Organisation: National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Our monthly column covers recent developments in internet policy, governance and use.

26 August 2024

The US Food and Drug Administration has highlighted struggles obtaining responses from registries and registrars when seeking registrant data.

18 July 2022

While efforts to develop a global access system for WHOIS data continue, recent developments in the United States and the European Union suggest that governments are willing to require more of registries and registrars.

04 January 2021

The registry operator of the ‘.us’ domain name and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration have lifted a prohibition on the so-called "seven dirty words" in '.us' domain name registrations.

05 October 2018

A significant change in the governance of the Internet took place in October 2016, when the US government ceded control over a core piece of internet infrastructure to ICANN. But what does this mean in practical terms?

01 January 2017

While the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority transition is something that many IP counsel have not been intrinsically involved in, 2016 INTA president Ronald van Tuijl has characterised the development as something “that trademark owners cannot ignore”. For those following closely, it has been a potentially significant week – while the Commerce Department has given ICANN’s proposals a favourable assessment, a bill has been introduced that could halt the handover in its tracks.

09 June 2016

In March 2014, the US-based National Telecommunications and Information Administration announced its "intent to transition key internet domain name functions to the global multi-stakeholder community". In recent weeks the political debate over the transition has heated up, with 2016 INTA president Ronald van Tuijl viewing it as a development “that trademark owners cannot ignore”.

27 January 2016

Earlier this week, we reported on a letter from Vox Populi Registry, the company behind ‘.sucks’, challenging the referral of the IPC's concerns over its pricing policies to the US Federal Trade Commission and Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs. In response, the president of the IPC has told <i>WTR</i>: “I for one do not intend to be muzzled”. Meanwhile, in DC a US Congress judiciary committee hearing has given stakeholders a forum to discuss the string.

13 May 2015

ICANN has published a proposed amendment to its bylaws that can be interpreted as giving the world's governments a stronger voice in matters concerning ICANN's actions, such as the introduction of new gTLDs. This proposed change will make it harder for the ICANN Board to reject advice from its Government Advisory Committee.

19 September 2014

Following NTIA’s announcement of its "intent to transition key internet domain name functions to the global multistakeholder community", ICANN has sought to crystallise the views expressed at the 49th ICANN meeting and get the ball rolling on the transition process by publishing a "Call for Public Input” regarding the principles and mechanisms for developing a proposal to transition NTIA's stewardship of the IANA functions.

15 May 2014