As many of you will be well aware, last year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began the massive process of opening up Top Level Domains (TLDs). This means it would be possible for anyone with enough cash to register their chosen URL ending (like ‘.com’).
The process is now well underway, and some significant events have taken place.
ICANN Meeting in Nairobi
The 37th ICANN meeting took place in Nairobi, Kenya, from March 7th to 12th. The board made some very interesting decisions, according to a video blog put together by Circle ID and Dyn. The board decided that there would be no vertical integration, meaning that registrars and registrees could not be owned by the same company. Trademark issues were also discussed. The board decided that they would recognize non-traditional processes as well as traditional processes.
ICANN Considers .XXX Domain Name
Though conservatives in the US were strongly against it, ICANN looked at the possibility of opening up the .xxx domain name to be bid upon. It was reported in the news that the web address was due to be sold at an auction in New York, starting at $1 million USD. However, the board postponed the decision and directed to solicit public comment for this application within 14 days with a comment period of no less than 45 days. The board will now reconsider the issue at the 38th ICANN meeting in Brussels.
Concern of Concentration of Cases Amongst Panelists
It was also recently reported that a small amount of domain name arbitrators are being appointed to handle a disproportionate amount of cases, according to Zak Muscovitch, a domain name lawyer. He called for greater transparency in domain name cases, and said that ICANN should require that panel appointment be random.
Law Enforcement Wants More Stringent Registration Policies
The US and UK law enforcement are trying to bring in support for stronger rules on registering TLDs that would help stop criminals from registering domain names under false personal information, reports PC World. The two countries’ enforcement groups have presented recommendations to ICANN on this topic. They suggested that ICANN require that its vetted registrars check themselves that the information used to register domain names isn’t obviously fraudulent.
They’re also not happy with the proxy services that allow some registers to mask their domain name ownership on the WHOIS database, and would like to see it reformed.
Next ICANN Meeting to be in Brussels, June 20 – 25
EURid will be hosting the next ICANN meeting, to take place just three months after the last one, this one in Brussels. EURid is a not-for-profit organization that manages the .eu TLDs under a contract with the European Commission.
Kaila Krayewski is a freelance journalist with a passion for all things internet. Having worked for nearly two years as the public relations manager for an internation search engine optimization company, and publishing hundreds of articles (how-to, informational, and otherwise) on SEO, she knows a thing or two about the field. Furthermore, having just started up her own website blondetraveler.com, she is doing her best to keep one step ahead of the search engines in order to keep the traffic flowing.
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Tags: ICANN, TLDs, top level domains
