From the Pre-Registration List:

143 Asaad Alnajjar Asaad Y. Alnajjar Millennium Inc. / Acting Manager .IQ ccTLD USA / IRAQ

144 Mohamad Shaboot Mohamad Shaboot Millennium Inc. / .IQ ccTLD IRAQ

Related: Lextext :: Raising .IQ

"Eight Board members bumbling..."

The ICANN meetings are getting longer and longer. The Kuala Lumpur sessions begin with an open GAC Forum on Saturday, July 17th and conclude eight days later with a joint ICANN-ITU workshop on ccTLDs on Saturday, July 24th. Add (at least) a day of travel on both ends of that, and you wind up with a 10-day commitment. Assuming you can afford the airfare and the hotel, can you afford the time?

Truly, ICANN is no longer something for amateurs. I don't see how anyone who isn't paid to participate in ICANN can participate meaningfully in these sessions any longer. It shouldn't be a surprise then that the ICANN policy conversations are dominated by the registrars, registries, paid telecom lobbyists, and intellectual property associations. Users have day jobs.

This landed in my in-box a few minutes ago: "Introducing Certified Offer ServiceSM from Network Solutions® — the fast, secure and easy way to place an instant offer on a domain name that is already taken. For only $19*, a certified offer will be presented directly to the person who has registered the domain name. You’ll get an answer within 7 days on whether the Seller is willing to accept your offer — letting you know quickly whether the domain name you want can be yours. Getting the domain name you want that is already registered has never been easier. Make a Certified Offer on it today."

Andy Sullivan for Reuters: "'Maybe it's the Klingons, where the Klingon association plays a role in keeping the identity of Klingons,' said ICANN President Paul Twomey in an interview."

Silly as that quote looks, especially when pulled out of context, it gives me great hope that ICANN is now on the right track for the introduction of new TLDs. In other words, I read Dr. Twomey as saying that if the Klingons want a TLD, managed by the Imperial Klingon High Council, intended for use by Klingons, why should ICANN say no? (And, in the case of .kgn, would it even dare, under fear of bij?)

This may be completely sick, but everyday I look forward to receiving my e-mail report of new case filings in Los Angeles County state and federal courts. For instance, today's report brings this: "Martin Diaz v. Gruma Corporation 5/26/2004 BC316086 Judge McCoy: Class action alleging Gruma has blocked meaningful competition in the market for tortillas." Who knew there was a market for tortillas? But for some company, this is the most important thing to its business.

Like WLS.