Expect “minor inconveniences” in post-hurricane Puerto Rico
ICANN 61 is going ahead in Puerto Rico despite the continuing fallout of a devastating hurricane season, the organization has confirmed.
The March 10-15 meeting will take place at the convention center in San Juan, and participants can only expect “minor inconveniences”
ICANN said in a statement:
We recognize that Puerto Rico is still in the recovery phase, and while we can expect some minor inconveniences, the convention center and supporting hotels are fully operational and eager to host our event in March.
ICANN has not yet listed its official supporting hotels, where it usually negotiates bulk discounts, on the official ICANN 61 page.
In the event you, like me, always find ICANN’s approved hotels a tad on the pricey side, you’ll probably need to do your own research.
ICANN added that it has been working with the island’s governor and that: “We have been assured that our presence in San Juan will support economic recovery on the island.”
Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico on September 20, killing at least 48 people and causing billions of dollars in property damage.
The convention center venue for ICANN 61 escaped relatively unscathed and was actually used as a command and control center during the immediate aftermath of the disaster.
Hurricane victims get a renewal pass under ICANN rules
ICANN has given registries and registrars the ability to delay the cancellation of domain names owned by victims of Hurricane Maria and other similar natural disasters.
In a note to contracted parties, published by Blacknight boss Michele Neylon this weekend, Global Domains Division president Akram Atallah said:
registrars will be permitted to temporarily forebear from canceling domain registrations that were unable to be renewed as a result of the natural disaster.
Maria and other hurricanes caused widespread damage to infrastructure in the Caribbean earlier this year — not to mention the loss of life — making it difficult for many people to get online to renew their registrations.
ICANN’s Registrar Accreditation Agreement ties registrars to a fairly strict domain name renewal and expiration life-cycle, but there’s a carve out for certain specified “extenuating circumstances” such as bankruptcy or litigation.
Atallah’s note makes it clear that ICANN considers hurricane damage such a circumstance, so its contractual compliance department will not pursue registrars who fail to expire domains on time when the registrant has been affected by the disaster.
He added that perhaps it’s time for the ICANN community to come up with a standardized policy for handling such domains. There’s already been mailing list chatter of such an initiative.
ICANN is heading to Puerto Rico, which was quite badly hit by Maria, for its March 2018 public meeting.
While attendees have been assured that the infrastructure is in place for the meeting to go ahead, large parts of the island are reportedly still without power.
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