for this shameful .info
saga.The first mistake was to give priority to trademark holders. To make
matters worse, we are seeing domains awarded to holders of image TMs.
Having made
the mistake of given priority to TMs, the rest of the abomination could only have
been avoided through the retention of the anti-cybersquatting and IP protection procedures
detailed in Afilias's .info Registry bid document, but which were removed from the
ICANN/Afilias Registry Agreement.
Thirdly, the fact that in the culture which has
developed under ICANN's stewardship of the DNS, some registrars and their affiliates
have proven by their practices in the leadup to and during the .info launch, that
they would not have been out of place in the California gold rush, for they have
demonstrated that they believe that every one is fair game for a scam, and that they
apparently fear sensure from no one.
Judged only on its performance in regard
to the Afilias .info fiasco, ICANN has failed the Internet community and the trust
placed in it by the US Congress.
While the ICANN executive continues to read like
a whose who of the domain name business and fails to have adequate checks and balances
that would come with appropriate representation of the broad Internet community,
the abuses of power are likely to continue.
As a proof of concept, the events of
the recent new TLD launches have proven that the current model for the DNS regulatory
body has been a an abject failure.
I think the US Congress owes it to the Internet
community, who have paid such a high price for involvement in the launches of the
new TLDs, to remove those in ICANN who have been responsibly for these sorry events,
and to ensure the integrity of a newly constituted ICANN through the representation
which favours users rather than providers.