.WEB Auction Rakes in Record Breaking $135M, What Will ICANN Do With All This Money?

ICANN now has over $230 million in its coffers, the proceeds from New gTLD program auctions. The latest record breaking price is of $135 million to operate the .WEB gTLD. On 27 July 2016, Power Auctions LLC, ICANN’s authorized auction service provider, conducted a New Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) Program auction to resolve contention for …

Republican Platform 2016 on Protecting Internet Freedom blocks IANA Transition

In a last ditch effort to prevent the IANA transition, the GOP has included in its Republican Platform for 2016 [PDF] which was formally approved during the party’s national convention in Cleveland a policy position on “Protecting Internet Freedom.” The position affirms the effort to stop the oversight handover to a new body, it reads: …

Survey: 95% Of People Know .COM, Only 52% Know Least 1 New gTLD

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published [PDF, 2.88 MB] the findings from its Phase 2 Global Consumer Research Survey. The key findings are listed below. Conducted by Nielsen, the study measured current consumer attitudes toward the gTLD landscape and domain name system (DNS), as well as changes in consumer attitudes from …

No authorization from Congress: Sen. Cruz’ Discusses the Concerns of IANA Transition

The Obama administration’s decision to give up U.S. control of regulating the internet is likely illegal, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said. “The Obama administration does not have the authorization from Congress,” Cruz said Thursday, speaking at a Heritage Foundation event on internet freedom. “And yet they are endeavoring to give away this valuable, critical property. …

Sens. Grassley & Goodlatte Pile Pressure against IANA Transition say it’s Premature

The US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (Iowa) and House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (Va.) sent a letter to the Commerce Department, asking a series of pointed questions. The letter comes as the administration nears its planned date to give up its oversight of the internet domain name system, which helps pair up long strings of …

Senators Cruz, Lankford, Lee, Duffy Continue Fighting IANA Transition

Send letter to NTIA to investigate apparent violation of federal law in preparation for Internet transition   WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), and Rep. Sean Duffy (R-Wis.), today sent a letter to National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Assistant Secretary Lawrence Strickling, questioning the agency’s apparent …

US Court throws out ZACR as Non-Party to .Africa: Denies its Reconsideration, Moves on with DCA vs ICANN

DCA Trust has scored its 3rd victory in the .Africa case, this comes after a US court denied ICANN and ZACR’s Motion for Reconsideration regarding the Court’s Order that granted DCA Trust a Preliminary Injunction preventing ICANN from delegating .Africa until the case had been fully determined. The court had on 14th June 2016 has …