Internet ‘villain’ to headline ICANN Brussels

It’s a date! Viviane Reding, European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, has accepted Rod Beckstrom’s invitation to attend ICANN’s meeting in Brussels this June.

Reding is a mildly controversial figure in the domain name world.

Notably, she is the recipient of a UK Internet Service Provider Association Internet Villain award over the launch of .eu, which happened under her watch as Information Society commissioner.

ISPA nominated her in 2007, for “foisting the most arcane set of rules yet seen for prior registration of .eu domains, requiring UK-registered companies to submit legal affidavits to justify the authenticity of their business.”

Arcane rules? At an ICANN meeting? Shurely shome mishtake.

It’s not clear whether Reding will be speaking at the meeting. She’s agreed to attend on June 22, the same day as the Governmental Advisory Committee meeting.

Is Go Daddy’s size a competition concern?

Go Daddy is undoubtedly the runaway success story of the domain name industry.

It may not be as big as VeriSign, but unlike VeriSign it was not simply handed a multi-billion dollar resource to manage. It was essentially scratch-built. It didn’t even have first-mover advantage – Register.com and Network Solutions had that, and Go Daddy’s been eating their lunches for years.

The company has got where it is today through, in my opinion, a combination of cheap prices, decent customer service and populist marketing. Mainly the cheap prices, but I doubt that putting a great big pair of boobs on TV during the Super Bowl can have hurt sales.

But how big is the company? And with the introduction of new gTLDs, is its size now a cause for concern? (continue reading)

Canon to apply for .canon

Japanese printer maker Canon has become the first global brand to throw its hat into the new gTLD ring.

The company said in a press release today that it will apply for .canon as soon as ICANN finalises the process for doing so.

From the release:

Canon has made the official decision to begin necessary procedures to acquire “.canon” upon the introduction of the new system. Following approval for the new gTLD system, which is expected to take place after the latter half of 2011, Canon will make full use of the new domain name to increase the convenience and effectiveness of its online communications.

Medieval battle recreation societies are unlikely to provide much competition for the string.

ICANN: .xxx is not approved

ICANN never makes a decision if it can make a process instead, and that seems to be the case with the board’s latest call on .xxx.

The board voted this morning to kick ICM’s proposal until after the Brussels meeting in June, on the basis that it needs a process by which it can approve .xxx.

While this is mixed news for ICM – it’s not what it hoped for but the company still has a pretty good chance of getting what it wants – the language used in the resolution clearly indicates that the board believes .xxx is currently in an unapproved state: (continue reading)

Beckstrom: DNS is under attack

ICANN chief Rod Beckstrom has come in for a bit of criticism over “inflammatory” comments he made at the Government Advisory Committee meeting on Tuesday.

The headline quote: “The domain name system is more fragile and vulnerable today than it has ever been. It could stop at any given point in time, literally.”

Beckstrom described a DNS on its knees, then pointed the finger at unspecified nations for DNS abuses allegedly happening within their virtual borders, and said he would be writing to GAC members for more information and advice.

It was part call to arms, part Chicken Little.

If you missed it, here’s a full transcript. (continue reading)