The ICANNblog

The Opportunity Surrounding Senate Bill 2661 (S. 2661).

March 17th, 2008

By Chuck Kisselburg

After submitting my last post regarding Senate bill 2661 (S. 2661), I couldn’t help but feel the message was not complete. There was another element that remained to be explored.

While the bill, as is, is definitely in its infancy and, if it survives, will continue through the process with many revisions made along the way. As the bill stands today I still feel it is a bad bill and leaves room wide open for misinterpretation, taking advantage of others by the “bad seeds” of the world and money wasted on MANY lawsuits ahead.

So knowing that there still is a long road ahead, something continued to bug me about my last post. While sipping an iced-tea in one of Portland’s MANY local coffee shops, it hit me.

“OPPORTUNITY!”

There is no doubt that people and businesses are being harmed through phishing scams. Such scams are something we all hate. However, when you read the Anti-Phishing Working Group’s December 2007 report and the Brandjacking Winter 2007 report , you will find that the phishing community is alive and active. Based on such reports I can see the basis for the bill.

However, labeling an entire community by the actions of a small few is wrong. That’s like saying all Americans are loud and arrogant. Hmmmmm….. Perhaps that was a bad example, but I think you understand what I mean.

What “opportunity” do I see with this bill? As mentioned, there is no doubt that phishing is a problem and, just like domain tasting, needs to end. However the opportunity I see is this is a chance for various organizations to come together to work “together” on providing input to this bill. In my mind I would like to see Congress work with the following consortium:

The Internet Commerce Association, or ICA.
ICANN
Registrars
Registries

The ICA clearly needs to be present as this organization provides the voice for the Domainer community.
ICANN needs to be present as it is their policies that affect the Internet community on a global basis. ICANN is currently working in conjunction with other organizations to build in the policy to squelch domain tasting.
Registrars are the interface between the registries and the Domainer community.
Registries maintain the integrity of their respective TLDs, gTLDs or ccTLDs, live by the policies developed by ICANN and work with the Domainer/registrar community.

I feel it is necessary for ALL groups to be at the table to help provide input into the crafting of this bill.

If Senate bill 2661 never makes it to a vote, or is voted down, other bills will emerge.

So while organizations are busy working in their own respective communities, the “opportunity” is there for all parties to come to the “SAME” table, roll up their sleeves and provide constructive input. This also applies to Senator Snowe’s office. It also behooves members of their respective communities to provide their respective organizations with constructive input instead of expressing frustration or simply complaining. So, if a bill is to come about, and Senate bill 2661 may be that bill, the opportunity is there to educate each other and work together to craft a good bill.

And if people are thinking about an organization needing to make the first move, let me move us all beyond that barrier by saying ICANNWiki.org, this neutral organization for the overall ICANN “community”, based in a Portland State University facility, will be more than happy to provide the stage, both physically as well as virtually, for this conversation or “opportunity” to occur.

Entry Filed under: Site News, domaining, Community, ICANN Community, Legislative