ICANN should confine itself to technical and operational matters
Comments: ICANN should not try to regulate morality and public order on the Internet. But the proposed policy for approving new gTLDs threatens to do just that. There is no global consensus on these cultural issues, and applying a one-size-fits-all policy to censor the global Internet cannot work. Trademark law doesn't match the way Internet domains are used, and the proposed policy could apply trademark law in ways that are completely unprecedented in any national law or international treaty. This is completely inappropriate, and is likely to be illegal in many cases. ICANN should refrain from legal precedent setting activities. The proposed challenge process allows too much subjective uncertainty in what should be a completely objective, transparent and well-defined application procedure. It requires ICANN to judge cases for which it has no established institutional capacity, and sets up a completely spurious legal jurisdiction without any accountable political authority. ICANN is not now, nor should it become 'judge jury and executioner'. It would also allow wealthier and more powerful gTLD applicants to hijack the application process, suppress competition and innovation, and generally establish more firmly entrenched gatekeeper power in the market for gTLDs. This is not in the best interest of the people, nor in the longer term of the business community. These problems are too important to let the proposed policy be approved without fixing them. Please protect freedom of expression and innovation by removing non-technical and non-operational criteria from all ICANN policies. Stick to what you are good at, and let the properly elected and designated organs of government work those issues. Keep the Internet open and nondiscriminatory. Keep the core neutral! |