Editing ICANN (section)

==TLD expansion and concerns about specific top-level domains==

During 2011, seventy-nine companies, including [[The Coca-Cola Company]], [[Hewlett-Packard]], [[Samsung]] and others, signed a petition against ICANN's new TLD program (sometimes referred to as a "commercial landgrab"<ref name="The Guardian 2012-06-13">{{Cite web |last=Arthur |first=Charles |date=June 13, 2012 |title=Icann criticised over 'commercial landgrab' of internet |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/jun/13/icann-criticised-commercial-landgrab-internet |access-date=September 20, 2014 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>), in a group organized by the [[Association of National Advertisers]].<ref name="NPR 2012-06-14">{{Cite web |last=Chappell |first=Bill |date=June 14, 2012 |title=ICANN's Call For New Domain Names Brings Criticism, And $357 Million |url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2012/06/13/154960405/icanns-call-for-new-domain-names-brings-criticism-and-357-million |access-date=September 20, 2014 |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref> As of September 2014, this group, the [[Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight]], that opposes the rollout of ICANN's TLD expansion program, has been joined by 102 associations and 79 major companies.<ref name="ANA CRIDO">{{Cite web |title=Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight (CRIDO) |url=http://www.ana.net/content/show/id/crido |access-date=September 20, 2014 |publisher=[[Association of National Advertisers|ANA]]}}</ref> Partly as a response to this criticism, ICANN initiated an effort to protect trademarks in domain name registrations, which eventually culminated in the establishment of the [[Trademark Clearinghouse]].

===.sucks domain===
ICANN has received more than $60&nbsp;million from gTLD auctions,<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 17, 2015 |title=ICANN banked $60m from dot-word auctions. Just what exactly is it going to spend it all on? |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/17/icann_gltd_auction_money/ |website=The Register}}</ref> and has accepted the controversial domain name ".sucks" (referring to the primarily US slang for being inferior or objectionable).<ref name="reg1">{{Cite web |date=April 10, 2015 |title=ICANN urges US, Canada: Help us stop the 'predatory' monster we created ... dot-sucks! |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/10/icann_ftc_dot_sucks/ |website=The Register}}</ref> sucks domains are owned and controlled by the Vox Populi Registry which won the rights for .sucks gTLD in November 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dot Sucks Web Address |url=http://fortune.com/2015/05/20/dot-sucks-web-address |access-date=2018-11-01}}</ref>

The [[.sucks (registry)|.sucks domain registrar]] has been described as "predatory, exploitive and coercive" by the Intellectual Property Constituency that advises the ICANN board.<ref name=reg1/> When the .sucks registry announced their pricing model, "most brand owners were upset and felt like they were being penalized by having to pay more to protect their brands."<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 25, 2015 |title=Is .SUCKS Pricing Model Gaining Traction With Other Registries? |url=http://www.circleid.com/posts/20150625_is_sucks_pricing_model_gaining_traction_with_other_registries/ |website=CircleID}}</ref> Because of the low utility of the ".sucks" domain, most fees come from "Brand Protection" customers registering their trademarks to prevent domains being registered.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Guardian Staff |date=2015-03-23 |title=Why You Should Buy Your Dot Sucks Domain Name |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2015/mar/23/why-you-should-buy-your-dot-sucks-domain-name |access-date=2018-11-01}}</ref>

Canadian brands had complained that they were being charged "exorbitant" prices to register their trademarks as premium names. FTC chair Edith Ramirez has written to ICANN to say the agency will take action against the .sucks owner if  "we have reason to believe an entity has engaged in deceptive or unfair practices in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act".<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 19, 2015 |title=Canada weighs in on .sucks debate |url=http://www.ipprotheinternet.com/ipprotheinternetnews/article.php?article_id=4446 |website=IP Pro |access-date=June 26, 2015 |archive-date=June 26, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626201116/http://www.ipprotheinternet.com/ipprotheinternetnews/article.php?article_id=4446 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Register reported that intellectual property lawyers are infuriated that "the dot-sucks registry was charging trademark holders $2,500 for .sucks domains and everyone else $10."<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 15, 2015 |title=Canada to ICANN in dot-sucks dot-rumble: Take off, you hoser! |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/15/canada_to_icann_take_off_you_hoser/ |website=The Register}}</ref>

U.S. Representative [[Bob Goodlatte]] has said that trademark holders are "being shaken down" by the registry's fees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 19, 2015 |title=A Debate Over the Domain '.sucks' |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/05/19/new-domain-sparks-icann-debate/ |website=Wall Street Journal}}</ref> [[Jay Rockefeller]] says that .sucks is "a predatory shakedown scheme" and "Approving '.sucks', a gTLD with little or no public interest value, will have the effect of undermining the credibility ICANN has slowly been building with skeptical stakeholders."<ref name=reg1/>

===.islam, .halal top level domains===
In a long-running dispute, ICANN has so far declined to allow a Turkish company to purchase the .islam and .halal gTLDs, after the [[Organisation of Islamic Cooperation]] objected that the gTLDs should be administered by an organization that represents all the world's 1.6 billion Muslims.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Kevin |date=14 November 2013 |title=Will ICANN be forced to reject Islamic gTLDs? |work=DomainIncite |url=http://domainincite.com/15034-will-icann-be-forced-to-reject-islamic-gtlds |access-date=3 May 2019}}</ref> After a number of attempts to resolve the issue the domains are still held "on hold".<ref>{{Cite news |last=McCarthy |first=Kieren |date=30 July 2018 |title=The internet's very own Muslim ban continues: DNS overlord insists it can freeze dot-words |work=The Register |url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/07/30/icann_muslim_ban/ |access-date=3 May 2019}}</ref>

===.org price cap removal ===
In April 2019, ICANN proposed an end to the price cap of org domains<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/04/26/dot_org_price_increases/|title=Internet industry freaks out over proposed unlimited price hikes on org domain names|last=McCarthy|first=Kieren|date=26 Apr 2019|website=The Register|language=en|access-date=2019-11-23}}</ref> and effectively removed it in July in spite of having received 3,252 opposing comments and only six in favor.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/07/icann-eliminates-org-domain-price-caps-despite-lopsided-opposition/|title=ICANN eliminates org domain price caps despite lopsided opposition|last=Lee|first=Timothy B.|date=2019-07-01|website=Ars Technica|language=en-us|access-date=2019-11-23}}</ref> A few months later, the owner of the domain, the [[Public Interest Registry]], proposed to sell the domain to investment firm [[Ethos Capital]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/11/20/org_registry_sale_shambles/|title=Internet world despairs as non-profit .org sold for $$$$ to private equity firm, price caps axed|last=McCarthy|first=Kieren|date=20 Nov 2019|website=The Register|language=en|access-date=2019-11-23}}</ref>

===.amazon gTLD dispute ===
In May 2019, ICANN decided in favor of granting exclusive administration rights to [[Amazon (company)|amazon.com]] for the .amazon gTLD after a 7 year long dispute with the [[Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization|Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO)]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Amazon wins '.amazon' domain name, aggravating South American region and undermining digital commons |date=June 21, 2019 |url=http://theconversation.com/amazon-wins-amazon-domain-name-aggravating-south-american-region-and-undermining-digital-commons-118186}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Darlington |first=Shasta |date=2019-04-18 |title=Battle for .amazon Domain Pits Retailer Against South American Nations |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/world/americas/amazon-domain-name.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/18/world/americas/amazon-domain-name.html |archive-date=2022-01-03 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}</ref>