Start: Virtual Conferences, Volunteering and More

At long last, an update.

I don’t update this blog very frequently, as I find myself quite busy with advisory and mentoring activities, but wanted to give a mega-update.

With the world in the ‘new normal’ of virtual meetings, webinars and zoom galore, a traveler like me has to slow down for a bit. I will be focusing on the continued interest in the MERGE conference (re-formatted to the new 2020 normal of virtual events), and my ICANN accredited registrar, and my new elected role within the ICANN Stakeholder Group executive committee, and co-chairing the Contracted Parties House (CPH – basically an acronym for Registries and Registrars) CPH Techops group with Marc Anderson from Verisign. I continue to do a lot of activity towards Universal Acceptance of TLDs and domain name advocacy.

I no longer hold the role of Executive Director with the Domain Name Association, where I had the privilege of working part time for the group of registries and registrars that shared my passion for elevating the domain name industry, DNS and top-level domain names. I was able to put it on an upward trajectory, but we opted to not renew my contract and instead migrate the association into the Internet Infrastructure Coalition where there are ample resources and a team of bright and well-connected technology thought leaders available to let the association continue in its important work.

I continue to contribute and work on GitHub to help maintain the Public Suffix List project, having helped ICANN’s SSAC with SAC070 and the ICANN OCTO with their documentation for TLD administrators on keeping their records up to date and understanding the benefits and drawbacks of how their listings are configured.

I have also been working with had the opportunity to help Page Howe launch https://thedomainshow.com and have been working with Arif from https://thedomainsocial.com to continue gatherings of like-minded technical enthusiasts that are developing domain names and capitalizing on the

Registry Service Provider Speed Dating

Two years ago, in 2008, I put together a session at the Paris ICANN meeting where I gathered new TLD applicants and service providers together in a room to meet each other.

Afterward, I put together a survey and then collected the information in to a grid so that potential new TLD applicants could see side by side comparisons of the many, many registry service providers, and make informed decisions about their initiatives.

I had my friend publish the results of the survey which I’d run personally, and many things grew from that in the two years since.

Some TLD applicants made technology selections, but many are still making decisions. Some new providers have started operations. Subtle new nuances have crept in to the application process which impact the questions that should be asked up front.

This is the 2010 version of the survey. I’ll collect the information until August 4th, 2010.

Participating registry service providers, I will interview you about the service you offer, then publish the information to this blog through August (and into September if the response volume is high).

This is an outstanding opportunity for registry service providers to make their technology known and attract potential applicants.

If you offer Registration Services for a potential new TLD or ccTLDs, please take some time and complete this survey:
Registry Service Provider Survey

EoWhy?

I have come to acceptance that the community proposal for EoI was removed from consideration during the March 12th Board Meeting in Nairobi. It should have passed, but it got lobbied into oblivion by some in attendance at the Nairobi meeting. They deserve their say, those who oppose it, but quite frequently the arguments used fail logic once one reflects upon them, or contrast them against the facts.

The EoI did not pass, but the silver lining in it all is that it proved that the community could raise up a proposal to the board using the Bottom-Up approach.

I am grateful. I have a well honed ability to find acceptance in things that I don’t agree with. I hate the outcome but I would do it all again.

The many stakeholders and applicants who had been trusting dates and time lines that they had been provided in all meetings between the Paris meeting in June 2008 and the Sydney meeting in 2009, and had been growing businesses and reaching out to communities, carrying the message of ICANN and the promise of new TLDs.

These companies, individuals, volunteers, consultants, they all planned their lives, budgets, marketing, and jobs around the time lines that had been coming from ICANN. Sure, delays and adjustments meant the embarrassment of repeatedly revising and communicating new time lines to their clients, shareholders, boards of directors, communities.

And then came the Seoul ICANN meeting. Rather than get the schedule in place and stop the sliding dates and the embarrassment that they were causing ICANN and the interested stakeholders, ICANN instead opted to clam up about dates and time lines.

This not only completely undermined their own credibility; it froze financial support for new TLD applicants of every shape and size and eliminated institutional confidence in ICANN and its new TLD program.

And in that choice to coward away from communicating dates, ICANN really created the EoI. All I did is channel the contempt, cynicism and abject frustrations of the various community members who had timelines pulled out from under them in the Seoul meeting, working to turn that passion into productive effort. So you could say ICANN was the catalyst.

I am grateful that I had the influence, respect and trust from stakeholders to have pulled so many parties together to collaborate and support an initiative which tested ICANN’s ‘Bottom-up Process’. And I had the privilege of presenting the concept of an expressions of interest process as a way to keep the new TLD program on pace while removing pressure from the staff and board for evaporating the foundations out from under supporters and believers in the new TLD program at the Seoul meeting.

I cannot take full credit for the Expressions of Interest, it came from a number of people in the community, from a number of various stakeholders who did not want to see the momentum die from ICANNs opting at redacting and retracting communication of dates and timelines.

I just had tenacity to be a spokesperson for a large group of stakeholders in the Seoul meeting but could not at all take all of the credit for the EoI. It was humbling to read through the transcript from the public meeting as I notice the many, many supporters who I consider to be leaders in the community who stepped up after I did in support of the proposal at the public meeting.

It was really just a sensible approach of decoupling the application process from the review, assignment and delegation stages of the new TLD program that we had seen originate from the GAC. I explained that the catalyst was the outright elimination of discussion of dates in Seoul, and that I’d chosen to do something positive and constructive rather than give in to the growing cynicism in the applicant pool.

After gathering many in diverse parts of the community and stakeholder groups to provide a draft document to ICANN that contained a number of concepts and submitting it in the comment period that followed the Seoul board resolution, ICANN staff drafted a proposal for an Expression of Interest process and put it out to the community to comment on.

The community rose up to support or not support the overall concept. Not everyone liked every aspect of it, some loved it outright, and many (especially brands who are fighting with their last breath to oppose the new TLDs but ironically are preparing applications and will apply once they can) sought to quash it.

Ultimately it came down to transparency being the root of its demise. Many brands did not want the double-standard of their position on new TLDs exposed, and fears by governments that a public morality issue would creep in with .f-bomb holding up the whole process, because all strings would be released.

It took reverse psychology and intense lobbying in Nairobi for those who wanted EoI their way or no-way, and those people got what they wanted.

I disagree with the board’s decision, but the board was requested to pass or fail the EoI and they failed it opting to allegedly continue the momentum of the new TLD program. Using the Paris meeting announcements that stemmed from the board votes to open up the new TLD program in 2008, things had been progressing along until ‘overarching issues’ got thrown in front of the process, injecting delays.

I am getting a lot of feedback from within the community that there is deep disappointment and outrage falling out of the board decisions. And I am seeing a lot of people still bracing for the tsunami effect from the EoI being voted into oblivion in the tragic events of 3-12 (The ICANN Board decided to withdraw the Expressions of Interest among other decisions).

We’ll see some startups pare down their staff and marketing budgets, other participants will close down entirely or completely move their focus. Make no mistake, jobs were lost as a result of the board’s decision to fail the EoI.

I am already witnessing gloating by those interested in delaying the introduction of new TLDs who won a small victory for the status quo amidst the zebras and hippos in Narobi. These are not people who ponder the consequences or outcomes, they only relish victories.

Candidly, I was shocked the EoI did not pass. It essentially was just a time honored technique used in intelligent project management to reduce the ambiguity and theoretical concerns and operate in tandem with the solutions to some of the thorny issues that were open. It had every opportunity to thrive and provide benefit to ICANN, to the applicants, to the communities, investors, to the process itself.

There was an opportunity to make the new TLD program real again after Seoul. In Seoul the new TLD program was converted into vaporous concept with hazy, slippery deadlines that have anyone that follows them met with laughter and doubt when presenting timeline estimates.

Apparently the community had really gotten quite a bit of momentum with the Expressions of Interest concept. It looked like it had some promise. Many elements of the concept were attractive and productive.

But the takeaway and probably the most important thing that happened was that the community rose to present an idea, that the board heard that message, and that it even became something to be voted upon at all.

While I watch many of the investors and communities that were in strong support of the new TLD program wither or hibernate in a process that kills jobs during a weak global economy as a result of the March 12th board votes, I remain optimistic that the new TLD program will continue and we’ll see those who had the intestinal fortitude and capable war chests ride out the storm of perpetual delay.

And I would do it all over.

I have not lost my faith in the community. I hope the community has not lost faith in ICANN, and I would encourage the community not to become stoic when their efforts appear for naught like we were shown.

My heart goes out to those who have families to feed that were impacted by the decisions the board made.

ICANN Mar Del Plata, Argentina

ICANN Mar Del Plata, Argentina

Vint Cerf, Jothan Frakes
Vint Cerf and I. (I am on the right ;] )
I am grateful at this opportunity for a photo with this inspirational man. It was an absolute pleasure that Vint would stop and speak with attendees, and he was absolutely a genuine and approachable person.
Jothan Bret and John
Showing my better half in a picture with two big names in the legal and domain name fields, Bret Fausett and John Berryhill from the Mar del Plata ICANN meetings.
Jothan and Joe
Caught semi-off-guard with Joe Alagna from CentralNic.
Fernando
Overcoming Jet Lag with Fernando Espana from Neulevel.
With Elliot Noss and Ross Rader
I had a photo opportunity with Two Cats from Tucows. (L-R: Ross Rader, Jothan Frakes, and Elliot Noss)
With Paul Kane
Paul Kane of CENTR paused and obliged a photo with me.
With Ray Fassett
I got the opportunity to chat a bit with Ray Fassett from .JOBS, and he also told me about the TLD, and about the great work that Overdrive is doing with the King County Library System in distributing ebooks and DRM.
Jothan and Alexander This is a unique photo opportunity with the phenomenon known as Alexander. He is very fun to spend time with, and a very good friend.