Domain Names

A Made Up Fantasy and the ICANN gTLD Reality

Gary Elliot, chairman of the Association of National Advertisers and vice president of global marketing at Hewlett-Packard, wrote a column in Advertising Age titled "ICANN's Promises Aren't Simply Speculation, They're Outright Fantasy." His arguments opposing ICANN gTLDs are similar to the other heads of various advertising associations around the world. While the main powerbrokers of the global advertising sector are mum, their association heads are using the same circulated message of cyber-squatting fears without any solid proof. Here is my analysis and an open challenge to the trade. more

New TLDs: Finance Dept. Role, Part 2

Last week I wrote about accounting, reporting and promotions. This week, I want to focus on the financial department's role in launching services, renewals and foreign exchange risk management. ... In most businesses, the finance team usually takes a back seat during launch of services as business activity slowly increases in the months that follow. However, in the domain industry, with up to 30 percent of lifetime sales earned in the first three months of launch, it's essential that finance takes a hands-on role from the start. more

How to Abolish the DNS Hierarchy… But It’s a Bad Idea

There's been a fair amount of controversy of late about ICANN's decision to dramatically increase the number of top-level domains. With a bit of effort, though and with little disruption to the infrastructure -- we could abolish the issue entirely. Any string whatsoever could be used, and it would all Just Work. That is, it would Just Work in a narrow technical sense; it would hurt innovation and it would likely have serious economic failure modes. more

ICANN’s New gTLD Double Standard?

Over the last two days I have sat in a room and watched a rather interesting dynamic unfold between the ICANN Board and its Government Advisory Committee (GAC). While I remain optimistic of there being a responsible closure to the new gTLD implementation process within the next six months, an apparent double standard being used by the ICANN Board could be a potential stumbling block. more

What New gTLDs Mean for Developing Economy Applicants?

Everyone seems excited about new gTLDs being just around the corner. All of the overarching issues will soon be resolved: GAC and the ICANN Board will sit in a room and the wisdom of our leaders, ICANN and National, will produce the grand compromise. The starting flag will be flourished! A thousand flowers will bloom! Hooray! But it is only the developed world that can be excited about this, for it is hard to understand how the developing world could be very excited about an overpriced round of gTLD offerings that is unfairly beyond their means. more

The Three Lessons We Can Learn from gTLDs’ Past

History is a great teacher, we are told. So, on the cusp of an explosion in new top-level domains, what can we learn from the two previous expansions of the Internet's naming space? And what are the pitfalls to avoid? Let's just assume the fundamental and obvious lessons of realistic expectations, a solid business plan and prudent resource management, and instead focus on the little talked about but still critical lessons that will separate the winners and the losers in this race. But first - a caveat! more

Implications of ICANN’s New TLD Disqualification Policies and Cybersquatting 3-Strike Law

ICANN's proposed final applicant guidebook unraveled some new policies that would disqualify applicants from the new TLD program. ICANN states that if you lose 3 UDRP cases, you will be disqualified from being a major shareholder, partner, officer, director of a new top-level domain registry... Has ICANN opened a new can of worms with the 3-strike rule? more

Understand the Value of Defensive Domain Registrations

The bulk of corporate domain portfolios largely consist of defensive registrations which often include common misspellings, product names, and abbreviations in countries where they may not even be doing business. More than ever, with the launch of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) expected to occur next year, companies are now taking a hard look at their defensive holdings and asking themselves whether or not they really need all of these registrations. more

New TLD Vertical Integration, Market Forces and the Path of Least Compliance

The ICANN Board will soon make many decisions, one of which is to decide whether to continue or reverse ICANN's longstanding policy of vertical separation of registries and registrars. Since new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) are supposed to benefit registrants with lower prices, choice and what we trust will be a decision for 'market-differentiated' competition, the Board will no doubt consider market forces as well as compliance and enforcement issues in choosing the path that can maximize these goals. more

New TLD Application Tip: Launch Strategies

Almost exactly nine years ago, the .INFO domain first started accepting registrations. This was an historic event as it was the first time a new generic top-level domain (TLD) was launched to an existing domain marketplace and, in fact, was the first new TLD to be added since .com. We've seen (and provided technology to power) many other TLD launches since then, with many business models. As you seek to introduce your own new TLD however, you should carefully evaluate the different launch models that have been tried before and determine which one will work best for your specific TLD. more

ICANN’s Economic Study - It Depends

Economists aren't very good at predicting things, as any one with money in the stock market can attest. The most powerful economist in the United States, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is on record predicting a continuing climb in housing prices -- just prior to their precipitous decline. And yet their crystal balls still hold some allure for those who need to present "evidence" about the future. Such is the case with ICANN and the new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program. more

Top Ten New gTLD Gotchas

With the launch of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) expected to occur early next year, many are closely examining the opportunities and risks associated with ICANN's Program. Although still in draft format and subject to change, keep these gotchas in mind as you think through your strategy. more

The .XXX Fiasco is Almost Over

At Friday's meeting of the ICANN board in Brussels, they voted, probably for the last time, to approve the 2004 application for the .XXX domain. Purely on the merits, there is of course no need for a top level domain for porn. This isn't about the merits, this is about whether ICANN follows its own rules. Despite overheated press reports, .XXX will not make porn any more available online than it already is (how could it?), there is no chance of all porn being forced into .XXX (that's a non-starter under US law), and .XXX will have no effect on the net other than perhaps being a place to put legal but socially marginal porn far away from any accidental visitors. more

New Book on Domain Name Regulation

My book, "The Current State of Domain Name Regulation: Domain Names as Second Class Citizens in a Mark-dominated World" is now available by Routledge. The following is an overview of the book. more

The [Dot]Brand Tribes - Part 3

In part two of The [Dot] Brand Tribes we argued that introducing new branded generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) would bring value to brand owners and have positive effects on customer recognition. In this last post we'll continue that theme and talk about how brand owners can come together to provide shared spaces using the banking industry as an example. more