January 2016 - Bc-gnso - lists.icann.org

FILED: BC comment on amending Registry Agreements for .STUDY, .COURSES, .LAMBORGHINI, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA
by Steve DelBianco 27 Jan '16

27 Jan '16

Today we filed our comment on amending Registry Agreements for .STUDY, .COURSES, .LAMBORGHINI, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA (see below and here<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BC-comment-on-amending-R…>). As of tonight’s deadline, the BC was the only comment filed on this issue. (link<https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-12-15-en> to comments page) Many thanks to Andy Abrams for drafting this comment for the BC —— The ICANN Business Constituency (“BC”) appreciates the opportunity to provide comments regarding the proposed amendments to the .STUDY, .COURSES, .LAMBORGHINI, XN--3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA registry agreements submitted through the Registry Services Evaluation Policy (RSEP) on 11-Sept-2015, 01-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, 08-Oct-2015, and 02-Nov-2015, respectively, and posted for public comment on 01-September-2015 at https://www.icann.org/public-comments/ctn-release-tlds-2015-09-01-en . The .LAMBORGHINI, XN--3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA Requests In their respective RSEP requests, Registry Operators Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A, Volkswagen (China) Investment Co., Ltd., Volkswagen Group of America Inc., Bugatti International SA, AUDI Aktiengesellschaft, and Delta Air Lines, Inc. seek the release of all country and territory names, as defined in Section 4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, at all levels of the .LAMBORGHINI, XN--3OQ18VL8PN36A, .VOLKSWAGEN, .BUGATTI, .AUDI and .DELTA TLDs. The BC fully supports these requests submitted by .BRAND registries. The BC has consistently supported the release of country and territory names at all levels in .BRAND TLDs; this comment aligns with those prior comments. See Business Constituency, Comment on Neustar's Proposal for Country and Territory Names<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ctn-release-neustar-19sep14/pdfjYdQmb…> (Nov. 8, 2014); Business Constituency, Comment on the Release of Country and Territory Names in the .BMW and .MINI TLDs<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-bmw-mini-amendment-11dec14/msg00001.h…> (Jan. 24, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .EMERCK, .BERLIN, and .HAMBURG TLDs<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-emerck-hamburg-berlin-amendment-02mar…> (April 1, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .HONDA, .AXA, .EPSON, .HSBC, .XYZ and .COLLEGE TLDs<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-ctn-release-tlds-31mar15/msg00000.html> (April 28, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .SONY, .ARCHI, .BIO and .SAARLAND TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/BC-comment-on-Release-of…> (June 14, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .KOMATSU and .RICOH TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/comment-on-proposed-amen…> (June 14, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .GLOBAL, .BNPPARIBAS, .BRIDGESTONE and .FIRESTONE TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BC-comment-on-geo-names-…> (August 2, 2015); Business Constituency, Comment on Release of Country and Territory Names for the .BROTHER .GEA .ACO .SECURITY .PROTECTION .THEATRE and .RENT TLDs<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Comment-on-geo-names-in-…> (Oct. 22, 2015). As set forth in our previous comments supporting similar RSEP requests, the BC believes that the use of country and territory names will allow .BRAND registries to create customized and relevant localized content for consumers in various countries and regions across the world, especially in developing nations with predominantly non-English-speaking populations. This geographic segmentation will not only bring greater efficacy to .BRAND TLDs, but it will benefit businesses and consumers alike by fueling economic development in regions which currently have limited choice with respect to linguistically and culturally tailored domain names and content. In addition, we firmly believe that the release of country and territory names for .BRAND TLDs will enhance security and trust in online commerce by permitting businesses to exercise more control over the security and stability of their customized web sites. Finally, the BC considers that use of country and territory names within a .BRAND registry will always avoid confusion with an official government web property. Indeed, the very basis of the .BRAND TLD model is for the brand to serve a unique source identifying function at the top-level, and for geographic names to serve a purely descriptive function at the second level. Thus, especially given the context of the underlying commercial sites, consumers directed to country.brand domain names will always be aware that they are engaging with a geographically-targeted version of a company’s official web site as opposed to a government property. The BC also notes the historical availability of country and territory names at all levels in all legacy TLDs. .BRAND TLDs should be afforded the same opportunity to allocate such names, given that the risk of abuse or confusion by the use of such names in a .BRAND registry is low. The .STUDY and .COURSES Requests In its RSEP request, Registry Operator Open Universities Australia Pty Ltd seeks the release of all country and territory names, as defined in Section 4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, at all levels of the .STUDY and .COURSES TLDs. The .STUDY and .COURSES requests are distinct from the RSEP requests discussed above because they relate to open TLDs, as opposed to .BRAND TLDs or geographic TLDs. In our view, the historical availability of country and territory names at all levels in all legacy TLDs still militates in favor of a presumptive approval of the request for the release of country and territory names. However, in recognition of the fact that the geographic segmentation and non-confusion arguments set forth in the previous sections are less persuasive for open TLDs than for .BRANDs or geographic TLDs, we believe that the presumption of approval may be overcome by a particular government’s objection to the release of its country or territory name. In contrast, for .BRAND and .GEO TLDs, the BC strongly believes that the presumption of approval should only be able to be rebutted upon a showing of a justified and well-supported objection that convincingly demonstrates probable harm and/or confusion due to the use of its country or territory name at the second level. Thus, given the above rationale, to the BC the central question is one of degree, whereby restricted-access TLDs, such as .BRANDS and geographic TLDs, should enjoy the strongest presumption of approval (rebutted only upon justified and well-supported governmental objections), whereas purely open TLDs should enjoy a lesser presumption of approval (rebutted upon any governmental objection). In the future, in order to make the requested delineation more clear, the BC would support bifurcating similar public comment periods on country and territory names into buckets corresponding to restricted access TLDs, such as .Brands or geographic TLDs, versus purely open TLDs. These comments were drafted by Andy Abrams and approved in accordance with our charter.

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FILED: BC comment on gTLD Marketplace Health Index Proposal
by Steve DelBianco 22 Jan '16

22 Jan '16

Today we filed our BC comment on ICANN’s gTLD Marketplace Health Index Proposal (attached and here<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BC-comment-on-gTLD-Marke…>) Thanks to drafters Angie Graves and Paul Mitchell, and editors Andy Abrams, Olga Yaguez Denise Michel, and Phil Corwin.

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FILED: BC Comment on Proposed Supplementary Registration Proxy Service for gTLDs Operated by XYZ.COM
by Steve DelBianco 22 Jan '16

22 Jan '16

Today we filed our BC comment on the Proposed Supplementary Registration Proxy Service for gTLDs Operated by XYZ.COM (attached and here<http://www.bizconst.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/BC-comment-on-registrati…> ) Thanks to drafters Andy Abrams, Aparna Sridhar, Tim Chen, and Phil Corwin. Comment period closes today, and as of now we are the ONLY comment filed (see all comments here<http://forum.icann.org/lists/comments-registration-proxy-10dec15/>)!

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REMINDER: Ethos Award Nomination Period Announcement - Nominations Close 12 March 2016
by Chantelle Doerksen 12 Jan '16

12 Jan '16

https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-12-10-en Nomination Period Opens For ICANN Multistakeholder Ethos Award | Award Targeted for ICANN 56 | Nominations Close 12 March 2016 <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-12-10-en#> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-12-10-en#> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-12-10-en#> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-12-10-en#> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-12-10-en#> <https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2015-12-10-en#> ICANN is pleased to announce the opening of the nomination period for ICANN's Multistakeholder Ethos Award. This award program, launched in June 2014 in London, seeks to recognize long-standing community members who have served in leadership roles in multiple ICANN working groups or committees, and demonstrated collaboration with different Supporting Organizations and/or Advisory Committees. The Multistakeholder Ethos Award will recognize ICANN participants who have deeply invested in consensus-based solutions, acknowledging the importance of ICANN's multistakeholder model of Internet governance, and contributed in a substantive way to the higher interests of ICANN's organization and its community. The nomination period for community nominees opens today, 10 December 2015 and closes on 12 March 2016. Community members interested in submitting a nomination are invited to send an email to ethosaward2016(a)icann.org <mailto:ethosaward2016@icann.org?subject=Multistakeholder%20Ethos%20Award%20 Nomination> including: * Name of nominee. * Community of nominee. * Reasons for nomination. Please note that the reasons outlining the candidate's merit for the nomination may be as brief or as long as required. Candidates for the award will demonstrate at least five years of participation in the ICANN Community. A panel of community members is being gathered to help review all community nominations and determine the best candidate(s) for the award(s). The decisions of the panel will be made based on the following criteria: 1. Demonstrated multistakeholder volunteer service via working groups or committees. 2. Demonstrated spirit of collaboration through engagement with other community members with the aim of consensus building. 3. Demonstrated facilitator of dialogue and open discussion in a fair, cordial and collegial manner. 4. Demonstrated additional devotional factors exhibited by time spent supporting ICANN's multistakeholder model and its overall effectiveness. Please submit your nominations via email to ethosaward2016(a)icann.org <mailto:ethosaward2016@icann.org?subject=Multistakeholder%20Ethos%20Award%20 Nomination> . Award recipient(s) will be announced in June 2016 at ICANN56 Panama City. For more insights on the award program, please consult the ICANN Community Wiki <https://community.icann.org/x/qCDxAg> .

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