Changes

In September, 2012, an influential consumer advocacy group, Consumer Watchdog, sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Rockefeller, who is the chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Sen. Rockefeller's senate subcommittee is the same that had  held hearings regarding ICANN and its [[New gTLD Program|new gTLD program]] just before its launch. Consumer Watchdog is upset over both [[Google]] and Amazon's plans to acquire generic TLDs and then to restrict them only for their own use. The letter states: "If these applications are granted, large parts of the Internet would be privatized. It is one thing to own a domain associated with your brand, but it is a huge problem to take control of generic strings. Both Google and Amazon are already dominant players on the Internet. Allowing them further control by buying generic domain strings would threaten the free and open Internet that consumers rely upon. Consumer Watchdog urges you to do all that you can to thwart these outrageous efforts and ensure that the Internet continues its vibrant growth while serving the interests of all of its users." The whole letter can be seen [http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ltrrockefeller091912.pdf here].<ref>[http://domainincite.com/10535-consumer-watchdog-slams-outrageous-google-and-amazon-keyword-gtld-bids Consumer Watchdog Slams Outrageous Google and Amazon Keyword gTLD bids, DomainIncite.com]</ref>

In September, 2012, an influential consumer advocacy group, Consumer Watchdog, sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Rockefeller, who is the chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Sen. Rockefeller's senate subcommittee is the same that had  held hearings regarding ICANN and its [[New gTLD Program|new gTLD program]] just before its launch. Consumer Watchdog is upset over both [[Google]] and Amazon's plans to acquire generic TLDs and then to restrict them only for their own use. The letter states: "If these applications are granted, large parts of the Internet would be privatized. It is one thing to own a domain associated with your brand, but it is a huge problem to take control of generic strings. Both Google and Amazon are already dominant players on the Internet. Allowing them further control by buying generic domain strings would threaten the free and open Internet that consumers rely upon. Consumer Watchdog urges you to do all that you can to thwart these outrageous efforts and ensure that the Internet continues its vibrant growth while serving the interests of all of its users." The whole letter can be seen [http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/resources/ltrrockefeller091912.pdf here].<ref>[http://domainincite.com/10535-consumer-watchdog-slams-outrageous-google-and-amazon-keyword-gtld-bids Consumer Watchdog Slams Outrageous Google and Amazon Keyword gTLD bids, DomainIncite.com]</ref>

This letter came just a day after a similar appeal by a group of domain industry regulars was announced. [[Michele Neylon]], CEO of [[Blacknight Internet Solutions]] and a highly active  member of the ICANN community, led the signatories of a letter adressing the same issue, though it does not name [[Google]] nor Amazon by name. Instead it focuses on any and all use of generic terms that are being sought after only to become closed TLDs: "generic words used in a generic way belong to all people. It is inherently in the public interest to allow access to generic new gTLDs to the whole of the Internet Community, e.g., .BLOG, .MUSIC, .CLOUD. Allowing everyone to register and use second level domain names of these powerful, generic TLDs is exactly what we envisioned the New gTLD Program would do. In contrast, to allow individual Registry Operators to segregate and close-off common words for which they do not possess intellectual property rights in effect allows them to circumvent nation-states’ entrenched legal processes for obtaining legitimate and recognized trademark protections." Other signatories include: [[Scott Pinzon]], former Director of ICANN; [[Kelly Hardy]], domain industry consultant; [[Frédéric Guillemaut]], MailClub.fr; [[Robert Birkner]], 1API GmbH; the whole letter can be seen [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZUNlookOWyaSW8lXfi_37zVFsVk9xcxncvmE0uwPEFY/edit here].

This letter came just a day after a similar appeal by a group of domain industry regulars was announced. [[Michele Neylon]], CEO of [[Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd]] and a highly active  member of the ICANN community, led the signatories of a letter adressing the same issue, though it does not name [[Google]] nor Amazon by name. Instead it focuses on any and all use of generic terms that are being sought after only to become closed TLDs: "generic words used in a generic way belong to all people. It is inherently in the public interest to allow access to generic new gTLDs to the whole of the Internet Community, e.g., .BLOG, .MUSIC, .CLOUD. Allowing everyone to register and use second level domain names of these powerful, generic TLDs is exactly what we envisioned the New gTLD Program would do. In contrast, to allow individual Registry Operators to segregate and close-off common words for which they do not possess intellectual property rights in effect allows them to circumvent nation-states’ entrenched legal processes for obtaining legitimate and recognized trademark protections." Other signatories include: [[Scott Pinzon]], former Director of ICANN; [[Kelly Hardy]], domain industry consultant; [[Frédéric Guillemaut]], MailClub.fr; [[Robert Birkner]], 1API GmbH; the whole letter can be seen [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZUNlookOWyaSW8lXfi_37zVFsVk9xcxncvmE0uwPEFY/edit here].

==Background==

==Background==