Second Step of Responsibility Program Initiated by ICANN
ICANN announced the beginning of a second update to the accountability set of instructions following the twelve suggestions received recently.
There is no definite time planned to spend in order to implement these recommendations and it will all depend on the complexity of each of them. ICANN will provide the possibility that each member of the community can track the progress of the implementation phase by publishing executive summaries of the meetings.
The report which led to the suggestions was made by sixteen experts of the group, who were chosen by ICANN and they spent almost one year to analyze, question, debate and listen to the opinions of the users so that they came up with a document in the end.
This document comes as a result of ICANN’s continuous goal to be clear in decisions with their users and it was issued as part of an arrangement with the US Government. It contains 51 components and a project manager was set in charge to organize and facilitate the application of suggestions.
Last Chosen Advisor for ICANN’s Responsibility Program
According to a new press release, an important teacher of judicial studies was entrusted as the last counsellor for the Cross Community Group at ICANN.
All the advisors began their training at this group and their most important responsibilities are to provide with their opinions about the best operations on accountability worldwide.
On the 10th of October last year the Public Experts Group (or simply, PEG) were required to select seven advisors and now that these advisors were selected, the activity of the group has come to an end. That does not mean however that the members of the group will not be available for further assistance if there is a need for their professional help.
Among the members of the group there are important experts such as directors of institutions in this field as well as ambassadors and administrators.
ICANN’s Analysis On The Rights Protection Processes
Latest draft documents from ICANN come with comments about protection mechanisms as they were pinpointed by the latest gTLD Program and it is meant to offer an idea on how efficient these mechanisms are.
The documents try to highlight the data obtained from important areas connected to the protection rights, which include, among others, Trademark Clearinghouse and Uniform Rapid Suspension system.
There is also a link provided for comments on these safeguarding mechanisms here:
https://www.icann.org/public-comments/rpm-review-2015-02-02-en
DNA Survey Shows Increased Interest For New gTLDs
According to a press release from the DNA (The Domain Name Association) and based on a survey they have conducted, a few conclusions were drawn from interviewing approximately 5000 users in ten countries. Among these conclusions, the most important ones are:
New internet domain names continue to be popular between young people and remain relevant when they access or search for websites. The percentage in such cases rise up to 85%.
The users from all over the world are very receptive to use new extensions for domain names. They are more likely to click on them than on classic .com or local ccTLDS, even if they are not aware of the new gTLD program, because they look more interesting to them in point of better reflecting the content and being easier to memorize.
Therefore, the general conclusion of the survey is that this market is on continuous expansion, the lesser degree globally being of 50% which still shows a high potential for the newest products, even if most of the users remain unaware of the possibilities offered by the latest gTLD Program.
Agreement Between ICANN and EURid to Develop DNS Sector in Africa and Middle East
A new partnership between EuRid, the owner of the .EU extension and ICANN, has been signed for the purpose of developing a collaboration on increasing the development of domain names industry propagation in Africa and Middle East.
The memorandum is meant to improve the local expertise in the DNS field so that new business opportunities arise and allow for a new strategy to increase efforts for the implementation of best practices in registry operations.
Another goal of this partnership is supporting the internship sessions for the young specialists in the DNS industry both in the Middle East and Africa, and their participation in regional forums or educational workshops, and ultimately to promote a wider use of the IDNs.
