• Home
  • Domains
  • Internet & Tech
  • Security & Privacy
  • Google & Search
  • Editorial Praise
  • Contact

Strategic Revenue - Domain and Internet News

Internet news authored by John Colascione

Register Domain Names

  • Isn’t Print Dead?
  • Killer Acquisition
  • New gTLD Death
  • Reseller Business
  • Semantic Indexing
  • You’re A Loser
You are here: Home / Domain Names / Domain Industry Takes Note of ICANN Update to Public Comment Guidelines

Domain Industry Takes Note of ICANN Update to Public Comment Guidelines

October 11, 2019 By John Colascione Leave a Comment

*** Here Is A List Of Some Of The Best Domain Name Resources Available ***

Register Domain Names

PALM BEACH, FL – On October 9, 2019, ICANN, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, a nonprofit corporation that sets policy for the global Domain Name System (DNS), updated its “policy guidelines” for how it collects and takes into considering feedback from the ICANN community or the general public. The update was posted on the organizations website by David Olive, Senior Vice President of Policy Development Support.

The ICANN site states the following regarding Public Comment Opportunities:

Public Comment is a mechanism that gives the ICANN community and other stakeholders an opportunity to provide input and feedback. Public Comment is a key part of the policy development process (PDP), allowing for refinement of recommendations before further consideration and potential adoption. Public Comment is also used to guide implementation work, reviews, and operational activities of the ICANN organization.

https://www.icann.org/public-comments

Some in the industry have questioned the timing and purpose for a such a change, since there has been no discussion “on changing the ICANN bylaws or how Comment Periods work” according to the publisher of a highly visited domain news site by author Konstantinos Zournas, who operates OnlineDomain.com,

There was not obvious reason for David to write this post now as no discussion has been made on changing the ICANN bylaws or how Comment Periods work.

The organizations policies and practices related to the commenting period came under industry criticism in and around June 2019, by several domain space insiders when the organization voted to ignore thousands of comments regarding price increases for the “.org” domain name extension where nearly 3,200 comments were submitted to reconsider the proposal.

The Internet Commerce Association, a non-profit trade organization for the domain name space responded with the following statement saying that ICANN stakeholders were met with “total disregard” considering the near “unprecedented public outcry” from stakeholders.

The Internet Commerce Association (ICA) is profoundly disturbed by ICANN’s decision to remove price caps on .org domain names despite the groundswell of opposition from stakeholders. On June 30, 2019, ICANN advised that it had executed a renewal agreement with Public Interest Registry and the renewal agreement. This was despite a nearly unprecedented public outcry from stakeholders and from .org registrants in particular, where over 3200 public comments were submitted to ICANN. The outcry came from registrants, nonprofits, community leaders, academics, charities, religious groups, community organizations, and many others. Apparently the ICANN Board allowed ICANN Staff to proceed to execute the renewal agreement without any concern over registrant interests, despite the ICA bringing this issue directly to its attention. The decision to ignore ICANN stakeholders in apparent total disregard for its self-professed “bottom-up multi-stakeholder model” is of great concern and calls into question ICANN’s ability to govern the domain name system in the public interest.

https://www.internetcommerce.org/icann-ignores-stakeholders-and-removes-price-caps-on-org-domain-names/

ICA later in July wrote a letter to ICANN formally requesting an explanation of .org decision. ICANN responded by saying in a return letter that the organization gave “appropriate consideration and oversight” to the public comment process, however, “made the decision to continue with renewal agreements as proposed, using the Base gTLD Registry Agreement.”

On July 12, 2019, in a letter submitted to ICANN by NameCheap.com, a well-known domain registrar, similar disagreement rang true where a formal reconsideration request was filed with the ICANN Board Accountability Mechanisms Committee (BAMC); the body of ICANN that is responsible for receiving “requests for reconsideration” from any person or entity that has, or anticipates to be, adversely affected by policy changes.

Namecheap is submitting this reconsideration request to protect the rights and interests of Namecheap’s customers and the entire Internet community. Price caps for legacy TLDs have been an integral longstanding foundation for the domain name marketplace, and removing them will result in uncertainty and confusion at a minimum, and in the worst case, increased costs for domain name registrants worldwide. ICANN requested public comment regarding the changes to the .org registry agreement, and the response was overwhelmingly against removing price caps. Comments came from small non-profits, international organizations, government agencies, members of government, individuals, families, businesses, entrepreneurs, and people from lesser developed regions and those underrepresented in the ICANN community. ICANN rejected over 3,500 comments against removing price caps by stating registrants could use other TLDs, renew for 10 years if a price increases were excessive, and claiming (without evidence) that market competition would keep the prices for the third largest TLD from rising compared to other TLDs (ignoring the significant differences between .org and new gTLDs raised by commenters). The decision to ignore public comments to keep price caps in legacy TLDs is contrary to ICANN’s Commitments and Core Values, and ICANN should reverse this decision for the public good.

https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/reconsideration-19-2-namecheap-request-redacted-12jul19-en.pdf

ICANN responded to the reconsideration request, in short, by suggesting that “many of the [3200+] comments are, in actuality, more akin to spam” and suggested that pre-formatted comments, those which are pre-written and then reused by persons who support [or oppose] a position but prefer not to write out their own position were “identical, with only the email address of the comment submitter  changing.”

ICANN should take note that similar processes are used to support or suggest opposition in numerous voting processes, as well as in “formed letters” in support [or opposition] to varying legislation; such letters are generally acceptable in practice. Although a single, well-supported comment may carry more weight than a thousand form letters, form letters should still indicate interest in the issue as many organizations often encourage their members to submit pre-formatted letters designed to address issues common to their membership.

The update on October 9, 2019 regarding proposed changes to ICANN’s public comment guidelines has again re-ignited a new firestorm of criticism of ICANN with at least one domain news and commentary site calling out the organizations change to the commending period as an “attempt to do away with or “kill” the public commenting period all together.

Such concerns, at least seem, to be potentially misplaced or inaccurate based on DomainIncite.com, another widely visited domain name news publication which is based in the United Kingdom. Today, Kevin Murphy published an article that he requested and received clarification, on specifically, if public comments are going away and if this was the “correct inference” to the update at the ICANN site in which Cyrus Namazi, head of ICANN’s Global Domains Division, replied:

No, that is not correct. All Registry contract amendments will continue to be posted for public comment same as before.

http://domainincite.com/24837-after-org-price-outrage-icann-says-it-has-not-scrapped-public-comments

Murphy further wrote and described the exact verbiage used in the policy update regarding what is considered to actually require comment periods such as changes to “base” agreements, something he said is the single part of the update which raised what was likely the majority of eyebrows of some who read the post:

With this apparently specific reference to “base” agreements coming so soon thereafter, it’s easy to see how we could have assumed ICANN had decided to cut off public comment on these contentious issues altogether, but that appears to not be the case. What this seems to mean is that when .com next comes up for renewal, it will be open for comment.

http://domainincite.com/24837-after-org-price-outrage-icann-says-it-has-not-scrapped-public-comments

Time will certainly tell how exactly public commenting periods will change, if any, or improve as policy is made, but what’s certain is that there are many eyes – or ‘eye-brows’ ready to take note on ICANN processes when it comes to policy updates and changes that effect the hundreds of thousands of players in the domain name space, and even the slightest wording surrounding those updates and changes are under close scrutiny.

John Colascione

About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®

Filed Under: Domain Names Tagged With: .org, Accountability, Comments, Cyrus Namazi, David Olive, Domain, Domain Industry, Domain Name, Domain Name Registry, Domain Names, Domain Prices, Domain Registry, DomainIncite.com, Domains, gTLDs, ICA, ICANN, Internet Commerce Association, Kevin Murphy, Konstantinos Zournas, NameCheap.com, New gTLDs, OnlineDomain.com, Oversight, PIR, Price, Price Cap, Price Caps, Price Control, Price Controls, Price Increase, Price Increases, Prices, Public Comment, Public Comments, Public Interest Registry, Registry, Registry Agreement, Registry Agreements, Registry Operator, Registry Operator Agreements, Registry Service, Registry Services, Renewal Agreements, Stakeholders, TLDs

*** Here Is A List Of Some Of The Best Domain Name Resources Available ***

Register Domain Names

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search This Site

by: John Colascione

John Colascione

Logo
John Colascione is Chief Executive of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, authored a book called Mastering Your Website, and is a key player in several Internet businesses through his brand SEARCHEN®

The Published Reporter

The Published Reporter

Fellow Me

In The News

  • DNJournal: New Book From Veteran Domainer
  • From Brandable to Exact-Match Geo Domain
  • InnovateLI: Two Deals, One Very Interesting Digital
  • Internet Commerce Association: John Colascione
  • NamesCon: Featured Attendee: John Colascione
  • Long Island Media Inc, SmartCEO, Future 50
  • Speakers, Name Summit, John Colascione
  • Speakers, Real Estate Summit, John Colascione
  • 24 Leading Domain Experts Analyze 2017

Popular Stories

New gTLD? Not So Fast; History Suggests New ‘Right of the Dots’ Could = Total Failure

Could Domain Investing Industry End with Legal Provision for Domain “Hoarding”

Does the Domain Industry Suffer From Own Versions of Trumpted “Fake News” Stories?

Websites and Domain Names to Become Insignificant within 20 Years or Less

Why I Told My “New gTLD” Project to “Suck It” – Will Rebrand with King of all URLs

Quotes to Follow

quote icon The domain name is equivalent to Gold. It is the only packaged item which is globally tax-free, portable, with value that is universal across different cultures. quote icon – Frank Schilling

quote icon Domains have and will continue to go up in value faster than any other commodity ever known to man. quote icon – Rick Schwartz

quote icon  Google knows you, your friends, your likes, what entertains you, where you are in the world at any given time. Google will soon predict your next action, your next thought, based on a collaboration of thoughts past. quote icon – John Colascione

Like These Headlines?

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

T.L.D. Brokerage

Domain Brokers

Domain Reseller

Leaving Cash On The Table? Join The Best Domain Reseller Program (discounts + revenue)

SEDO Weekly Sales List Includes Three Letter .Com Domain for $105,000

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – The domain name “GWI.com” sold at $105,000 this past week according to the latest SEDO.com weekly domain sales report. The three letter web address is currently leading … [Read More...]

Google Moves for More Control of World’s News with Major Google Play Update

WEST PALM BEACH, FL – Something remarkably interesting has been happening behind the scenes which very few have noticed, however, one firm who has not missed the quickly changing landscape, is … [Read More...]

Amazingly Convincing Facebook Phishing Scam Takes Place on Facebook.com Itself

PALM BEACH, FL – I have been reviewing and writing about email phishing scams for years and I have seen a ton of them, from outright laughable in their easy discoverability to incredibly convincing, … [Read More...]

Domaining blog recommended by Domaining.com Internet Commerce Association (ICA)
Copyright © 2010-2019 StrategicRevenue.com - Property of Internet Marketing Services Inc.   FeedBurner: RSS   RSS
By using this site you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please exit the service.