The ICANN movie: Part III

Show some respect

The cult ICANN cartoon is back with a part three and you can find it here.

Creator of the previous two, Kendall Dawson, is back with more scathing commentary, although the cartoon is hosted on a new site to the others. The same appalling graphics are there in all their glory as we embark on a satirical look at our favourite Internet regulator.

Part III concerns itself with the new top-level domains. It starts in 1995 with an email from guru Jon Postel telling people about how to set up a new TLD. Sure enough Christopher Ambler from Image Online Design pops in with his .web TLD.

Step forward to November 2000 and ICANN's meeting where Joe Sims informs the ICANN board that they can select any new TLDs as long as they are given to Afilias. They are all in favour of giving the contracts to big corporates, who just so happen to give ICANN loads of money.

Stupid TLDs like .aero, .coop, .pro and .name are thrown out so that innocents can take charge of them and then the goodies are handed over the NeuLevel, Afilias and JV Team.

Esther queries how handing over new TLDs to the same players helps encourage competition, at which point Touton inquires whether she liked her hotel suite, first-class airline travel and breakfast. "Show some respect" he informs the lady.

And so we go through the illegal lottery that was NeuLevel's approach to new domains on .info and Afilias' disasterous sunrise approach to .biz domains.

This is where we slip into fantasy as superman Karl Auerbach takes the Board to task (and to court), introduces the nine At-Large members that we were always promised and turns ICANN into an accountable organisation that does what it said it always would.

Ah, sweet dreams indeed. Check it out. And check out the previous two here. ®

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ICANN cartoon part III
ICANN parts I and II

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