When you register a domain, you may notice that a so-called “ICANN fee” is charged by your registrar. At 18 cents per year per domain, it isn’t a lot, but adds up if you have a lot of domains.

The administrative fee is charged to all .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .name, .jobs, .mobi, and .asia registrations. It is used to pay for the day-to-day operations of ICANN. It used to be quite a bit less, but has increased drastically over the last decade.

Is the fee fair? Every time you register or renew a name, you’re funding Rod Beckstrom’s $750,00 salary and $12.48 million travel budget. I think ICANN has a right to raise funds for its operation, but many domainers have criticized the charge because it gives the organization much more money than it realistically needs to operate. Unfortunately, registrants don’t have much say in the matter. Don’t like it? Then stop registering domains I guess.

Continue reading: What is the ICANN fee?

Many of the voices we have heard speaking out about the proposed .XXX top-level domains (TLD) are mostly from the tech community, the adult industry, and politicians with various agendas. Although I rarely use this blog for editorial purposes, I thought it might be helpful for people to consider the perspective of an educator who has worked in all primary and secondary school levels and will soon start working in higher education.

The benefits of having an entire TLD for adult sites is clear if you are in the adult industry, but what some may not have considered is that it can also have advantages for those trying to prevent children from accessing them. It also provides a definite advantage for tech security professionals who are often given the impossible task of trying to limit access.

Make no mistake, it will not solve all problems, and it is doubtful adult and pornographic sites will limit themselves exclusively to .XXX domains, but part of promoting themselves as legitimate businesses involves making a conscious effort to keep children away from their sites. This could work in favor of both sides of the argument if it is used to its full potential. ICANN is again considering it, and time will tell. But it is certainly worth a second thought.

Photo Source: Flickr

Continue reading: An educator's perspective on .XXX domains

After losing a non-enforceable lawsuit against ICM Registry for blocking the .xxx domain, ICANN will reconsider the extension. According to a spokesman, it will be discussed at a meeting this Friday.

As much as we all love the wide array of busts and brawn available online, I really don’t see the point of .xxx. Proponents argue it would make adult content easier to filter, but this would never happen unless all pornographic sites were forced to move to the extension.

ICM Registry seems to be the only one pumping .xxx. Unless the likes of Hugh Hefner get behind, I doubt it willl ever take off. ICANN should just tell ICM to take a hike once and for all.

Continue reading: ICANN to reconsider .xxx

Rod Beckstrom is scheduled to visit China for two days next week. This will be the ICANN CEO’s first trip to the country since assuming his post last year.

A number of things are on the agenda. A major point of discussion will be China’s plans to launch its own IDN ccTLD and debate over control of DNS for the name.

What will not be discussed, however, are Chinese censorship and the new restrictions on .cn registrations. ICANN has stressed that this is not a political visit. I think this is a good thing, but at some time or another, ICANN is going to come into conflict with countries over how ccTLDs should be operated.

Source | PC World

Continue reading: Rod Beckstrom to visit China

As an ombudsman at ICANN, Frank Fowlie is in charge of handling complaints against the domain name agency. After being kicked off an Air Canada flight for unruly behavior, however, Fowlie himself has lodged a complaint with the Canada Transportation Agency (CTA) in an ironic twist of events.

The official was flying a connection to Montreal en route to Vancouver. According to the Ottawa Citizen, he became “physically imposing” after a flight attendant forgot to serve him a meal. The employee offered to work out the issue, but after continuing his confrontational behaviour, was moved to a different seat. After landing in Montreal, Fowlie was not allowed to board his flight to Vancouver.

Continue reading: ICANN official kicked off flight for unruly behaviour

The International Centre For Dispute Resolution ruled yesterday that ICANN should pay ICM Registry, the main proponent of the controversial .xxx domain, $475,000 in damages plus $221,000 in arbitration fees for its rejection of the extension.

Fortunately for ICANN, the ruling is not binding. ICM has applied for the extension three times since 2000, only to be rejected each time by the California agency. Though .xxx at one point came very close to approval, ICM feels ICANN’s rejections constitute unfair censorship and is still pushing to have it approved.

It will be interesting to see what effect this ruling has on the new gTLD program currently in planning. Could ICANN face real lawsuits for rejecting extensions? Can it legitimately reject an extension without becoming an instrument of censorship? These are just two questions that will need to be addressed if the “non-profit” plans on moving forward.

Source | The Domains
Photo | PatriotPro

Continue reading: ICANN "fined" $475,000 for rejection of .xxx

A study conducted by ICANN on five gTLDs (including .com and .net) reveals that 77% of WHOIS data is at least partially inaccurate. In addition, only 46% of domain owners in the study could be successfully contacted.

ICANN talked with a number of domain owners and found that they did not provide correct WHOIS information for two main reasons: privacy and carelessness. Many were unaware that WHOIS even exists or did not consider domain ownership much of a responsibility.

I think doing this study was a good idea and domain owners need to be made more aware of their obligation to provide accurate contact information. As someone who has used the WHOIS database in the past to contact site owners, I can say it’s often a hit-or-miss affair.

Continue reading: ICANN: 77% of WHOIS data inaccurate

Afilias, a company well known for operating the .org and .info gTLDs, has purchased the .MOBI registry for an unknown sum. While Afilias has always been in charge of handling the technical aspects of the extension, this purchase gives it total ownership of the domain.

While the company will leave the current .mobi advisory boards in place, I personally think it’s kind of scary that one company can control such a large chunk of the gTLD market. Afilias also owns a number of domain registration companies, a conflict of interest that has raised eyebrows before.

Personally, I think ICANN and the United States government should start monitoring extension ownership more closely. Firms certainly have a right to expand, but it is not in the best interest of Internet users for one company to have such a large stake in the domain business.

Continue reading: Afilias buys .Mobi registry

Yesterday, ICANN published a report detailing compensation for its top employees, including CEO Rod Beckstrom. As a non-profit, the agency is required to do this. What did it reveal?

For one thing, Rod Beckstrom receives one heck of a salary– $750,000 USD per year plus bonuses. The best-paid UN employee only earns $201,000 a year. Even though ICANN is a non-profit, it bases its salaries on the for-profit model. Even with that taken into consideration, I still think Beckstrom is earning far too much.

Most other executives have salaries in the $200,000 range, well below the compensation the CEO receives. Keep in mind that these figures do not include bonuses and other benefits, however.

Source | Domain Name News

Continue reading: ICANN reveals salaries of top employees

Only a little more than week after ICANN shut down DomainCannon, the agency has de-accredited two more registrars: ISPREG LTD and SBNames Ltd. The companies lost their accreditation after failing to renew their agreement with ICANN.

Considering the firms did not renew their contracts, they were probably already failing to begin with. According to ICANN, the registrars’ domains will be transferred to a more responsible registration provider in 30 days.

Although de-accreditation has no real effect on domain owners once names are transferred, it is still a good idea to research whatever registrar you decide to use. Personally, I always like to stick with a well-known company over a new start-up with no reputation.

Source | Domain News
Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: Two registrars lose ICANN accreditation

If you want to stay in business as a domain registrar, owing ICANN a large sum of money is never a good idea. Neither is having an unresolvable website. New Orleans-based registrar DomainCannon made both these mistakes, however. It not only owes the agency $186,598.39 in overdue accreditation fees, but is so out of whack that its website has been down for some time.

In light of both these things, ICANN has shut down the registrar. The 11,729 domains its customers own will likely be transferred to a more responsible company. It looks as though DomainCannon will fire no more.

Source | Domain Name Wire

Continue reading: ICANN shuts down delinquent domain registrar

Despite security concerns, ICANN has decided to hold its 37th international meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting will run March 7-12. It will be hosted by the Kenya Network Information Centre (KENIC), the operator of the country’s ccTLD.

Though ICANN has been criticized in the past for spending too much money on its international events, the non-profit claims its overseas meetings are necessary to foster international cooperation.

ICANN’s decision to convene in Nairobi is a key achievement in the development of African IT. Hopefully it will bring more attention to the continent’s technology needs. More details about the event can be found here.

Photo | hisks

Continue reading: ICANN to hold 37th international meeting in Nairobi