Features • 1) ICANN & Its New gTLDs: Pedophilia's Best New Friends? 2) Follow-ups to last week's News Review, 3) Names, Domains & Trademarks: Bogus Trademarks, Bad Faith Registrations, 4) ICYMI, 5) Most Popular.
1) ICANN & Its New gTLDs: Pedophilia's Best New Friends?
ICANN Response: We Just Collect The Money--ICANN Clarifies its Position in Response to Purported Threats Posed by Children-Related New gTLDs | ICANN.org:"Recently, the Children’s Charities Coalition on Internet Safety raised concerns that new generic Top Level Domains (new gTLDs) may become new grounds for the functioning and distributing of child abuse content. ICANN wants to confirm its position ... For anything unlawful, we [ICANN] rely on courts and governmental regulatory authorities to police illegal activity ..."
Children's Charities' Coalition on Internet Safety (CHIS): ICANN – a huge disappointment and a worry | chis.org.uk. Embedded below (highlighting added): ICANN UK Letter (pdf) and ICANN UK Briefing (pdf).
UPDATE April 13, 2017: Internationally, CHIS principally works through the European NGO Alliance for Child Safety Online:
The Rules Governing General Top-Level Domains | Enacso.eu: "In recent years we have hold frequent exchanges with the Members of the Network and representatives of ICANN mainly focused on knowing whether and how the Child Safety is considered in new General Top-level Domains assignment and what are the rules governing the different processes.
The GAC’s Public Safety Working Group (PSWG) focuses on aspects of ICANN’s policies and procedures that implicate the safety of the public. eNACSO Advisor, Mr John Carr is member of the GAC PSWG for UK together with whom is working alongside to monitor the procedures for the assignment of gTlDs that could have an impact on children. To learn more see the correspondence below.
ICANN UK Letter (highlighting added):
UK Briefing (highlighting added):
- Kelly's Case Updated | circleid.com: "... It became apparent that the decision to go the self-governance route for internet names has engendered a veritable cesspool of bad, if not criminal behavior that everyone seems to decry ... As the FTC has noted and a simple search confirms, there appears to be near zero advocacy for the interests and protection of the domain services consumer [domain name registrants]..."
- Too little, too late: Uniregistry will offer [some] price protection on 9 domain extensions | OnlineDomain.com
3) Names, Domains & Trademarks:
- Urban Homesteaders Win Cancellation of Bogus Trademarks | Electronic Frontier Foundation | EFF.org: “The words and phrases we use every day to describe basic activities should never be the exclusive property of a single person or business,” said EFF Legal Director Corynne McSherry. “It took six years, but we’re proud that this terrible trademark is off the books.” “You can’t trademark generic terms and force ordinary conversations off the Internet,” said Winston & Strawn attorney Jennifer Golinveaux. “We’re relieved that the urban homesteading community can continue sharing information about their important work without worrying about silly legal threats.” For the full opinion from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: https://www.eff.org/document/opinion-cancelling-trademark. For more on this case go to eff.org.
- ICANN, Registry operators and Registrars profit from Bad Faith Registrations: WIPO Domain Name Decision: D2017-0343: The Respondent registered the disputed domain name long after the Complainant established rights in its trademark and "the disputed domain name does not appear to resolve to an active website, the Complainant says that it constitutes a bad faith “passive holding” of the type falling within the principle established in Telstra Corporation Limited v. Nuclear Marshmallows, WIPO Case No. D2000-0003 (“the Telstra case”)." (Editor's note: In these kinds of cases, the Registrant loses the domain name, but ICANN, registry operator, and registrar, all keep their fees. It's like punishing drug addicts but letting the drug dealers and their suppliers keep all their profits and go free to create more mayhem.)
- Travelzoo sells fly.com domain name and discontinues search | Tnooz.com - Travelzoo paid $1.8 million for the domain name fly.com in 2009.
- The IETF's Job Is Complete - Should It Now Scale Up, Down or Out? | circleid.com: ".... the Internet is in a period of rapid maturation and fundamental structural change. If the IETF wishes to remain relevant and not reviled, then it needs to adapt to an emerging and improved Industrial Internet or perish along with the Prototype Internet it has nurtured so well."
- By dismantling domestic privacy laws, the US will lose control of the global internet | Opinion | TheGuardian.com: "... From the early 1980s onwards, centre-left movements on both sides of the Atlantic no longer discussed technology policy in terms of justice, fairness or inequality. Instead, they preferred to emulate their neoliberal opponents and frame choices – about technology policy, but also about many other domains – in terms of just one goal that rules supreme above all other: innovation. The problem with building a political programme on such flimsy economistic foundations is that it immediately opens the door to competing narratives of just what kind of policy produces more innovation ... Well, goodbye to all that: the era of the Americanised internet is over." (emphasis added)
- Internet shutdowns in India: Why it is bad for Modi’s Digital India | IndianExpress.com: "Internet shutdowns in India have serious consequences, and it's not just about freedom of speech."
- ‘.FEEDBACK’ fires salvo over PICDRP complaint; threatens to “de-accredit” MarkMonitor as a registrar | WorldTrademarkReview.com
- Net Neutrality: FCC Chairman tells trade groups of plans to update net neutrality rules created under Obama, wants to keep basic principles but move enforcement to FTC--Reuters.com.
- Google says it has reduced fake Google Maps listings by 70% since 2015 | searchengineland.com: "Company cites machine learning and new business verification techniques as main reasons for the decline."
- Two-thirds of EU travel websites mislead on prices: Commission | Reuters.com
- London Police Ink Shadowy Deal with Industry on Website Takedowns | Electronic Frontier Foundation | eff.org: The RogueBlock program is self-described as having been "highly encouraged and supported" by the U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator. Encouragement (and tacit pressure) from government is typical of these private enforcement arrangements, deals that EFF describes as Shadow Regulation.
- “Dig once” bill could bring fiber Internet to much of the US | ArsTechnica.com
- Tech Companies Must Earn User Trust | Human Rights Watch | hrw.org.
5) Most popular posts (# of pageviews Sun-Sat) this past week on DomainMondo.com:
- News Review | Global Public Interest: Why ICANN Will Always Be A #FAIL
- Tech Review | Samsung All-in-One Android Smartphone Computer (video)
-- John Poole, Editor, Domain Mondo