ICANN

I received an email from a representative from the ADR Forum / NAF notifying me that the ICANN public comment period related to the UDRP has opened. The comment period is related to the policy status report that “provides an overview of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) to support the assessment of the effectiveness of the UDRP in meeting its intended purposes.”

Domain investors who are familiar with the UDRP will want to read the prepared report pdf found on the ICANN website. If they wish, they can offer up their own comments on the report, which will be available for the public and ICANN community to read and note.

The comment period began today, and it will run through April 19th. I am sure there will be plenty of comments from the IP constituency, so domain investors who have made comments about the UDRP can provide their input as well. People who wish to comment can do so on ICANN’s website.

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.