DotConnectAfrica requests for re-consideration of the NGPC Decision on its .africa application to the ICANN Governance Board

DotConnectAfrica is anticipating a review and reinstatement of their application for .africa gTLD string that has been in the center of controversy in the past two years since ICANN announced the major expansion of the Internet name space in Singapore. DotConnectAfrica’s application has been through enough hurdles that they have overcome. These include the change …

GoDaddy to rebrand and Market .la Web addresses to Los Angeles firms

Godaddy and CentralNic are apparently taking the upcoming new gTLD launch as an opportunity to re-brand .LA in the same light as other cities that have backed new gTLD applications including New York City’s .NYC, Miami’s application for .Miami GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain registrar, will kick off a marketing campaign Monday to rebrand .la …

Urgent Need to Revisit Internet Governance (WCIT-12)

Developments over the past few months — and especially the revelations about the spying work of the NSA on friendly governments and their people and businesses — show how important it is to try and establish some high-level strategies relating to managing the governance of the internet. While companies like Google have been lobbying hard …

US Senate takes leadership of the ICANN new gTLD program

The US Senate has added its voice to the new gTLD process procedures. In a 26th June 2013 letter to ICANN, Senator Jay Rockefeller, the head  of the Senate Commerce Committee told ICANN to “tread carefully” in opening up new gTLD’s follow GAC advice and consider a limited roll out of first round gTLD’s: Most …

DotConnectAfrica’s (DCA) response on “.africa” (dotAfrica) Reserve Name Policy Discussions on KICTANET

On Monday July 1, Barrack Otieno introduced a discussion topic on Kictanet titled “dot Africa Reserve Name Policy Discussions (Introduction)” which tended to give the impression that the “.Africa” (DotAfrica) gTLD had already been delegated by ICANN to South Africa’s UniForum.   Soon after Barrack’s post, listers started seeking enquiries, with Michael Bullut asking for …

ICANN suspends closed generic top level domain bids

Temporarily freezes move that could have led to global corporates monopolising the WWW by privatising domains like .beauty or .book   The Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers and Names (ICANN) has put on hold a controversial decision to allot closed generic Top Level Domains (gTLD) to applicants. Governments and activists had feared that allotting such …

ICANN mandating personal info verification before domain registration

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board of Directors today approved a new Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). The new instruction change will hold domain name registrars more accountable for “whois” data, and mandates verification of phone numbers, email, and some personal information before a domain may be registered. “In no small way …

ICANN Whois to be reinvented

ICANN has embarked on an effort to reinvent today’s WHOIS system. Be part of the solution and join the discussion…online and at ICANN‘s Durban meeting. As the Expert Working Group on gTLD Directory Services (EWG), we have proposed a paradigm shift – a new system in which gTLD registration data is collected, validated and disclosed …

European Commission To Develop Global Internet Policy Platform

The European Commission today announced plans for a Global Internet Policy Observatory (GIPO), an online platform to improve knowledge and participation on issues related to global internet policymaking. The GIPO would “act as a clearinghouse for monitoring Internet policy, regulatory and technological developments across the world,” according to a Commission press release. The platform would monitor internet-related …