Start: Virtual Conferences, Volunteering and More

by | Sep 16, 2020 | Domain News, Domain Shows, Etc, ICANN, Jothan, NewTLDs, Speaking

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

Pause: Stepping up to lead the Domain Name Association

by | Sep 16, 2018 | Etc

Pause: Stepping up to lead the Domain Name Association

Across a span of 15 years of establishing and running events, I have now launched many successful conference brands – MERGE, NamesCon, DomainFest, DotNXT and The Domain Roundtable – and NamesCon rapidly grew to become the leading conference in the Domain Name Industry, now operating in the very capable hands of GoDaddy’s Cloudfest team.

My focus will now be towards leading the Domain Name Association as the executive director of that important trade association for the great industry of Domain Names.  In addition, and in compliment to that activity, I will continue as a volunteer with the Public Suffix List (and related efforts) helping developers better interact with domain names.

I also contribute to the Universal Acceptance efforts, where Internationalized Domain Names and EAI (Email that works in more native languages), and helping countries with their ccTLDs.

I continue to provide expert witness services, consult registries, registrars, and related parties interested in the industry of Domain Names, and also own and operate a small ICANN-Accredited Registrar.  The focus is high quality registration of domain names, and working within the new regulations on GDPR or other such regulations, and efforts on “Know Your Customer” (KYC) and quality registrant experience.

You’ll see more activity in those areas and less activity here on my personal blog.

The Public Suffix List

The Public Suffix List (PSL) is a large, detailed list of Top Level Domains and their descendants or self-designated work-alikes, designed to aid programmers, integrators, sysadmins, security experts, email administrators, browsers, search engines, data scientists and other developers more elegant and detailed domain boundary resources.

The PSL

The Domain Name Association

The Domain Name Association works to engage, educate and evangelize about the benefits, utility and innovation potential of domain names, the DNS and Top Level Domains as crucial Internet resources.

About the DNA
DJ Set from Waternight at NamesCon Las Vegas 2017

DJ Set from Waternight at NamesCon Las Vegas 2017

by | Feb 17, 2017 | Etc, Jothan

One of the coolest things about NamesCon is the fundraising event called “Waternight” that my co-founder hosts to aid with clean resource and education in Kenya, Dominican Republic and other parts of the world.

I have a background in the Music business, having DJ’d since the 80s and touring with top 40 artists and festival events in the late 80s and early 90s, and appreciate the opportunity to flex those less used skills for a good cause.

I had the privlege of performing a DJ Set at the very last NamesCon after it sold to GoDaddy and the WHD/Cloudfest teams, and posted it to Mixcloud.

Here’s a link to the mix:

LINK: NamesCon 2017 Waternight - DJ @FoaP

(Update: June 2017: Mix has >10k Listens)

Taking a break…

by | Feb 10, 2012 | Etc

I am taking a break from blogging and will be reducing my industry profile in the coming months to work on something big.

Thank you to all of the loyal viewers, syndicators, fans, and friends over the years.

To quote Arnold Schwartzenegger, “Ahl Beh Back”.

Video: Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on Internet regulation

by | Dec 6, 2011 | Feature, ICANN, NewTLDs

I found a gem at The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation when I was searching for the composition of the participants.

What I found on their website was this very powerful statement on Internet regulation from Senator Hutchinson.

Watch the video (Especially those of you in the majority within the ANA who are not supportive of the crusade against ICANN and new TLDs) Senate on internet regulation.

Hopefully a read of the tea leaves. Who benefits from blocking innovation, competition, and job creation?

Here is a link to the actual session.