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Today 'The Hindu' carried its own editorial on this issue, simply
titled 'No, ICANN'....<br>
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parminder<br>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/no-icann/article3932668.ece">http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/no-icann/article3932668.ece</a>
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<h3 class="artbcrumb"> <a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/">Opinion</a> » <span><a
href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/">Editorial</a></span>
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</span> Published: September 25, 2012 01:02 IST | Updated:
September 25, 2012 01:02 IST </div>
<h1 class="detail-title">No, Icann</h1>
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<p class="body"> The impending sanction of generic Top-Level Domains
by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers poses
serious questions on equity and competition. The importance of
domain names to digital commerce cannot be overstated, and the
power of the .com or .net is well understood. What Icann proposes
to do is to add several hundred gTLDs, starting next year,
including those that encompass a wide range of activity in the
creative arts, publishing, lifestyle and even community
activities. Any entity that is assigned a domain becomes the
equivalent of a landlord in cyberspace, with the ability to
extract rent from other users. Such control may not pose problems
where corporates such as Google are assigned domains that are
specific to their companies or brands, .google or .android, for
instance. But giving companies monopolistic control over generic
words such as .book, .site, .news, .beauty or .app even through an
auction process would distort the openness that characterises the
Internet. A more equitable arrangement would be to keep such
resources accessible in a non-discriminatory way. It is such a
broad open culture pioneered by Tim Berners-Lee and others that
aided the growth of the Internet in the first place, and not one
that narrowly focused on profits. </p>
<p class="body"> Internet gTLDs are affected by the digital divide,
as the pattern of applications with Icann indicates. Most are from
the developed world, and North America dominates; Africa is at a
disadvantage due to the complexity and cost. Not many have the
resources to pay the $ 185,000 fee for registration and the
hardware and infrastructure necessary to run the domain. Even the
concessional fee for public interest applicants in the ‘supported’
category remains too steep for most organisations. Governments in
such countries could consider aiding national corporations, cities
and public institutions to acquire the gTLDs that are of domestic
concern. This can prevent monopolies. Equally important is the
possibility of fraud. Unless Icann can credibly ascertain
ownership of a top level domain, it could be hijacked and used to
commit online fraud. Clearly, the more contentious issue is that
of domains that are truly generic, such as .book. They require
some anti-monopoly safeguards, such as a “no refusal” clause to be
incorporated into the registration to protect the interests of all
players in the field. In general, a set of predictable
consequences for anti-competitive practices should be worth
considering for inclusion. More so, since Icann has the stated
objective of promoting competition in the gTLD scheme. Where there
are credible objections to the distribution of important domain
names, Icann would do well not to award them in haste. </p>
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