<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<br>
About the real business that ICANN does, and for whatever reasons
avoids speaking much about.....<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/icann-suspends-closed-generic-top-level-domain-bids/article4870401.ece">http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/icann-suspends-closed-generic-top-level-domain-bids/article4870401.ece</a><br>
<br>
<div id="header">
<div id="headerlogo">
<a href="http://www.thehindu.com/"><img
src="cid:part1.03050406.09080306@itforchange.net"
alt="Return to frontpage"></a>
</div>
</div>
<div>
<span class="breadcr">
<h3 class="artbcrumb"> <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/">Technology</a>
» <span class="artb"><a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/">Internet</a></span>
</h3>
</span>
Published: July 2, 2013 00:09 IST |
Updated: July 2, 2013 00:13 IST </div>
<h1 class="detail-title">ICANN suspends closed generic top level
domain bids</h1>
<span class="author">Karthik Subramanian</span>
<div class="detail-info"> </div>
<div class="articleLead">
<h2> Temporarily freezes move that could have led to global
corporates monopolising the WWW by privatising domains like
.beauty or .book</h2>
</div>
<p class="body"> The Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers and
Names (ICANN) has put on hold a controversial decision to allot
closed generic Top Level Domains (gTLD) to applicants. Governments
and activists had feared that allotting such generic domains would
lead to a global corporate monopoly over the World Wide Web, by
claiming exclusive rights for domains such as <i>.book</i> or <i>.beauty</i>.</p>
<p class="body">“Hopefully this is the end for closed generic Top
Level Domains applications and it is a victory for those who have
raised their voice against it,” said Parminder Jeet Singh,
executive director of Bangalore-based NGO ‘IT for Change.’</p>
<p class="body">Last week, a newly reconstituted gTLD committee paid
heed to the objections raised by ICANN’s Governmental Advisory
Committee, which had in April pointed out several problems in the
process of handing out gTLDs under a “single registrant” business
model. </p>
<p class="body">This differs from the regular business model for TLD
names like <i>.com </i>or <i>.org</i> where the domains names
are then resold to other users in an open market on first come,
first served basis. Under the single registrant model, companies
like Amazon and Google could own exclusively <i>.book</i> or .<i>cloud</i>,
both generic name strings, thus paving the way for monopolistic
branding. The process of handing out the contracts to applicants
has been put on hold for closed generic top level domains. It is
speculated that over such 70 contract bids have been identified by
ICANN.</p>
<p class="body">In April, the Government Advisory Committee of ICANN
met in Beijing and prepared what was called as “Beijing
Communiqué” in which it had raised, among other things, objections
over applications for the generic TLDs .islam or .halal. It raised
fears that the applicants did not have community backing. It also
requested ICANN to not proceed beyond initial assessment for the
bids for domains such as .shenzen, .date, .spa and a few others.
Parminder Jeet Singh, had in an article in September in <i>The
Hindu</i>, noted that ICANN was taking a decision on behalf of
the people of the world in handing out generic domain names to
corporates that had the wherewithal to pay the registration fee of
$185,000. They also had the potential to invest in building
business models on such monopoly use of generic terms as their
private top level domains. </p>
<p class="body">However, ICANN has not officially said it has
dropped the processing of the closed gTLD applications, but has
merely frozen it, pending further consultations with governments.
Such consultations may take place when ICANN meets in Durban,
South Africa, later this month. </p>
<br>
</body>
</html>