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Expect
ICANN's Planned Rollout of New gTLDs to Be Delayed Again ICANN
plans to begin its rollout
of an unlimited number of new gTLDs in the first quarter
of 2010 but I am hearing that behind the scenes
developments make it unlikely we will see any
new extensions before the 2nd quarter of next
year, at the earliest. That forecast doesn't even |
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take into account another potential
roadblock for ICANN that arose when two of the U.S.
House Judiciary Committee's top Republicans, Lamar
Smith and Howard Coble, wrote a letter to new
ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom Tuesday expressing
concerns about the proposed introduction of a deluge new
top-level domains.
According to a report at NextGov.com,
Smith and Coble said they are worried that a vast
expansion of domains will carry "serious
negative consequences" for U.S. businesses and
consumers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National
Association of Manufacturers and others have
complained that adding hundreds of new domains could
exacerbate cyber-squatting, fraud, and overall confusion
in the Internet marketplace. The two Congressman also
objected to the absence of price caps in the new
gTLDs.
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Citing
what they called ICANN's "less than stellar track
record," Smith and Coble also said they have
"serious misgivings" about the scheduled
expiration of a joint project agreement (JPA)
between the U.S. government and ICANN later this month.
ICANN believes it is ready to become an independent
entity but a number of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle
remain unconvinced. House Energy and Commerce
Chairman Henry Waxman and Communications
Subcommittee Chairman Rick Boucher have both called
for the creation of a permanent relationship.
Smith
and Coble asked Beckstrom to provide detailed answers by
Tuesday (Sept. 22) to several questions about ICANN's
planned new gTLD expansion and the termination of the
joint project agreement.
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