ICANN in-person events are cancelled through March because of the coronavirus (see 2003020050), the organization said Monday. Employees won’t travel to industry events through March unless “deemed essential,” which will affect “participation in several conferences,” it said. The nonprofit cited the World Health Organization’s characterization of the coronavirus as a “public health emergency of international concern.” It will reassess April events after March 12.
ICANN postponed a March 24-25 domain name system forum due to coronavirus concerns, saying Thursday the Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, event will be rescheduled. That follows a Feb.19 announcement the March 7-12 public meeting in Cancun, Mexico, would instead be held remotely. ICANN is also reviewing other upcoming meetings, including the May 3-6 Global Domains Division summit in Paris, and the June 22-25 public meeting set for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but said no decisions have been made.
February 25, 2020 by Dugie Standeford|Domain Names
Sale of the Public Interest Registry should be halted until ICANN can vet all financial details, the Electronic Frontier Foundation blogged Friday, responding to new accountability commitments by the buyer, Ethos Capital, about price caps, censorship safeguards and privacy protections for. org domain names (see 2002210017). EFF urged the FTC to review the buyout. Limiting price increases and establishing a "stewardship council" doesn't lessen the risk for nonprofits because the handpicked body "will have no real authority or practical ability to override the wishes of PIR's new equity owners," EFF Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz emailed us. The sale risks bankrupting PIR, he said. The Internet Governance Project said Ethos' public interest commitment is good news, because it's the agreement between ICANN and the registry "that will protect .ORG registrants, not promises, and not 'stopping the sale.'" The proposal "falls short" of IGP recommendations because composition of the stewardship council has no slots for independent noncommercial bodies and could lead to an "Ethos-selected group of puppets" and because potential steep price increases aren't accompanied by longer domain name registration terms.
Legally binding commitments on .org price caps, censorship safeguards and personal data protections in the Public Interest Registry agreement with ICANN shows PIR buyer Ethos Capital "has been listening closely to stakeholder feedback," Ethos CEO Erik Brooks said. The new provisions, unveiled Friday, will be enforceable by ICANN's compliance department and community members through ICANN's public interest commitments dispute resolution procedure, the equity firm said. Under the commitments, fees charged to .org domain name registrars for initial or renewal registrations won't increase by more than 10% per year on average for eight years from the start of the current registry agreement. After that period, "we will be constrained by the highly-competitive marketplace, competing with .NET, .CHARITY, .FOUNDATION and other TLDs," an Ethos spokesperson emailed. A second commitment requires PIR to maintain a body to provide strategic advice and oversight on policies and functions of the registry that affect .org and its community. In addition, the registry agreed to establish a "community enablement fund" to support initiatives benefiting .org registrants. PIR will also have to file an annual report assessing compliance with the accountability provisions. PIR gave ICANN an extension to March 20 to review its proposals (see 2002120033). ICANN is analyzing the information and welcomes Ethos' efforts to engage with the Internet Society community and .org customers, emailed President Goran Marby. ISOC owns PIR. Asked about early reaction to its proposal, the Ethos spokesperson said the firm consulted with leaders and members of the community before offering to make the commitments legally binding: Its actions "answer the very request the community has been making."
Comments are due March 31 on an ICANN draft report on domain name collisions. These include situations where a domain is used in a private context and then delegated in the public domain name system (DNS) (see 1810240001). The report sets out findings of the Name Collision Analysis Project, which is charged with deciding whether delegation of .corp, .home and .mail and collisions in general, would harm DNS security and stability.
ICANN should get "the time it needs to carefully review" the Internet Society's plan to sell the Public Interest Registry to private equity firm Ethos Capital "and make sure nonprofits are protected," House Commerce Committee Chairman Frank Pallone, D-N.J., tweeted Tuesday. "Transfer of control of the Internet’s .org addresses may harm nonprofit groups and activists." Others have raised similar concerns (see 2002030020). ICANN had sought to extend review of PIR's takeover to April 20 from Feb. 17, after California's Office of the Attorney General sought the delay (see 2001310015). Last week, a lawyer for PIR wrote ICANN to say the .org registrar would agree to a delay until Feb. 29. Pallone wasn't more specific in the tweet his office emailed to reporters Wednesday. ICANN didn't comment. A House Commerce spokesperson responded to a question about the timing of Pallone's concern by pointing us to PIR's letter to ICANN. ISOC has "worked closely with ICANN and believe that it understands its limited mandate as set out in its fundamental bylaws," an ISOC spokesperson emailed. "We worry that ICANN is being inappropriately pressed to step outside of that mandate, which could only be harmful for its 'reputation for political independence.'" The spokesperson cited a Feb. 9 editorial from The Wall Street Journal. The editorial compared the "hysteria" around FCC net neutrality deregulation to PIR's transfer. ICANN "has spent 90 days reviewing this matter," a PIR spokesperson emailed us Wednesday. "Extending it further would set a precedent and introduce uncertainty into what should be a straightforward contractual process." PIR "may be amenable to one final brief extension, if necessary, provided significant progress is made toward completing this process," the representative added. Ethos has "been working closely with ICANN to answer their questions and have publicly given the necessary assurances for the community," a firm spokesperson emailed. "Ethos reiterates its commitment to being a responsible steward of PIR." The spokesperson pointed to a Feb. 6 post by Ethos Chief Purpose Officer Nora Abusitta-Ouri that ICANN's purview "is to ensure that the transfer does not adversely impact the stability, reliability, or security of the registry." That "mandate cannot be expanded simply because of external pressure," Abusitta-Ouri wrote. "PIR, which will remain the registry operator and has successfully operated .ORG for 17 years, meets all relevant criteria."
Noncommercial stakeholders are "waiting for a consultation regarding the sale of .ORG" (see 2001310015), wrote Milton Mueller, a founder of the Georgia Institute of Technology's Internet Governance Project. The professor said his Saturday post notified ICANN and its board of the pending request: "Such a consultation is not a courtesy to be offered at ICANN’s discretion, but is a requirement based on ICANN’s own Registry Agreement (RA) contract and its Registry Transition Process (RTP) policies." On Dec. 9, the Non-Commercial Stakeholders Group asked ICANN to consult "impacted registrants and the global non-commercial Internet community" on the Internet Society selling the Public Interest Registry to Ethos Capital. ICANN Chair Maarten Botterman's Jan. 7 response assured the stakeholders group that “ICANN org team and the Board are working together to evaluate the proposed acquisition to ensure that the registry remains secure, reliable, and stable.” Botterman didn't address the request for consultation, Mueller recalled. Mueller, at Georgia Tech's public policy school, has blogged (see 2001150013) that the sale need not be alarming; he didn't comment Monday. ICANN declined to comment.
ICANN seeks to extend to April 20 from Feb. 17 review of the Public Interest Registry's sale by the Internet Society to Ethos Capital, after the California Attorney General's Office sought the delay and asked for more information. ICANN previously extended by a month review of the deal said to be worth $1 billion-plus (see 2001210034). The AG office asked questions to "analyze the impact to the nonprofit community, including to ICANN," which as a California nonprofit is regulated by that office. ICANN asked PIR for the additional time "to conclude both the CA-AGO and ICANN reviews," the domain names overseer announced Thursday. "ICANN will continue to conduct thorough due diligence in its consideration of the proposed change of control and related conversion of PIR from a nonprofit to a for-profit. PIR is currently a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation. As part of the proposed sale, PIR proposed to the Pennsylvania Attorney General that it be turned into a for-profit entity." A PIR spokesperson emailed that it got the letter, is reviewing it "and will work with ICANN to address the questions." Other parties to the deal involving .org domain name registrar PIR didn't comment Friday, and ICANN didn't answer questions.
ICANN extended to Feb. 17 the time to review Public Interest Registry submissions on the Internet Society selling PIR to Ethos Capital. ICANN will seek more information, it announced Friday. That won't delay the original Feb. 17 deadline to OK or turn down the deal, wrote ICANN Senior Vice President-Global Domains Division Cyrus Namazi to PIR CEO Jon Nevett. PIR has shown a "desire to act in the spirit of cooperation so that ICANN has a full understanding," Namazi wrote. The three parties to the transaction back the extra time, a spokesperson responded on their behalf Tuesday. Ethos, ISOC and PIR "stand firmly behind the merits of this transaction" that represent "immense opportunities" for ISOC and PIR "to advance their important work for the public benefit and the Internet at large," the spokesperson emailed. "Ethos investment in PIR will further strengthen .ORG." Over 21,000 people, 660 organizations and six members of Congress (see 2001160061) ask ICANN to halt the $1.135 billion takeover, noted the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "The speed of the deal and the dangerous lack of transparency" worry EFF, wrote Senior Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz. EFF is "encouraged that ICANN is taking the time to review the deal more closely and ask more questions," Stoltz emailed us Tuesday. "It remains to be seen whether ICANN will listen to the concerns of .ORG users and address the obvious conflicts of interest that the Ethos deal raises."
Six Democratic lawmakers asked ICANN to block the Internet Society's sale of the .org registrar to a private equity firm (see 2001150013). Information from parties to the deal "raise significant questions about the new arrangement, and fail to provide assurances that" buyer "Ethos Capital will be a responsible steward of the .ORG registry, or that the registry will be operated under meaningful oversight," the lawmakers wrote Thursday. A contract gives the Public Interest Registry that ISOC is selling "nearly free rein to regulate the content of websites in the name of implementing 'protections of the legal rights of third parties," wrote Massachusetts Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, the latter also a 2020 candidate for president, and the others. "Ethos Capital has stated that the new parent entity of PIR would act in the public benefit, but it has not proposed a structure of governance and accountability that would bind this commitment in a meaningful way." Sens. Ron Wyden of Oregon and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Reps. Anna Eshoo of California and Mark Pocan of Wisconsin also signed the letter. ICANN didn't comment. The three parties to the deal disagree with views in the letter, believing it doesn't "acknowledge the strong merits of this transaction -- namely the immense opportunity it will create for both PIR and the Internet Society to advance their important work for the public benefit and the Internet at large." The deal "serves the public interest," contend Ethos, ISOC and PIR, emailed a spokesperson on their behalf. It would let PIR "expand its work and the services it provides to the nonprofit community and other .ORG users" and give ISOC "essential support" via "a substantial endowment that will ensure its ability to continue its efforts to build a more accessible, inclusive and secure Internet around the world," the representative said. "PIR and Ethos will provide the resources to grow .ORG and develop innovative products and services that will strengthen the ability of mission-driven organizations and others."