NTIA urged Internet governance stakeholders to file comments with ICANN on proposals for the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and ICANN accountability. The agency said in Monday’s Federal Register that those comments will help it “determine whether the proposals satisfy NTIA’s criteria and have received broad community support. Comments will also be considered in any NTIA certification before the U.S. Congress that may be required prior to terminating the existing IANA functions contract currently in place between NTIA and ICANN.” ICANN’s IANA Stewardship Transition Coordination Group (ICG) released a combined version of earlier community IANA transition proposals in late July (see 1507310060), while the Cross Community Working Group on Enhancing ICANN Accountability (CCWG-Accountability) released its proposal last week (see 1508040058). Comments on the ICG proposal are due Sept. 8, and comments on the CCWG-Accountability proposal are due Sept. 12, NTIA said.
The application deadline for candidates to be ICANN’s next CEO is Sept. 20, ICANN’s CEO Search Committee said Monday. The committee formed to find a replacement for outgoing ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé, who's leaving the nonprofit after its March 5-10 meeting. ICANN needs “a public interest-minded leader with a combination of business, diplomatic and organizational skills to assume the leadership of a successful multi-stakeholder organization,” the committee said. The ICANN committee said it’s seeking candidates with successful records at “respected” public, corporate, academic service, nongovernmental organizations, foundations and other public service institutions.
MPAA said Friday that it wants to “set the record straight” on its positions on the ICANN Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues Working Group's work on proposed revisions to ICANN's proxy services registration policies. The association said in an email that groups opposed to aspects of PPSAI's initial report on revision proposals have “distorted” MPAA's positions. Privacy advocates and some industry groups have opposed aspects of PPSAI's initial report, particularly a proposal to bar owners of domain names associated with websites engaged in commercial activity from using proxy services to mask ownership information on WHOIS registration (see 1507010065). MPAA said that ICANN hasn't adopted any final changes to its proxy service rules and noted that “while we are working to develop a framework to help creators protect their content when clear and verifiable abuse is occurring, we’ve made it very clear that we also support the legitimate use of privacy and proxy services.” MPAA said it disagrees with claims that its role on PPSAI means it supports policies that will chill free speech and expose marginalized groups to possible harassment. “Not only do we tell stories that advance challenging societal conversations, we also consistently resist government calls for censorship,” MPAA said. “In this case, we are engaged with ICANN to help creators reach out directly to the bad actors that are abusing the Internet to distribute infringing content and profit from others’ hard work.”
Charter Communications “made net neutrality history” when it committed to “open and free interconnection” across the Charter/Time Warner Cable network “if their pending merger is approved” (see 1507150038) Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and Chief Financial Officer David Wells said Wednesday in a quarterly letter to shareholders. “This move ensures that all online video providers can aggressively compete for consumers' favor, without selective and increasing fees paid to ISPs.” Charter's policy “is the right way to scale the Internet” because it means consumers “will receive the fast connection speeds they expect,” they said. “The Charter/TWC transaction, with this condition, would deliver significant public interest benefits to broadband consumers, and we urge its timely approval.” Netflix in Q2 exceeded 65 million subscribers, including 42 million in the U.S. and 23 million overseas, the letter said. “We are at the forefront of a wave of global Internet TV adoption and intend to make our service available throughout the world by the end of 2016.” To support its global expansion, Netflix is “focused on adding more languages, optimizing our personalization algorithms for a global library in local markets, and expanding support for a range of device, operator and payment partnerships,” the letter said. “We are also placing a greater emphasis on optimizing for mobile, which is the main means for Internet access in many emerging markets where we will be expanding in the future.”
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Online Abuse Prevention Initiative were among 36 digital rights, privacy and women’s advocacy groups that signed a letter to ICANN opposing proposals to ban owners of domain names connected to commercial websites from using proxy services to mask ownership information on the WHOIS registration database. EFF is also one of the groups that have been leading campaigns against the proposed proxy services ban for commercial websites, contained in an initial report from the Generic Names Supporting Organization’s Policy Development Process Working Group on Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues (see 1507010065). The proposed ban “will physically endanger many domain owners and disproportionately impact those who come from marginalized communities,” EFF and the other groups said in their joint letter. “People perceived to be women, nonwhite, or LGBTQ are often targeted for harassment, and such harassment inflicts significant harm.” The proposed ban would make it easier for commercial website owners to become targets of “doxing” -- maliciously publishing someone’s personal information -- and “swatting” -- using personal information to send in false tips to law enforcement, the groups said.
U.N. member states began meetings Wednesday in New York on preparations for the U.N.’s Dec. 15-16 meeting on outcomes of the past 10 years of implementation of the World Summit on the Information Society. The December meeting “will take stock of the progress made in the implementation of WSIS outcomes and to address potential information and communications technology gaps and areas for continued focus, as well as challenges, including bridging the digital divide and harnessing ICTs for development,” the U.N. said in a news release. Preparatory meetings Wednesday and Thursday were meant to consult with “relevant” WSIS stakeholders and determine areas where further focus is needed, the U.N. said.
ICANN Vice President-Domain Names Services & Industry Cyrus Namazi acknowledged the presence of ongoing campaigns against controversial portions of an initial report by the Generic Names Supporting Organization’s Policy Development Process Working Group on Privacy & Proxy Services Accreditation Issues (PPSAI). Privacy advocates are urging Internet users to file comments opposing a portion of the PPSAI report that explores whether to recommend that ICANN bar owners of domain names that point to commercial websites from using privacy and proxy services’ information on the WHOIS registration database. Privacy advocates are also opposing a portion of the PPSAI report that explores whether to require registrars to release domain name owners’ information for websites without a court order when a website violates IP rights, distributes malware or engages in illegal activities (see 1507010065). “The debate will continue until the report is final, and we encourage any and all to voice their opinion,” Namazi said in a statement Wednesday. “This type of discourse is a critical element of the multistakeholder model.”
Brazil and the U.S. said they will resume their joint Working Group on Internet and Information and Communication Technologies, with the group set to hold its second-ever meeting this fall in Brasilia. The group held its first meeting in July 2012 and disbanded after the start of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s leaks about controversial NSA surveillance programs, an industry lawyer told us. Brazil later enacted a law strengthening Internet privacy policies due to the “anger and repudiation” of the NSA surveillance programs (see report in the April 24, 2014, issue). The restart of the U.S.-Brazil working group “will offer the opportunity of exchanging experiences and exploring possibilities for cooperation in a number of key areas, including e-government, the digital economy, cybersecurity, cybercrime prevention, capacity building activities, international security in cyberspace, and research, development, and innovation,” said President Barack Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in a joint statement Tuesday. Rousseff has been in Washington this week to meet on U.S.-Brazil relations. The countries reaffirmed their commitment to “cooperate for the success” of the next Internet Governance Forum Nov. 10-13 in João Pessoa, Brazil, and said they will participate actively in the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level meeting on the 10-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society outcomes in December.
The Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers adopted a declaration Wednesday urging its 47 member nations to ask ICANN to strengthen its mechanisms for respecting freedom of expression and privacy in top-level domain (TLD) decisions. The council said it adopted the resolution in response to concerns that ICANN decisions on the use of particular words or characters in TLDs, such as .xxx or .sucks, affect the right to freedom of expression. The Council of Europe’s member states should encourage ICANN to create “an explicit policy statement” committing to respect internationally recognized human rights standards and to use “due diligence mechanisms and human rights impact assessments to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for any harm ICANN may cause,” the Committee of Ministers said in the declaration. The council also urged in the resolution its member nations to work with ICANN to “ensure that a more attentive approach towards human rights and corporate responsibility contributes to the development of more transparent and accountable policy-development processes, with measurable standards and in full respect of the public interest.” The Committee of Ministers separately adopted a declaration reaffirming the Council of Europe’s support for multistakeholder Internet governance and asking the U.N. General Assembly to extend the Internet Governance Forum’s mandate through 2025.
ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé said he plans to resign from the nonprofit corporation in March to pursue a private sector role outside the domain names industry. Chehadé will remain “available to work closely with ICANN after March 2016 to support the transition to a new leader, as well as to advise” ICANN on issues like the planned spinoff of NTIA’s oversight of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions after his departure, ICANN said in a news release. “During the remaining 10 months of my tenure, it's business-as-usual,” Chehadé said. “My priority remains to continue strengthening ICANN's operations and services to the global community.” A successful IANA transition “does not depend on the leadership of a single individual, but rather the engagement of the global multistakeholder community working collaboratively to ensure that the Internet remains open, secure, and resilient,” said NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling in a statement. “I urge the community to remain focused on the important task of developing a transition proposal, including enhanced accountability mechanisms, that fully meets our conditions and can be implemented in a responsible and timely manner.” The Internet Society is also “deeply committed to seeing the transition through to completion,” said CEO Kathryn Brown in a news release. “Indeed, there is no turning back. We have a responsibility to the users of the global Internet to maintain the momentum for a timely, orderly transition” of the NTIA’s oversight of the IANA functions.