[NCUC-DISCUSS] Interesting comments re Durban by ALAC member

Wed Sep 25 14:23:02 CEST 2013

emphasis in red by me-- DeeDee

General Observations. (by Dharma Dailey dharma.dailey at gmail.com )

I haven’t been to an ICANN meeting since Mexico City 2009. To the good, it
seems that At-Large/ALAC is much more integrated into the policy making
process at this point. Praise for ALAC’squality and quantity of
contributions came from many quarters at Durban- from other advisory
constituencies, board members, and ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé.

Another marked difference at this meeting was that in Durban, I got the
sense that the domain name industry is feeling a bit cornered. There were
repeated references to the fact that domain names are now only one means of
users reaching the content and services they seek. That means may be of
diminishing import.  For example, at a Tech Day talk “Platforms and
Policies Promoting a DNS Market in a Developing Country,” Dr. Ben Fuller
described the “FaceBook factor” in Namibia. Fully 60% of Internet activity
in the country may be attributed FaceBook use on mobile phones among users
who “may not even know that they’re using the Internet.” Fadi Chehadé,
dared to ask in the opening plenary whether as a result of search and
walled gardens the DNS will go away.  One response to this concern has been
the creation new trade organization for the domain industry:
theDNA.org<http://thedna.org/> whose
purpose will be to promote the use of domains. In a presentation to ALAC,
theDNA.org <http://thedna.org/> chair Adrian Kinderis told us the purpose
of this group to promote “using domain names as the primary tool for users
to navigate the industry.” It is their hope to restore “domain names as the
default way to navigate the Internet.” Yet clearly they have their work cut
out for them. Kinderis himself told us that his own mom is on FaceBook from
“the moment she gets on the Internet to the moment she gets off.”

http://thedna.org/domainnameindustry.html.

Outside of the formal meetings, I heard a lot of speculation of where the
expansion of top level domains will lead. What seems definite, is that
there are many players in the domain industry ready to exploit the
expansion by preying on the fears of registrants who feel compelled to
“defensively register” to protect their online identities.  On the other
hand, there is the possibility that some these new domains will create more
trust among the public and value for the public, by, establishing TLDS that
distinguishing themselves from the shenanigans of the average top level
domain. The thinking being that if you know that a TLD holds its
registrants to certain standards/practices/etc. you, the user, will be more
inclined towards registrants within that TLD. We were told that several of
the new TLDs have gone down this route by voluntarily signing on to
additional “public interest commitments” beyond those in the standard
contracts with ICANN. (Fadi Chehadé credited ALAC for nudging these PICs
into existence.) However, the murmuring consensus seems to be, “time will
tell” whether value-in-theory becomes value-in-practice. In the short term,
ICANN et al will make money on registrations whether they add value (new
businesses and services coming online) or suck value (scared registrants
piling on the expense by adding registration after registration.) I was put
off especially by one slightly drunk economist at the Gala who gleefully
reveled in his rent-seeking ways. In the US, a significant portion of the
economy is sole proprietor, self-employed and small business- which is to
nearly to say- a significant portion of the population is tied up in
high-overhead, low-net businesses where piling on the additional expense
and hassle of multiple registrations is a particularly bad outcome. As it
happens, this point was literally driven home to me. When I got off the
plane from Durban, I drove 5 straight hours to the Endless Mountains in
Pennsylvania to join my family on holiday. One thing that struck me: the
radio ads for these rural businesses are now pointing listeners to FaceBook
pages instead of websites. I think that says everything about the wider
world that ICANN is operating in (at least as it applies to North America.)

Specific Issues Discussed.

Less big picture, but perhaps of note. Holly Raiche (of Australia) and
Carleton Samuels (of Jamaica) presented a paper from the WHOIS expert
working group which recommends a new third party entity should broker WHOIS
information, handle accreditation and verify data. Garth Bruen and Evan
Leibovitch were both vocal that before anything new is tried, the processes
that are on the books should be implemented. One thing I really liked about
the report and Holly and Carleton’s presentation of it was that it defined
user in relation to the topic (WHOIS) and mapped out specific use cases for
WHOIS. Amen. Very nice.

Very much in passing, in the ALAC discussion with the Security and
Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC), one SSAC member made reference to a
report of theirs (I didn’t catch the report name or its status) on DNS
attacks which finds that several of their recommendations to reduce DNS
attacks “haven’t been implemented widely.” I was certainly curious to learn
more about this.

Another issue that came up briefly was raised during the Multi-stakeholder
Roundtable by Hong Xue of Beijing Normal University. Xue has reviewed
“several ICANN programs dealing with trademark infringement” and believes
that she sees a recent pattern of extending protection from trademark
infringement specific to the domain name itself to other forms of
Intellectual Property concerns.  She specifically called out language in
the new “Public Interest Commitments” (Those same PICs that ALAC/At-Large
is getting credit from Fadi for?) According to Xue, RA Specification 11
requires registries to get registrants to sign prohibitions that include
piracy, trademark and copyright infringement, and counterfeiting.  The
language of these prohibitions, she says, goes beyond those in WTO
agreements. And if registries don’t get registrants to sign such
agreements, their contract with ICANN can be terminated. Xue believes that
this sets the stage for registries to be drawn into enforcement on IP
issues, and possibly is a gateway for DNS blocking as a tool for handling
Intellectual Property disputes. Again, I would like to hear more about
this.

Another interesting issue that came and went was raised by way of a
video-taped speech (available on YouTube) by Karaitiana Taiuru.  Accordingy
to Taiuru any entity can make a claim for a TLD that represents an
indigenous group such as .maori or .zulu. He called for At-Large to create
an Indigenous working group to foster a way to make good determinations
about who should hold such TLDs. Text of the speech is here:
http://www.taiuru.maori.nz/indigenous-issues-with-new-gtlds/

ICANN is revisiting its engagement strategy both online and offline.
Meetings with ICANN Staff Chris Mondini, Chris Gift, and Duncan Burns
explained the current approach which considers a “continuum of engagement”
 that reaches beyond those who now attend meetings and currently
participate in working groups. Key to reaching the full continuum is
another redux of its online engagement. New platforms are being created
including ICANN labs which will, as I understand it, be an open platform
for each constituency to use a vehicle for engagement and The ICANN Academy
(which several At-Large members are involved in shaping) will be both an
online learning tool (moodle based) and an offline activity. Both will soon
be piloted.

http://icannlabs.tumblr.com
http://labs.icann.org

-- 
http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org
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