Tech Groups Ask U.S. to Delay New Web Suffixes
A coalition of technology watchdog groups has asked the U.S. government to put on hold plans to add seven new Internet suffixes to complement the ubiquitous .com.
The proposed suffixes--.biz, .info, .name, .pro, .museum, .aero and .coop--were selected last year by the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, from among nearly 50 proposals. The Los Angeles-based nonprofit group, which oversees the Internet’s addressing system under a U.S. government contract, chose the suffixes after its staff spent a month reviewing the applications and the 19-member board spent two days in November debating them.
Some of the companies whose proposals weren’t picked by ICANN complained at the time that the selection process was unnecessarily rushed and unfair. But ICANN moved forward with contract negotiations with the seven groups it chose to oversee each suffix.
Last week, representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility, the Electronic Privacy Information Center and others sent a letter to then-Commerce Secretary Norman Y. Mineta urging him to step on the brakes. Only the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration, or NTIA, has the authority to officially add new suffixes to the Internet.
The letter criticized ICANN’s selection process as “woefully inadequate by any measure.” It complained that ICANN’s staff didn’t have enough time to thoroughly review the applications; applicants didn’t get the chance to respond to ICANN’s concerns; and the public comment period was too short.
Somewhat paradoxically, the letter also criticized ICANN for moving “far too slowly to add new [suffixes].”
NTIA spokesman Art Brodsky said last week that the agency had no comment on the letter and that he had “no idea” what would happen to it after the Bush administration takes office and Mineta moves to the Transportation Department as its new secretary.
Some Washington players are showing more enthusiasm for addressing the issue. U.S. Rep. W.J. (Billy) Tauzin (R.-La.), chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, this month said he will convene a hearing on ICANN’s selection process in February.
ICANN representatives have no official comment on the letter. But an ICANN spokesman said the heightened interest in Washington is “standard” with the swearing-in of a new president and Congress.
