June 2018 - comments-o-com-single-char-10may18@icann.org

[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] Three points on single letter domain names
by John Berard June 20, 2018

June 20, 2018

> As a member of the Commercial and Business Users' Constituency, I support the comments filed by that group. > But as a small business person, I feel there are some points that are both more central to my sector of the Internet economy and important enough that I am filing this individual comment on the release of O.Com. > > First, it is often hard for a company to plow new ground. I have been doing it for 10 years and it seems I have at least 10 more to go. The effort and evidence of my business-building is always in jeopardy of being undercut by someone with deeper pockets and wider reach. > That why I believe it is, as they say at Mass on Sunday, “truly right and just” to take not just prior rights, but prior use & market investment into account in awarding all single-letter second-level domain names. > To do so also inoculates ICANN against potential failure. > > Second, too few times does ICANN have the chance to test a hypothesis. As with the new gTLD program, it is often an all-or-nothing policy decision. > In the case of O.com, ICANN has the chance to view the availability of the domain name as a grand experiment; getting to learn from its release so as to better shape those in the future. > I realize that other registries have released single-letter domain names, but, in terms of market power and potential, none match .com. For this reason, special care should be taken. > > Finally, while I am grateful that Verisign has agreed not to benefit from the O.com auction proceeds, I am uneasy about whether any of these funds might find their way into ICANN's operating budget. > Best would be for the funds (which we anticipate but cannot guarantee) to be used to support the organizations who ought to be involved in ICANN -- or involved more! > > So there it is. My view is that, as in the U.S. Patent Office, prior art ought to count, that the auction be viewed as a test of our assumptions, not their roll-out and the benefits go to those who can most benefit ICANN by doing their work not just at three meetings but all year. > John Berard Credible Context Sent from my iPhone

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] My organization uses o.com, this will mess up our network. Please do not do this!
by Stephen Paul June 20, 2018

June 20, 2018

The organization I work for is very much against this. We have used non-delegated single letter and single number domain names as server names for over a decade now. One of the servers we operate is literally named “o.com.” Due to this, delegation of this domain, and any other single character non-delegated domain would cause very big technical issues for our company. I am sure that our organization is not the only organization in the world that does this. I once talked to another individual who did this via host files in order to create shortcuts for himself to his most visited sites. In my own world, that is one company and one individual I know who already uses o.com and this proposal would negatively affect both my company and this other individual. How many other organizations will be adversely affected? What will the accumulated cost be to these people and organizations who are affected by the release of single letter domain names which have never been released before, and be forced to make costly changes? I am sure the combined cost to the world will wind up being more expensive than the proceeds from such an auction, therefore making this opposite of the desired result. For these reasons our organization is against the release of o.com or any other currently non-delegated single character domain. Stephen P.

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] Comment on Release for Registration one .COM Domain Name with a Single-Character Label: O.COM
by Timothy Flanagan June 19, 2018

June 19, 2018

I write to submit my opposition to the proposed Release for Registration one .COM Domain Name with a Single-Character Label: O.COM. The proposed release and amendment to the .COM Registry Agreement are troubling for a number of reasons, specified below, and I would encourage ICANN to reevaluate the proposed release to take into account alternatives that would be consistent with existing policy, as well as to enhance the public benefit of any prospective change. Specifically, my concerns are as follows: · The proposal appears to set up a preferential exception to the current ICANN rules for no apparent objective reason by virtue of the fact that only one of the possible single character domain names is addressed. It is not clear why just the letter “O” is singled out so as to justify a rule specific to it alone rather than any other single character domain name or all single character domain names, absent the appearance of outside influence. · The proposal sets up the potential for either (a) a questionable precedent for handling release of other single character domain names or (b) inconsistent handling of all single character domain names. · The proposal does not afford any protection for trademark owners who may have existing rights in the specified single character. o Preferential protection of existing trademark owners is accounted for in other new TLD offerings o Inclusion of existing trademark owner precedence in this case would permit consistent protection of trademark rights across all domain name classes. · The charities to receive proceeds should not be deemed confidential and should be identified by name for public review and scrutiny in order to establish accountability and transparency with funds acquired by means of a public service. Transparency is especially important in this case given the extremely narrow tailoring of an exception to long-standing rules, which can easily raise questions about the motivations and influences behind the decision to amend. I appreciate the opportunity to comment on this proposal, and I urge the Commission to thoroughly evaluate the ramifications of this proposed amendment and to modify it to promote sound public policy. Please note that I am writing this opposition in my personal capacity as an intellectual property attorney and not on behalf of my employer, and it in no way is intended to reflect the views or legal position of the University of Notre Dame. Timothy J. Flanagan Associate General Counsel Concurrent Professor of Law University of Notre Dame

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] Personal Comments of Ayden Férdeline
by Ayden Férdeline June 19, 2018

June 19, 2018

To Whom It May Concern: I support moving forward with the auction of O.com. I would like to see the funds from the sale of this domain name support the public good of the Internet community, in particular, those from non-commercial backgrounds who contribute towards the development of Domain Name System (DNS) policy. I would like to see these auction funds going to support the kind of activities that benefit and the support the legitimacy of ICANN's multistakeholder model, enabling ICANN community members who advance public interest-oriented contributions in DNS policy to engage more at the national and regional levels in broader Internet governance activities that directly and indirectly benefit ICANN. Thank you for considering my input. Sincerely yours, Ayden Férdeline

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] Support for the proposed auction of O.COM as is proposed in the RSEP.
by Garland McCoy June 18, 2018

June 18, 2018

I was involved in the very early days of ICANN’s existence through my work with others from the business community and see the evolution of ICANN into a more mature international organization, which seeks to be truly accountable to the broad community of Internet stakeholders around the world. I do not attend ICANN meetings, but I do follow some of the key issues through my participation at the IGF-USA and the IGF both of which I have been very involved sponsoring workshops and helping recruit speakers. When possible I have sought out ICANN speakers and many of my workshops directly or indirectly touched on ICANN issues so I have been a keen follower. However, several years ago, I was aware of the Working Group on Reserved Names related to single letters and that they proposed the auction of single letters in the initial gTLDs, like .org; .net and .com. I saw that single letter auctions moved ahead in some of the initial gTLDs but nothing happened in .com Seeing now that at last the single letters in .com are being auctioned is good news, as already there are 5-6 of those single letters in use. I am especially interested in the commitment that the auction funds not go to the auction house, nor the registrar or the registry or ICANN, but go to benefit the broader ICANN community. ICANN can be negatively affected by decisions at many other events, like the ITU or the IGF. So active engagement of different stakeholders is critical to ICANN’s fulfillment of its core mission, As an active participant in the global IGF, and in the IGF-USA I want to lend my support to the importance of the use of the auction funds for the trial of O.COM <http://o.com/> to benefit engagement and participation, especially for participants from developing countries – both in ICANN meetings; security and stability training events; and also in the IGF and the national IGFs, where many at the national level, who won’t even attend an ICANN meeting, learn about what ICANN’s core activities and mission are – along side engaging with other of the technical community, but also with civil society, and governmental agencies. Recently, I have been devoting significant time to the importance that without electricity (both generation and storage) , the Internet cannot advance to the unconnected and underconnected. While ICANN’s remit is not necessarily about bringing power sources to support the connectivity challenges that the developing countries still face, understanding what ICANN does do, and how security and stability at the national level for networks that are part of the Internet can only be a positive. I was impressed at the commitment that the auction funds will not benefit the registry, registrar, ICANN but benefit the broader ICANN community. I support the proposed auction of O.COM <http://o.com/> as is proposed in the RSEP. Garland T. McCoy, President Technology Education Institute

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] My personal comment on O.com proposed release
by Mary Uduma June 18, 2018

June 18, 2018

These comments are submitted in my personal capacity and are based on my experience and understanding of ICANN. I am a long time participant in ICANN processes, in many roles, including long standing engagement in the GAC, ccNSO and in the broader community; and as a member and participant in various CCWGs including the CCWG- IG and CCWG-AP. I only highlighted my experience in order to mention that I have a broad understanding of ICANN, its mission and core values, moreover its importance to the developing countries engagement as an informed and active participants. When I attended my firs ICANN Public meeting not many years from when it was founded, there were very few African participants on the Internet. Today, the Africans still have much progress to make, but I can see there is such a strong commitment in all African countries to engage fully, getting informed and advancing the growth of the Internet. In Africa, we understand and support ICANN's role and we want to see more engagement supported from across our entire region, and of course, other least developed countries, in being able to engage in ICANN, As I reviewed the posted comment, I note some areas that I can personally support: 1. Progress with the single letters in .com, just as all the other earlier gTLDs have already done, like .info and .biz and .org. 2. The commitment of VeriSign to not take the auction funds for themselves, or to give them to ICANN, but to make sure that they are available to support the broader Internet community. I wish to note the challenges of travel costs to attend technical training at national, or regional levels, or to attend the ICANN meetings for many from developing countries who really need the expertise to help to keep the Internet secure. This is a real barrier, and funds from the O.COM auction could support such participation from developing countries. As an advocate of child online protection in Nigeria, I can see these funds helping developing countries to develop programs that address child online protection -- awareness and education of teachers, guardians and parents, creation of help and advocacy centres, stakeholders engagements -- a vitally important area for many of the developing countries. Utilising these funds for capacity building is brilliant, it could support national level engagement in sessions where ICANN community and technical resource come together to address technical skills, as well as policy issues that affect the Internet, and by extension, the ICANN. The National Regional Initiates, (NRIs) where I spend a good deal of my time are a convening mechanism both nationally and sub-regionally and supporting participation by the disconnected internet communities in such events could be a very cost-effective use of auction funds. I therefore support the trial release of O.COM as proposed, and I hope that a broad definition of capacity building can be acknowledged. I also hope that if the trial is successful, then further single letters in .com will follow this model and contribute to benefit the broader ICANN and Internet communities. This is much needed support and can help to achieve access for all of those who are not yet connected to the Internet. BR Mary Uduma Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] Comments from AfICTA
by Olusegun H. Olugbile June 18, 2018

June 18, 2018

Dear Everyone, I have been following discussions and comments on the release of o.com. Thanks to the BC volunteers for helping in drafting the BC comment. Contributing on behalf of AfICTA, AfICTA has been engaged in ICANN since 2012 representing the views and perspectives of concerned African ICT Associations and professionals. AfICTA supports the release of the trial of o.com as proposed in the RSEP and .com Registry amendment. We understand the need to recognize prior rights to ensure that the allocation of single letters can progress and that the use of the auction funds should support and contribute to the broader ICANN community. While AfiCTA supports the general areas identified by the original Working Group on Reserved Names, we also note that capacity development should be defined broadly to also support participation in ICANN and related activities. Thank you. Segun Olugbile

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] (no subject)
by Olusegun H. Olugbile June 18, 2018

June 18, 2018

Dear Everyone, I have been following discussions and comments on the release of o.com. Thanks to the BC volunteers for helping in drafting the BC comment. Contributing on behalf of AfICTA, AfICTA has been engaged in ICANN since 2012 representing the views and perspectives of concerned African ICT Associations and professionals. AfICTA supports the release of the trial of o.com as proposed in the RSEP and .com Registry amendment. We understand the need to recognize prior rights to ensure that the allocation of single letters can progress and that the use of the auction funds should support and contribute to the broader ICANN community. While AfiCTA supports the general areas identified by the original Working Group on Reserved Names, we also note that capacity development should be defined broadly to also support participation in ICANN and related activities. Thank you. Segun Olugbile

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] MY COMMENT ON: Release for Registration one .COM Domain Name with a Single-Character Label: O.COM
by Wisdom Donkor June 17, 2018

June 17, 2018

My name is Wisdom Donkor, i am from Ghana and an engineer by profession with specialization in E-government Networks and Infrastructure, Internet Governance, Open Government Data Policies platforms and community development, Geospatial technology, Software Engineering, Databases, Human Resource Planning and Development and Open Source Technology. I have organize and facilitated many workshops, forums, and main sessions within IGF and outside of IGF. I have also facilitated many SDG data road maps forums in Ghana and few other parts of Africa. I work for government and also i Co-Founded African Open Data and Internet Research Foundation (AFRIODIRF). I have been an ICANN Fellow and Coach Since ICANN 49 and also a member of NCSG, NCUC and AFRALO and also belong to few of the working groups within ICANN. I am commenting in my individual capacity. I have been able to contribute to ICANN because I have been part of the Fellowship Program that focuses on enhancing participation and also provides capacity building to participants from not only governments, but the technical community, small business from developing countries, legal community, civil society and NGOs. One of the things that I respect, and find vitally important to support is the inclusive nature of ICANN for participation of all different representatives from different groups. ICANN exists within a larger ecosystem, as is well recognized. Decisions about ICANN taken in other groups, like the ITU, the IGF In other capacities, I am a member of the Internet Governance Forum Multi Stakeholder Advisory Group [IGF-MAG]. I am also engaged in advancing and supporting the national IGF in my own country. Many people from developing countries cannot travel to the ICANN meeting, but they need to understand ICANN's purpose, and its mission, and its activities. I do note that I have an example of one kind of activity that might fall into "capacity building". For instance, it could be supporting the national IGFs ability to convene at a national levels, with inclusion of ICANN related workshops or sessions would mean that more can participate and contribute toward ICANN's policy, and core mission. In my continent, we struggle with having access to the Internet, to energy, and to capacity building., there have been many attempt and effort to also introduce internet governance into the educational curriculum of the developing countries at all levels and there is the need to intensify awareness and engagement within the educational sectors of the developing countries and this will go a long way to addressing the sustainable development goal 4 by 2030 that will in-turn feed into all sectors of the developing countries economy We are making significant progress in addressing these challenges. And, , we are strongly committed to ICANN, and to a continually strengthened Internet, and we understand that ICANN security and stability depends on informed multi stakeholder participation. Which means that capacity building at the national level is essential -- not only with the technical community, but also with the policy makers. Thus, I reviewed the areas that the auction funds from O.com could support and I support a broader definition of capacity building that merely adding new registries and registrars. That does not require a change in any way; merely an acknowledgement that capacity building has a broad and inclusive definition. I support the proposed auction of O.COM <http://o.com/> as is proposed in the RSEP, and moving ahead. I can envision how the auction funds can support the broader Internet and ICANN communities. As to this being a trial, sometimes it is necessary to take the first step forward. I urge that this first step be taken, and that the auction for O.com proceed. I also reviewed the earlier work of the Working Group on Reserved Names and commend the thoroughness of that process. *WISDOM DONKOR (S/N Eng.)* *Africa Open Data and Internet Research Foundation (Co-Founder)* E-government, Internet Governance & Open Government Data and platforms Specialist ICANN Fellow / UN IGF MAG Member, ISOC Member, Freedom Online Coalition (FOC) Member, Diplo Foundation Member, OGP Open Data WG Member, GODAN Member. National SDG's data Roadmaps Advisory Board Member, Ghana Ghana Energy Data Task-force Member Ghana OGP Advisory Committee Member Email: wisdom.dk(a)gmail.com Skype: wisdom_dk facebook: Kwasi Wisdom Linkdin: Kwasi Wisdom

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[Comments-o-com-single-char-10may18] o.com comments
by Scott McCormick June 15, 2018

June 15, 2018

I have been involved in ICANN since 2007, and my primary focus has been on security and stability. These comments are offered in my individual capacity as a security expert. It is apparent that the release of the single letters in the legacy gTLDs, the ccTLDs and also the new gTLDs offers no technical challenges to the Internet. As the single letters are available now in the other legacy gTLDs, it is time to move ahead with the release of o.com<http://o.com> as a trial. Of course, recognition of prior rights is an important element to prevent misuse or delay in the use of the single letter. The Working Group on Reserved Names of the GNSO Policy Council did tremendous work earlier and their suggested uses of the auction funds from single letters should be respected, ensuring that the funds benefit the broader ICANN community. V/r, -Scott Scott McCormick Mobile 443.691.2013

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