ICANN is a strange beast. Even the term "ICANN", which is itself an acronym, has more than one meaning. There are at least two "ICANNs", one is the "community", which is made up of everyone who engages with the ICANN "circus" and then there is ICANN the organisation itself - a California not-for-profit. While people outside the internet industry probably have never heard of … [Read more...] about How Diverse Is ICANN? New Study Explores Organisation’s Makeup
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
Cruz and Duffy Introduce Legislation To Block IANA Transition Citing Internet Freedom
Senator Ted Cruz has upped the ante in his campaign against ICANN and the IANA transition. Over the past few months Cruz has written multiple letters to ICANN and others. Today, however, he switched gears and introduced a bill to the US Senate. The bill's very title gives an indication of its tone and content: "The Protecting Internet Freedom Act". The "freedom" line isn't a … [Read more...] about Cruz and Duffy Introduce Legislation To Block IANA Transition Citing Internet Freedom
Göran Marby Takes The Reins At ICANN
Earlier today ICANN's new CEO officially took the helm. Göran Marby is now officially ICANN CEO, taking over from interim CEO Akram Attalah. Marby also gets control of the ICANN CEO's Twitter account @icann_president and he (or more likely one of his team) has already started using it. Marby is currently attending the RIPE meeting in … [Read more...] about Göran Marby Takes The Reins At ICANN
Cruz Sees Himself As Protector Of Internet Freedom
It looks like Senator Cruz' letter writing campaign isn't going to end any time soon. While previously the Senator and former US presidential hopeful was happy exchanging salvoes with ICANN he's now switched gears and is instead focussing on NTIA and the US Department of Commerce. The latest letter is focussed on a very strange interpretation of the IANA transition … [Read more...] about Cruz Sees Himself As Protector Of Internet Freedom
Facebook Has Acquired A Registrar
Facebook has acquired an ICANN accredited registrar. According to a tweet from Pinky Brand (below) the news came via an update from ICANN to registry operators https://twitter.com/pinkybrand/status/720719396323196928 On the GNSO Council call this evening Susan Kawaguchi confirmed the acquisition. So who did they acquire? They've acquired a registrar called … [Read more...] about Facebook Has Acquired A Registrar
ICANN Sends Reply To Cruz And Co
Senator Cruz and ICANN have been involved in a game of "swap the letter" for the last couple of months. Earlier this week Cruz and Co sent a letter to ICANN that displayed a couple of key things: they were very unhappy with how ICANN had been responding (They're not alone in this one!) They were displeased with ICANN's concept of time (hey we've all been there! Welcome … [Read more...] about ICANN Sends Reply To Cruz And Co
Cruz And Co Send ICANN Another Letter
Republican Presidential hopeful Ted Cruz (and others) has sent yet another letter to ICANN. This time round the letter is addressed both to the Chairman of the ICANN Board, Dr Steve Crocker, as well as to former CEO Fadi Chehadé. The letter (below) repeats some of the questions previously put to ICANN, though the wording is much blunter this time round. Cruz' office … [Read more...] about Cruz And Co Send ICANN Another Letter
How Much Has ICANN Spent On The IANA Transition?
ICANN critics often focus on ICANN's expenditure. The organisation's overall budget had been growing for years prior to the new TLD program launch. However with the new TLD launch it mushroomed very quickly, with the organisation collecting $185k per application. With 1930 applications that gave them $357,050,000 - though admittedly there were quite a few applications withdrawn … [Read more...] about How Much Has ICANN Spent On The IANA Transition?
LACTLD Appoints Andrés Piazza General Manager
LACTLD has announced that the appointment of Andrés Piazza as General Manager. Piazza will take up the post formally from April 1st 2016. He will be working alongside the current General Manage, Carolina Aguerre, from mid-March. Piazza is a well known figure in the Latin American and Spanish speaking internet industry. He's been with LACNIC since 2011, but prior to that was … [Read more...] about LACTLD Appoints Andrés Piazza General Manager
Ted Cruz vs ICANN CEO Saga Continues
Earlier this month US Presidential hopeful, Senator Ted Cruz, wrote to ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé to express his displeasure over Chehadé's activity in China. Chehadé's reply was sent last week and obviously did little to placate the Republican politician. In a release from Cruz's office last night it's pretty clear that we haven't heard the end of this episode (emphasis … [Read more...] about Ted Cruz vs ICANN CEO Saga Continues