Policy Observatory

As new gTLD adoption steadily increases, the Internet landscape is undergoing tectonic changes. We’re now entering a phase in which new gTLD adoption by consumers is starting to disrupt established business models. 

Last month, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) issued a carefully-worded statement urging ICANN – the overseer of much of the Internet’s fundamental naming and numbering infrastructure – to take more vigorous action against  the “use of domain names for illegal and abusive activities, including those related to IP infringement” (i.e., motion picture piracy).  [See "MPAA Pushes for ICANN Policy Changes to Target 'Pirate' Domains"].  

And just a few days ago, the recording industry joined in; a letter from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)  to ICANN, while expressing the industry’s “disappointment with . . . ICANN’s treatment of copyright abuse complaints filed to date,” similarly urged ICANN to move more vigorously to ensure that domain name registries and registrars “investigate copyright abuse complaints and respond appropriately.”

Over the last two years, China has become the largest buyer of domain names, resulting in what is likely the biggest story in domain-name investing since the Internet began.“136 of the 676 2-letter .com domain names are now owned by Chinese registrants, breaking the 20% barrier.”

For three months, the Spanish National Library automatic collection software has crawled 1.800.000 “.es” domains and downloaded 460 million files, resulting in a collection of 20 TB, an estimated 87% of all active domains. The purpose of this web archive is the preservation and dissemination of these "digital born" resources so they can serve as knowledge tools for present and future generations.

In a victory for fairness and rule-based Internet governance, an independent review panel has decided that ICANN was wrong to deny retailing giant Amazon, Inc. the top level domain AMAZON. Key elements of the decision were unanimous, particularly the conclusion that the Board “cannot accept GAC consensus advice as conclusive".

In April 2015, prosecutor Fredrik Ingblad directed claims against Fredrik Neij (one of the creators of The Pirate Bay) in an effort to disrupt the operation of The Pirate Bay website in Sweden. Ingblad also filed a complaint against Punkt SE (IIS), the organisation responsible for Sweden’s .se top-level domain. Mr Ingblad argued that the domains ‘ThePirateBay.se’ and ‘PirateBay.se’ were used as “tools” to aid and abet copyright infringement and should therefore be seized by the Swedish state.

In December 2017 the Swedish Supreme Court confirmed that the two domains can indeed be seized by the state.