2012: The Year of the New gTLD Program and the Year to Support ICANN - Part II

By Sophia Bekele
 
Talk of giving a dog a bad name in order to hang it!
Even though ICANN leaders were busy writing letters to transparently communicate further details of the new gTLD program and convince skeptics and explain the amount of work that has already been done to address the main concerns that were being raised, especially by the Association of National Advertisers, the issue caught the attention of big media.

The Washington Post Editorial Board on the other hand ignores such meticulous transparency on the part of ICANN and calls the Internet governance body "the obscure but powerful organization that manages domain names" and that "ICANN reports to no one." This is a failed attempt to give ICANN a bad name.

ICANN can hardly be described as 'obscure but powerful' as if its Internet governance work and decisions that affects us all are conducted in a secret conclave. ICANN is very transparent, holds regular international meetings on a regular basis, and publishes its entire technical and fiscal activities and works-in-progress and Board Decisions on its web site as behooves an organization that is committed to a transparent model of operation, even as it sits on top of a global multi-stakeholder system that gives everyone a voice in the governance of the Internet. ICANN reports to the global community of stakeholders as it continues to serve a global public interest. It is rather patent that such skewed editorial comments by the 'Washington Post' are aimed at influencing public opinion to go against the ICANN new gTLD program. Another influential American newspaper, the 'New York Times' has also taken cue from the Washington Post and published another critical editorial calling on ICANN to delay the new gTLD program launch date. So far, the vociferous commentaries against the new gTLD program by these two leading newspapers have not shaken the resolve of ICANN.

Furthermore, it is clear that as those who have abiding faith in the multi-stakeholder model and the new gTLD program try to move forward in 2012, there are many who would like to weaken the resolve of ICANN by attempting to portray it as what it is not, and by so doing try to derail the new gTLD program. It is for these reasons that I urge the global community of multi-stakeholders to provide unconditional support for ICANN to enable it deliver the new gTLD program successfully.

Political e-Sovereignty vs. Multi-stakeholder Model - The Battle Royale
Only the new gTLD program guarantees that our Pan-African constituency will get the DotAfrica gTLD based on an open and transparent process. Early in January 2011, as spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica Campaign, I had written an open letter to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) of the U.S. Department of Commerce to provide support for ICANN, and clarify that the program contained adequate safeguards to protect brands and copyright owners. In the same letter, I had also tried to further justify the need for the DotAfrica gTLD, arguing that as the last frontier for development, Africa sorely needs the new geographical top-level domain name.

Already the battles lines are drawn over DotAfrica. On one side are those who are against the multi-stakeholder model, and believe that political sovereignty over African countries also gives them de facto technological rights over an Internet-based geographical gTLD such as DotAfrica. A recent CNN 'Inside Africa' news story quoted Mr. Moctar Yedaly of the African Union as saying, "[t]he .africa domain represented all Africans in the same way as the African Union flag," and further saying, "[i]t should operate in the 'interests of the community', rather than the interests of individuals in the private sector. 'This is for Africa, and Africa is 54 states.'" Such tenuous arguments which are simply a veiled attempt to use political sovereignty to take over the DotAfrica gTLD are unsustainable since the new gTLD program was not devised by ICANN to enable the AU Commission achieve e-sovereignty over Africa (or DotAfrica).

The goals of the new gTLD program are very clear, and if Africans are to benefit from what the DotAfrica vision offers, then such arguments that are based entirely on political sovereignty, and not on a well-articulated mission and purpose should be jettisoned as ill-conceived. In a true multi-stakeholder model of Internet governance as it applies to the new gTLD program, political sovereignty should not be used as a lever by governments or inter-governmental bodies such as the AU, since each country already has its two-code country-level domain. This again underscores why I am calling on the global community to continue to provide the necessary support to shore up the multi-stakeholder modeled by ICANN.

The new gTLD program needs the multi-stakeholder model in order to achieve its stated objectives. There is a 'battle royale' ahead and I will not shy away from fighting to vigorously defend the multi-stakeholder model under ICANN's leadership. 2012 is the year to defend the multi-stakeholder model so that the new gTLD program will be successful for everybody.

ICANN is not Alone
As we go into 2012, I am encouraged that there are many, including top officials and leaders in Washington DC, who believe in ICANN's leadership of the multi-stakeholder model, and that the organization should be allowed to successfully midwife the new gTLD program. The Honorable Senator John 'Jay' Rockefeller for example was reported in the ICANN Blog as giving his full support: "I think we have to get used to dot-hotels. I think we have to get used to dot-auto." This is an important vote of confidence for ICANN that came from the distinguished Chairman of the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation during the official hearing regarding ICANN's new gTLD Program on December 8, 2011. Further support for the ICANN-led multi-stakeholder model also came from Mr. Lawrence E. Strickling, the Assistant Secretary in the United States Department of Commerce, whose department oversees ICANN's mandate. Assistant Secretary Larry Strickling believes that the multi-stakeholder process is "critical to preserving the model of Internet governance that has been so successful to date that all parties respect and work through the process and accept the outcome once a decision is reached."

ICANN's new gTLD program Readiness Efforts
ICANN on its part has already published its operational readiness matrix for the program by its 12th January launch date. Detailed preparations have been made regarding readying the TLD Application System (TAS), launching a customer service centre, engaging dispute resolution service providers, application fee processing, putting in place a process to provide support to applicants, and many other important activities and tasks that required detailed planning and implementation. Thus, this is one big program management effort on the part of ICANN that is the culmination of many years of committed policy development working on actionable objectives, and it would be self-defeating to either delay or stop the program altogether at this stage. The wise course of action is to continue with the new gTLD program, whilst the only present challenge is how to garner adequate support and encouragement to ICANN to ensure that the program succeeds in the face of strong but uninformed opposition. It is therefore vital that ICANN continues with its gTLD communications plan even as the new gTLD application round commences by 12th January 2012.

Those prospective new gTLD applicants who have made ample technical preparations and financial investments to participate in this current application round would be strongly encouraged that ICANN has decided to continue with its new gTLD program plan of action despite strident voices calling for delays and work stoppage altogether.

It is important that the present new gTLD round succeeds so that ICANN will feel confident enough to move to the next (second) new gTLD round. Failure will have very negative ramifications for the overall future of the Internet, with harmful implications for ICANN's stewardship of a stable and secure Internet based on the multi-stakeholder model, and this must be avoided at all cost. If the new gTLD program fails, the detractors of ICANN will be the first to point accusing fingers, even though they worked against the launch of the new gTLD program in the first place.

On this note I would like to wish ICANN and all prospective gTLD applicants a resounding success in the new gTLD program.
By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Sophia Bekele is a former generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor to ICANN from 2005 to 2007 and is presently the spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. During her stint with the ICANN GNSO Council, she contributed to the new gTLD policy development effort.

2012: The Year of the New gTLD Program and the Year to Support ICANN - Part I

By Sophia Bekele


2011 proved to be an unforgettable year and will always be remembered as the year that the ICANN Board approved the expansion of the Internet Domain Name System thus paving the way for new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as DotAfrica to be introduced and included in the root zone of the Internet.

The ICANN new gTLD program began today, 12th January 2012, with the application round now open and this important activity will make 2012 a very memorable year. It is expected that a minimum of 500 fresh applications for new generic Top Level Domains will be received by ICANN through the online TLD Applications System (TAS) by April 12 when the round closes, for processing and evaluation afterwards. This promises to be a hectic and engaging period for new gTLD applicants, and also for ICANN.

It is customary for individuals and organizations to make New Year resolutions. In 2012, my New Year resolution is to lead a team to apply to ICANN to win the mandate for the DotAfrica new gTLD and operation of the DotAfrica registry when the application round opens on January 12, 2012.

I believe that the new ICANN gTLD program offers a more transparent method to arrive at a suitable operator for the DotAfrica registry. Many international/inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) including the African Union Commission have already asked for certain new gTLD name strings to be included in the Top-Level Reserved Names List so that such 'reserved names' would be unavailable for applicants. It is important to note that ICANN has so far not wavered and yielded to such impossible and unreasonably imperious demands.

Also, during 2012, we foresee that the debate will intensify for a new global Internet governance architecture to perhaps, dethrone the present governance mechanism led by ICANN. I believe that such moves will be disruptive to the current system and will be championed by those who wish to see greater control of the Internet by governments as they wish to use political sovereignty to forcefully impose their ownership on the Internet and restrict the applicability of the current stakeholder model.

Therefore, whilst we are all enthusiastic for 2012 because of the new gTLD program, we must also be cautiously optimistic and very mindful on account of the difficult battles ahead. ICANN needs support from all those who are genuinely committed to the multi-stakeholder model within the global Internet Community.

The U.S. Government's Interest in a 'Free Internet'
Those who wish to disrupt the status quo argue against ICANN because they see it as a United States-based entity that works to oversight and execute a U.S.-government contract, thus, an agent of the United States Government. Such arguments that mostly emanate from outside the U.S., for example China, Russia, and India, are often aimed at countering perceived U.S. hegemony over the Internet, but also fail to realize that the U.S. gave the Internet to the world. We all seem to forget so soon that the history of the Internet is actually rooted in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Project Agency Network (DARPANET). Even though the U.S. 'owns' the Internet on the basis of its historical origins, we must all recognize that the U.S. has also tried to maintain the independence of the Internet, since something that was born out of the innovation of scientific and technological freedom, a pillar of American culture, cannot be subjected to unnecessary restrictions that will hinder its further development as a platform of true innovation on a sustainable basis. This is what the new gTLD program aims for — as one of its key objectives — to spur further innovation on the Internet as new Internet domains are creatively exploited beyond what we have currently. It is anticipated that the new gTLD program shall unleash further inventiveness on the Internet platform.

Another reason why the United States government tries its level best to ensure a free Internet is because it serves its foreign policy goals with respect to public diplomacy and outreach at very minimal cost. Internet-enabled protest movements are bringing down undemocratic governments faster than any overt regime-change effort or ideology has managed to do in the past. Judging from the recent experience of Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and now Syria, it would have been very difficult for a successful case to have been made for the military invasion of Iraq — but this is 2012 and not 2003 when there was no Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. A contemporary argument would be: "we need not send a large military force to achieve regime change; let the people have their Internet access, and their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and let them mobilize, organize themselves on social media and bring about political change themselves."

Special Interest Groups against the ICANN new gTLD Program
Thus, on one hand, a free Internet serves the American interest of promoting freedom on a global basis, there are also forces within the United States that are against ICANN, who do not wish the new gTLD program to proceed such as the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) that are worried about brand and trademark infringements and have actively lobbied the U.S. Department of Commerce and campaigned against the new gTLD program. The new gTLD program is threatened by those who think it is being rushed, but conveniently ignore the fact that the new gTLD policy development process has taken about seven (7) years to accomplish during which period all necessary safeguards and measures were put in place to protect trademarks and brand-owners during the new gTLD application process. The ANA argues that new gTLDs will increase 'cyber-squatting', meanwhile the ICANN new gTLD process has zero-tolerance for cyber-squatting behavior, and any applicant with a proven history of cyber-squatting risks automatic disqualification by ICANN.

The Prolonged Policy Development Process
As a former ICANN GNSO council member who was involved during the rigorous new gTLD policy development process, I believe all these issues raised by the ANA and other corporate brand owners have already been addressed adequately. Such fears, even though valid, are presently unfounded because they have already been taken care of.

In a recent ICANN Blog post, Kurt Pritz who heads the new gTLD Program and recently testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation's hearing on the new gTLD program, wrote:
"I gave the Committee a brief history of the new gTLD program and highlighted the seven years of thorough, transparent and inclusive discussion and debate, including: 2400 public comments from 47 extended comment periods that resulted in over 1400 pages of comment summary and analysis, formation of ten independent expert working groups, and 59 explanatory memoranda and independent reports."
 
In a nutshell, Kurt Pritz, speaking for ICANN, has successfully argued before the U.S. Senate Committee that mutatis mutandis, the new gTLD program should work for everyone's benefit.
 
Support for ICANN
It became clear by the day that ICANN needs both institutional support and moral encouragement to proceed with the program in a level-headed manner. Personally I saw the clamors for delays as simply the first step in attempting to kill the program, and pull the rug from under the feet of ICANN. Early in this New Year, Steve Crocker, ICANN Board Chairman was quick to explain that delaying the program would serve no purpose, other than playing into the hands of those who wanted to derail it, and that the critics of the program could not point to any specific aspect where additional time would help in working out further details.
I am glad to see that 2011 ended and 2012 began with ICANN continuing to show resolve in staying the course, and a strong determination to proceed with the new gTLD program and not buckle in the face of ardent political pressure especially from lobbyists.

By Sophia Bekele, CEO of DotConnectAfrica. Ms. Sophia Bekele is a former generic Names Supporting Organization (gNSO) Council policy advisor to ICANN from 2005 to 2007 and is presently the spearhead of the Yes2DotAfrica campaign. During her stint with the ICANN GNSO Council, she contributed to the new gTLD policy development effort.

Obama Says So Long SOPA, Killing Controversial Internet Piracy Legislation

The growing anti-SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) support that has swept through the gaming and Internet community found a very big ally today. With websites like Reddit and Wikipedia and gaming organizations like Major League Gaming prepared for a blackout on January 18^th – the same day that the House Judiciary Committee hearing on HR 3261was scheduled in Washington, DC – President Barack Obama has stepped in and said he would not support the bill.


SOPA has been delayed, for now. The House has agreed to revisit the issue next month, but they now know the White House will veto any bill that’s not more narrowly focused.

Much to the chagrin of Hollywood, the Entertainment Software Association (which has been a backer of the bill from early on), and Internet domain company GoDaddy.com (which lost many accounts as a result of its support for the bill); SOPA has been shelved. The Motion Picture Association of America, one of the bill’s largest sponsors, is expected to regroup.

California congressman Darrell Issa, who has been opposed to the bill from the beginning, praised the Internet action that has swept like a virus across the Web the past week.

“The voice of the Internet community has been heard,” said Issa. “Much more education for members of Congress about the workings of the Internet is essential if anti-piracy legislation is to be workable and achieve broad appeal.”

But there remains another similar bill, Protect IP (the Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act), that poses a problem for gamers and Internet users. This legislation is scheduled to go before the Senate on January 24^th.

Both SOPA and Protect IP attempt to combat online piracy by preventing American search engines like Google and Yahoo from directing users to sites distributing stolen content. Both bills also would enable people and companies to sue if their copyright was infringed. Obama has come out against both bills, which killed SOPA and puts pressure on senators come January 24^th. The full White House response can be read here.
“Any provision covering Internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing,” said The White House. “We expect and encourage all private parties, including both content creators and Internet platform providers working together, to adopt voluntary measures and best practices to reduce online piracy.”


Just like piracy itself, this debate isn’t over. Expect more bills to move forward, although the wording in future legislation is expected to be more narrowly focused in an attempt to appease the current administration. But given the current economic climate and the upcoming Presidential election, there could be a different administration entering The White House soon, changing the landscape for these types of bills.

Article Courtesy Forbes

An end to Domain Parking business?

Google has tweaked its algorithm in order to deindex parked domains from the search engine results pages(SERPs) by introducing a new parked domain classifier.  According to the search engine's Inside Search blog, "This is a new algorithm for automatically detecting parked domains. Parked domains are placeholder sites that are seldom useful and often filled with ads. They typically don’t have valuable content for our users, so in most cases we prefer not to show them."

Domain owners will also be compelled to use DNS instead of URL forwarding to clearly indicate the nameservers for the domain parking companies thus help Google crawlers to easily identify and deindex parked domains from the search engine results pages. Domain portfolio owners are however complaining of "hypocrisy" since Google too is involved in the domain parking business as a direct beneficiary of the ads it serves to parking companies' networks and also through its own Adsense for Domains service. As one popular domain blogger has said, Google has  "both pie and the knife" in the domain parking industry..

Domain parking in this context refers to the practice of registering domain names and then serving PPC ads on those pages to visitors to generate revenues for the Parking companies, companies serving the adverts and the domain owners. Domain registrars also own massive portfolios of parked domain names. Some of the biggest players in the domain parking business include Sedo, Skenzo, Moniker, TrafficZ, Domain Sponsors, Namedrive plus many other registrars including GoDaddy,   .The new rules will definitely cut deep into the revenues of domain parking industry. Some of the parked domains on the web include names of African countries such as ethiopia.com zambia.com lesotho.com. mozambique.com

DotConnectAfrica's application to ICANN will incorporate rights protection mechanisms that will ensure countries and geographical regions can protect their names from unauthorized use in the .africa namespace before the general availability of the domain names to all internet users.