Application Comment Details

First, the “public comment” process on the .amazon lacks in transparency.

The timing of its opening, and the complexity for the submission of comments, are antithetical to the purpose of consulting the public.

For a month, from the Board’s decision to accept the applicant’s PICs until the filing of a reconsideration request, ICANN unduly withhold publication of the PICs for comments.

Paradoxically, ICANN and the applicant previously justified their rejection of further engaging in dialogue with the Amazon countries with an alleged need to conclude the case quickly. They gave the Amazon countries 4 weeks for dialogue, accepting no extension; yet after that, they let the matter rest, idly, for much longer.

The delay for the opening of public comments can be perceived as an attempt to let public outcry subside.

Immediately after the Board's decision, it became clear that the public is generally opposed to the delegation of .amazon. ICANN’s public commenting section (despite its hermetic character) soon received many submissions, all against the delegation of .amazon.

Secondly, lacking a mutually acceptable solution, the delegation of .amazon will violate, inter alia, GAC consensus advice.

The GAC, by full consensus, opposed the delegation of the .amazon TLDs under the appropriate objection procedure; and the GAC, by full consensus, never called into question nor withdrew its objection against the .amazon applications.

In Durban-ICANN 47, the GAC recognized the delegation of .amazon as “problematic” and that it shall not proceed. In Abu Dhabi-ICANN 60, the GAC further recognized the need for a solution that is acceptable to the countries of the Amazon region as an indispensable condition for the delegation of the .amazon strings.

In 2014, when the Board rejected the delegation of the .AMAZON applications based on the Durban Advice, it expressly recognized that the decision "is without prejudice to the continuing efforts by Amazon EU S.à r.l. and members of the GAC to pursue dialogue on the relevant issues” (See Board resolution 2014.05.14.NG03).

In 2017, the Abu Dhabi Advice called for the “continuation” of that very dialogue between the parties with a view to finding a mutually acceptable solution. This process was expressly provided for, and was admitted, under the terms and authority of the Advice from Durban, whereby the GAC, by full consensus, opposed the delegation of the .amazon strings.

Thirdly, the applicant has been referring to the Amazon region as "Amazonia region" in all its communications related to the present subject, including in its PICs. Similarly, the applicant has often preferred to call the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) by its Spanish acronym "OTCA", where the word "Amazonia" appears instead of "Amazon", despite the fact that English is one of the four official languages of the organisation.

The above illustrates the consequences a delegation of .amazon can have, within and outside the Internet. If delegated exclusively to satisfy a private interest, this may in effect contribute a step further to the expropriation from the Amazon countries and ACTO of their right to use and be recognized by the name "Amazon", which has been used internationally to refer to their region, their rainforest, their basin and their river, their indigenous populations and their culture and traditions.

Thiago Braz Jardim Oliveira, former GAC Vice-Chair

PhD in international law (Geneva)