Yes, it is good to know how he almost single handedly saved the world while establishing the sacred status of a few words in one script in one language in one naming system. yay avri On 2 Jul 2013, at 07:11, Carlos A. Afonso wrote: > Parminder sent this to the [governance] list. > > --c.a. > > ==================== > > http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/icann-suspends-closed-generic-top-level-domain-bids/article4870401.ece > > Technology » Internet > > Published: July 2, 2013 00:09 IST | Updated: July 2, 2013 00:13 IST > > ICANN suspends closed generic top level domain bids > > Karthik Subramanian > > Temporarily freezes move that could have led to global corporates > monopolising the WWW by privatising domains like .beauty or .book > > 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 .book or .beauty. > > “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.’ > > 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. > > This differs from the regular business model for TLD names like .com or > .org 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 .book or > .cloud, 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. > > 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 The > Hindu, 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. > > 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. > > Keywords: ICANN, Top Level Domains, gTLD, world wide web, domain names, > generic domain names, TLD, internet > > Printable version | Jul 2, 2013 4:21:08 PM | > http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/technology/internet/icann-suspends-closed-generic-top-level-domain-bids/article4870401.ece > > © The Hindu >