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09|23|2009 05:00 pm EDT

Businesses Urge ICANN To Initiate New gTLDs Without Further Delay

by Chad Kettner in Categories: Up to the Minute

It seems ICANN is getting it from both sides these days – with Republican lawmakers opposing the new TLDs and trying to delay the process as well as supporters of the new system urging the Board of Directors of ICANN to “initiate the new top-level domain application period without further delay.”

Sixty-one businesses, organizations, and individuals including many notable players within the domain industry — such as Antony Van Couvering of Minds+Machines; Paul Stahura, CEO of eNom; Jonathon Nevett, Senior VP of Network Solutions; Elliot Noss of Tucows; and many more — sent a letter to ICANN detailing the reasons why new top-level domains are required without further delay.

The letter [click here to view] stated that the new TLDs will help fix a number of issues including consumer demands, safety considerations, Internet stability, innovation, and ICANN’s own credibility.

“The undersigned, many of whom helped create ICANN and over the course of years have a keen understanding of the domain name market, and many of whom have significant experience dealing with intellectual property,” the document states, “respectfully but forcefully request the Board of Directors of ICANN to fulfill ICANN’s original mandate to introduce choice and competition to the domain name market.”

Seperately, the Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) sent a letter to the US government on September 22, 2009, calling for a full-scale audit of ICANN. The letter offers a ‘Top Ten List’ of things wrong with ICANN, stating the organization is a captured regulator, not independent, not transparent, fueled by profits, not accessible, ignorant of numerous Internet issues, incompetent in regards to the new gTLD process, not looking at itself critically, risking cybersecurity, and not connected to relevant agencies within the US government. [click here for letter]

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  • http://dnURLs.com Kevin M.

    And here’s a copy of what those reasons they gave for why those extensions are required without further delay –

    “Dear ICANN,

    We are greedy registrars, ‘salivating at the chops’ to offer a plethora of landrush extension releases, that can and will bilk thousands of naive investors and business into spending millions of dollars, buying unneeded domains that will completely confuse the whole interneting world, but which would make the 61 of us boocaloo bucks!!

    So please hurry and approve these extensions, before the world realizes they are unneeded and thus we are prevented from collecting our ‘due’ free money! PLEEEZZEE, with sugar on it!!!!

    signed,
    The GREED Monsters”

  • http://www.itznames.com jp

    We gotta give a thank you shout out to CADNA on this one. Aside from them it seems there is really noone else that the government will care about having an opposition. Uncle Sam could care less about Sally and Joe domainer’s opnion, whom probably havn’t even sent in a letter anyway. I know I haven’t.

  • Snoopy

    “detailing the reasons why new top-level domains are required without further delay.”

    The only reason why registrars think these new domains are needed without further delay is for the sake of their own profits. I’m all for new extensions being released but I can’t imagine a letter like that being taken seriously with all those dubious justifications like safety and stability of the Internet.

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