In a blog post earlier today, ICANN announced that it will assist domain name registrants in Ukraine and the surrounding area to ensure their domain names do not accidentally expire during these horrific times:
Read #ICANN VP Russ Weinstein’s latest blog about how ICANN is enacting relief for registrants in Ukraine and the surrounding region > https://t.co/bHUtKkzEdX #ICANN73 pic.twitter.com/stRPzic766
— ICANN (@ICANN) March 7, 2022
I regularly receive emails from domain registrars I use asking me to confirm my email address to stay in line with ICANN requirements. Typically, I either ignore these emails if I know my information is up to date, or I will click the email to confirm when I know the email is legitimate. For instance, I regularly receive Whois update emails from Network Solutions following NameJet auction wins.
None of these types of emails request a payment of any kind, and they are always (as far as I can recall) from the domain registrar of record rather than ICANN.
Yesterday afternoon, I received the first email like this purporting to be from ICANN. The email instructed me to confirm my email and make a payment. It had the ICANN logo on the top of the email, but the email was clearly not from ICANN.
ICANN71 starts today! Get schedule details and more in your #ICANN71 newsletter >> https://t.co/VEkKTCAAZN #ICANN pic.twitter.com/XXVQDMix7w
— ICANN (@ICANN) June 14, 2021
The virtually-conducted ICANN71 meeting began today and runs from June 14 – 17. The policy forum might not be of particular interest to the majority of domain investors, but it is important to remain aware of ICANN governance. Participating in – or following along with ICANN meetings is a good way to keep apprised of ICANN happenings.
Welcome to day one of #ICANN70, the first #ICANN Public Meeting of 2021. View today’s sessions, see the full schedule, and access the participation guide here. You must be registered and signed in to view the schedule. >> https://t.co/eAQEw38AiE pic.twitter.com/BsXhZ6aeC7
— ICANN (@ICANN) March 22, 2021
The ICANN70 Virtual Community Forum, originally scheduled to be held in Cancun, Mexico, begins today as a fully virtual event. As with all ICANN meetings, the ICANN 70 event is free to attend and meetings are open to the public. I believe registration is required in order to gain access to the meeting links and agenda.
Because the event was scheduled to be held in Mexico, all meetings will be held during regular hours on Cancún time (EST / UTC-5, Chetumal). The ICANN meeting runs from today through the 25th. Most of the sessions will run via Zoom, allowing for up to 500 participants at a time.
This is the fourth virtual meeting ICANN has held during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In July of 2016, Andrew Allemann reported that the auction for the .Web extension closed with a winning bid of $135 million. It was subsequently reported that Verisign was behind the winning bid in that auction, although the operation of .Web has been held up due to a dispute, also reported on by Andrew.
It has been several years since the .Web auction, and it looks like we may be coming to and end point with the ongoing dispute. According to Verisign’s Q2 2020 earnings call (transcript via Seeking Alpha), a final hearing related to .Web is coming up in August. The news about .Web was shared by Jeffrey Eckhaus:
Do you have a complaint about ICANN and need to speak with someone at the organization to discuss it? ICANN has a job that is specifically for handling an assortment of complaints about the organization. ICANN has a Complaints Officer who works in the Complaints Office managing an assortment of complaints and disputes related to the organization.
As the ICANN68 meeting was held virtually, ICANN tweeted about its Complaints Officer:
Want to talk to ICANN’s Complaints Officer? Email complaints@icann.org to set up a meeting. #ICANN #ICANN68 pic.twitter.com/ESfrbvNGe9
— ICANN (@ICANN) June 25, 2020
