A few thoughts on how we built an Internet with .CAT, .COOP, and .AERO...and why it's the right approach to a taxonomy of the name space. (10 Minutes) Header music: David Bowie, Theme from 'Cat People'.

Notes: Link to article on new TLDs I mentioned in the podcast.

Here are a couple of thoughts on ICANN's announcement that it had approved a new TLD: .CAT. And deferred a final vote on another one, .XXX. Music: "From Small Things, Big Things Come," by Dave Edmonds.

A note to press-at-icann.org yielded this note from ICANN's Tanzanica King:

15 September - Marina del Rey, California - The ICANN Board of Directors today approved the contractual arrangement with Fundació puntCAT for the introduction of a new .CAT, a sponsored top level domain (sTLD), for the Catalan language community. The Board noted the written communications it had received from the governments of Spain and Andorra not objecting to the .CAT application.

The Board also considered an agreement for the proposed .XXX sTLD. It expressed some concerns in relation to draft compliance and process terms. The Board directed ICANN staff to negotiate additional contractual provisions requiring development and implementation of policies consistent with ICM Registry's application. The Board will consider the outcome of these negotiations at some future date.

The board dealt with an additional administrative matter, and continued other matters on its agenda until its next board meeting.

Regards,

Tanzanica S. King
Communications and Operations Specialist
ICANN

I can't quite parse the language on the .XXX deferral, but it looks as though the additional delay, this time, has nothing to do with opposition to the concept of .XXX and more to do with the implementation of .XXX. If I'm reading it correctly, this is a step forward.

PuntCat: "El Consell d’Administració d’ICANN ha aprovat, de forma definitiva, el domini .cat."

Chris Ambler: "We get .cat, but we can't get .web? When do I get to wake up? This is too surreal to be reality."  I agree. It's a strange system indeed that produces .AERO, .TRAVEL and .CAT but leaves .WEB on the sidelines. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for the .CAT folks, but yesterday's approval of another micro-niche TLD only underscrores the need to move forward on generic TLDs that will benefit a broader segment of the Internet community.

Ross Rader: "I find the whole notion of sponsored TLDs to be completely contrary to everything that ICANN stands for. These sponsored TLDs are all about exclusion and they really have no place in today's open Internet." I wouldn't go as far as Ross, but I certainly don't suppport the current priority of introducing niche TLDs while largely ignoring TLDs designed to serve larger segments of the community.

Associated Press is reporting, without attribution, that the ICANN Board approved .CAT, while deferring .XXX again for another month. As of the time of the story, ICANN has not yet posted any announcement or circulated a press release. Why are some news outlets getting special access to information?

That's right. Today's podcast includes audio of the ICANN Board, in session, discussing .XXX. A very enlightening 15 minutes. Worth listening.

Oh, by the way, the Board audio is from November, 2000.

I can't fully express how cool this is: ICANN now has RSS 2.0 feeds, both for the main site and the GNSO site. What this also means is that the mp3 audio files of the GNSO conference calls are available by subscription (aka "podcasting"). Kudos to the ICANN team.

Now we just need to convince the Board to podcast its meetings the same way the GNSO Council does.

This has to be a first: a major U.S. newspaper has an unsigned editorial recommending that the ICANN Board take a certain action. In this case, implement.XXX. Here's an excerpt: "The [ICANN] Board shouldn't bow to the pressure. Internet porn is big business driven by big demand. It can't be eradicated. But trying to improve the protections for parents is a good idea — including a .xxx domain experiment."

A blast from the past: the ICM Registry presentation on .XXX...from the ICANN Public Forum in November, 2000. Five years ago.

Today's agenda: ICANN's latest agenda, .XXX, and Board transparency.

Here's the agenda for Thursday's meeting of the ICANN Board. First up: XXX.

• Consideration of Proposed .XXX sTLD Registry Services Agreement
• Consideration of Proposed .CAT sTLD Registry Services Agreement
• Review and Consideration of Policy Development Process Results and Public Comments for "Procedure for use by ICANN in considering requests for consent and related contractual amendments to allow changes in the architecture or operation of a gTLD registry"
• .NET RRA and .NET Registry Agreement Amendment Update
• IDN Update
• Appointment of new Chief Financial Officer
• Consideration of .ASIA sTLD Application
• Review and Consideration of GNSO Bylaw Change Recommendation
• Nominating Committee Scheduling Recommendation
• Other Business

Details as soon as I have them.

Press release here.

(list of ICANN-accredited registrars here.)

John Naughton, writing in The Observor: "My guess is that this means the .xxx proposal is dead, which is daft, because actually it makes good practical sense...."

Focus on Hurricane Katrina, BulkRegister, Directnic, and domain name-directed relief efforts. Shownotes with links on the OPML weblog.

What a terrific idea: "BulkRegister...today announced that it is automatically renewing all domains set to expire through September 16, and those already expired, that are managed by BulkRegister members based in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. This action is designed to assure those displaced by the hurricane that they will retain ownership of their domains, and that they will continue to function."

In praise of Radio GoDaddy. Corporate blogging and podcasting. My 'On The Media' appearance this weekend on National Public Radio. Shownotes in my OPML weblog.

From a Dotster Press Release: "Domain registrar and Web provider Dotster announced on Thursday it will give away free WHOIS privacy protection on every .COM and .NET domain registration...."

Bartle Breese Bull writing in Foreign Policy: "In 2004, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, asked ICANN to free it up for the incoming Iraqi government, but the organization balked at handing it over, arguing Iraq was still too unstable. For months, ICANN refused to consider several requests by Iraq’s government for the domain’s return...."

Internet Pro Radio is on the air. Again. Finally. But no music....that's either a welcome relief or a minor disappointment. Today's show covers podcasting and a few thoughts on .XXX.

Show notes are over in my OPML weblog.