A proposal to require applicants to secure approval for new geographic area gTLDs would “insert governments into the operation of ICANN in an unprecedented way”, explains Thomas Lenard in comments filed today with ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee (GAC). Granting governments a veto power over a potentially large class of new gTLDs would politicize the domain name system and is inconsistent with the market-oriented approach that allocates TLDs to their most highly valued uses. The comments were filed in response to the ICANN GAC draft document, “The protection of geographic names in the new gTLDs process”
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Event – OTT Video: The End of Bundles?
Recent announcements by HBO and CBS for pure over-the-top video services — no cable subscription required – and a recent proposal to apply multichannel video programming distributor rules to OTT video providers have put the future of video markets back in the news. With these announcements, and other content providers watching carefully to decide whether to offer their own subscription OTT service, have we finally reached a tipping point away from bundles? What are the potential implications of stand-alone OTT services on the economics of video content creation and distribution? Do they have implications for pending mergers? How will the FCC’s recent proposed rule affect OTT and traditional video services? A panel of experts representing all players in the video space will discuss these and other issues at the upcoming event, “OTT Video: The End of Bundles?” hosted by the Technology Policy Institute.
A Light-Handed Approach to the Internet, not Regulation
I had thought that, at the end of the day, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) would pull back from subjecting broadband to public utility-type regulation by reclassifying it as a Title II telecommunications service. I couldn’t imagine that Chairman Tom Wheeler and his colleagues would want regulating the Internet to be their legacy.
A Better Way to Govern the Internet
A previously obscure nonprofit corporation that essentially governs the Internet – the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) – has featured prominently in recent news stories due to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s plan to relinquish its key oversight role. Details of this transition will be high on the agenda as ICANN stakeholders meet in Los Angeles this week. Many observers fear that ICANN could soon be subject to the heavy-handed influences of governments that do not share the values that have led to the innovation, flexibility and openness that has hitherto characterized the Internet.