"...the largest owner of the Vox Populi registry, operator of .Sucks, is Momentous, a Canadian company. But it has been reported that "its IANA record lists an address in Bermuda for its technical contact and Uniregistry's office in Grand Cayman as its administrative address"...." source: ICANN.WTF? FTC & OCA Asked Whether .SUCKS is a Law Breaker (Part I)
Is dot SUCKS the problem or is ICANN the problem?
Who actually owns that new gTLD Registry operator from which you just registered that new gTLD domain name? Where are they located? Canada? Caymans? Hong Kong or Belarus? Hard to say, and good luck finding out from ICANN who currently holds those ownership interests, whether controlling or non-controlling. WHOIS? That doesn't tell you anything about the principals behind each of ICANN's new gTLDs. With at least one already launched new gTLD headed for third-party auction--see Are Zombie TLDs coming this year? | Domain Name Wire--who knows who will end up having ownership "interests" in these 1000+ new gTLDs ICANN unwisely launched into the global DNS (over which ICANN is supposed to be a steward acting in the public interest)? ICANN appears to be clueless or inept at keeping itself, much less the public, informed.Case in point: Kevin Murphy at Domain Incite broke the story of a connection between .SUCKS and Frank Schilling's Uniregistry in a March 23, 2015 post:
"“We have a joint venture agreement and are presently handling postage and handling for Vox Populi,” Schilling told DI today. “We are providing office space services to them as well.” He characterized the deal as a “working relationship”. I would not be at all surprised if it’s much closer than that."--Why is .sucks based in Frank Schilling’s office? | DomainInciteTurns out Kevin's intuition was right--according to an updated Statement of Interest from Bret Fausett, General Counsel for Uniregistry, Inc., it appears that Frank Schilling's Uniregistry, Inc. is doing more than just "handling postage and providing office space services"--
Bret Fausett SOI - GNSO Statements of Interest (SOI): 9) Please list any financial relationship beyond de minimus stock ownership you may have with any company that to your knowledge has a financial relationship or contract with ICANN: "Uniregistry, Corp. [Uniregistry, Inc.] has a non-controlling investor interest in certain TLDs currently operated by other companies, including .CAR, .COUNTRY, and .SUCKS."--(emphasis added)
Which probably explains this:
.sucks uses clever policy to keep TM names costly for brands but cheap for protest. The lawyers freak-out and run to ICANN! Popcorn anyone?
— Frank Schilling (@Frank_Schilling) March 27, 2015
Domain Mondo remembers when operating a generic top-level domain (gTLD) was a "trusteeship" carrying with it a duty to serve the global Internet community--
6) For any transfer of the designated manager trusteeship from one organization to another, the higher-level domain manager (the IANA in the case of top-level domains) must receive communications from both the old organization and the new organization that assure the IANA that the transfer in mutually agreed, and that the new organization understands its responsibilities ..." (emphasis added)
But money-grubbing ICANN--its staff, its officers, its Board of Directors, and its self-interested "stakeholders" who have largely captured its policy-making GNSO--decided to trash the ideals of Jon Postel et al and the global public interest, and instead, corrupt the global DNS with their new gTLDs program and policy of the highest-bidder, winner-take-all, sale and auctioning off of the global Internet DNS.
Within the sick organizational culture of ICANN, what U.S. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV characterized as "a predatory shakedown scheme" has become merely a "clever policy to keep TM names costly for brands." In other words, ICANN authorizes, enables, encourages (and in return receives fees from) new gTLD registry operators who then have carte blanche to exploit and prey upon domain name registrants--particularly those with "deep pockets." The "lawyers" Schilling refers to in his tweet above are, apparently, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC), now also joined by the Business Constituency. See: Domain Mondo | The dot SUCKS Conundrum: ICANN, FTC, OCA, New gTLD Domains.
UPDATE: see also .Sucks Registry Goes On Offense & Threatens To Sue ICANN For Defamation/Breach of Contract | TheDomains.com and Vox Populi Registry Says "Enough" About .SUCKS Accusations | circleid.com
Caveat Emptor!
Follow @DomainMondo
But money-grubbing ICANN--its staff, its officers, its Board of Directors, and its self-interested "stakeholders" who have largely captured its policy-making GNSO--decided to trash the ideals of Jon Postel et al and the global public interest, and instead, corrupt the global DNS with their new gTLDs program and policy of the highest-bidder, winner-take-all, sale and auctioning off of the global Internet DNS.
Within the sick organizational culture of ICANN, what U.S. Senator John D. Rockefeller IV characterized as "a predatory shakedown scheme" has become merely a "clever policy to keep TM names costly for brands." In other words, ICANN authorizes, enables, encourages (and in return receives fees from) new gTLD registry operators who then have carte blanche to exploit and prey upon domain name registrants--particularly those with "deep pockets." The "lawyers" Schilling refers to in his tweet above are, apparently, the Intellectual Property Constituency (IPC), now also joined by the Business Constituency. See: Domain Mondo | The dot SUCKS Conundrum: ICANN, FTC, OCA, New gTLD Domains.
UPDATE: see also .Sucks Registry Goes On Offense & Threatens To Sue ICANN For Defamation/Breach of Contract | TheDomains.com and Vox Populi Registry Says "Enough" About .SUCKS Accusations | circleid.com
Caveat Emptor!
Follow @DomainMondo
