The 37th international ICANN meeting wrapped up last week in Nairboi, Kenya, and some interesting, polarizing decisions were made.
ICANN (short for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is largely responsible for the oversight of many key Internet components, including domain names. Most international meetings, which occur three times a year, result in policy decisions that have a significant impact on the development of the Internet. Last week’s meeting in Kenya was no different.
The issue which received the most attention from mainstream media was the .XXX domain suffix. This adult-oriented extension has been discussed since the early part of the decade, and there has been a great deal of back and forth between ICANN and ICM Registry, the private company which whishes to introduce XXX, on whether ICM cleared all the necessary hurdles to get the extension approved. ICANN feels ICM has not, while ICM believes otherwise. The issue eventually went to an independent review panel earlier this year, and the panel felt ICANN did not follow its own policies and procedures when it refused to proceed with the .XXX extension. As a result, next steps were to be diescussed by ICANN’s board in Nairboi.
There were disparate expectations at the conference about what would happen next; some thought (and ICM was certainly hoping) ICANN would enter into an agreement with ICM and approve .XXX in short order. Others thought ICANN wouldn’t budge, as the panel’s judgement was non-binding. In the end, ICANN’s board deferred a decision in order to solicit further public comment. So, this likely means yet another round of discussions and no definitive action prior to ICANN’s next meeting later this year.
Another set of key decisions were made around the new gTLD process, which could lead to the introduction of hundreds of new domain suffixes. Many of those with ideas for new domain extensions feel the process has been moving at a glacial pace thus far (of course, the counter-argument is that it takes a long time to make sure all interests are considered).
In Nairobi, the board resolved to bypass the proposed “Expressions of Interest” process (which would have seen those interested in applying for a new TLD pony up cash and an application in advance), and instead move to another version of its Draft Applicant Guidebook, which the community hopes will lead to new gTLDs being rolled out later this year.
The board also resolved to keep registrars and registries “vertically separated” during the new gTLD process, pending further review. What this essentially means is that for now, the process will move forward with registrars and registries not allowed to co-mingle on registry ownership structures (some registrars had hoped to not only sell new TLDs, but own some of the registries as well. ICANN now wants these two groups rigidly separated).
Although the meeting was a relatively small one due to travel time and security concerns, a number of important decisions were made that will have a significant impact on the Internet as a whole. With a central location and key decisions expected, ICANN’s next meeting, scheduled for late June in Brussels, promises to be an eventful one.
About Adam Eisner
As Director of Domain Services, Adam is responsible for driving innovation in Tucows' domain name registration business. He has over 10 years of experience in the areas of Internet marketing and services, and holds a Journalism degree from Toronto's Ryerson University.
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