber's
student
John Postel who created the technology
known as Secure DNS, or DNSSEC. DNS refers to the Domain Name System, which is a
directory
that connects names to numerical Internet addresses.
Numerical keys will be stored in three hardened data centers Singapore, in Zurich and in San Jose, Calif.
The three centers are fortresses made up of five layers of physical, electronic and cryptographic
security,
making it virtually impossible to tamper with the system. Four layers are active now. The fifth, a
physical
barrier, is being built inside the data center.
Before the Singapore event, 70 countries had adopted the technology, and 14 more were added as part of the
event. Now 300 so-called top-level domains have been digitally signed.
"In the very long term it will be voice-over-I.P. that will benefit the most," said Bill
Woodcock,
research director at the Packet Clearing House, a group based in Berkeley, Calif., that is assisting Icann, the Internet governance organization, in
deploying Secure DNS.
Last year, the authors of the Stuxnet computer worm that was used to
attack the Iranian uranium processing facility at Natanz were able to steal authentic digital
certificates from Taiwanese technology companies. The certificates were used to help the worm evade
digital defenses intended to block malware. It will also potentially serve as a foundation technology
for
an ambitious United States government effort begun this spring to create a system to ensure "trusted identities" in
cyberspace.