New TLDs

Owner of .Feedback in Breach of Registry Agreement, Rules ICANN

"The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has ruled that .feedback owner Top Level Spectrum (TLS) is in breach of its registry agreement," Barney Dixon reporting in IPPro The Internet. more

Hundreds of “George Floyd” and “Black Lives Matter” Domain Names Appear in the DNS

Trending news and global events impact domain registration behaviors. We observed a slew of coronavirus-themed domain name registrations, for example, as early as January. George Floyd's death, which sparked several Black Lives Matter movements, is no different. Three days after George Floyd died, our data feed started detecting George Floyd-themed domain names... We retrieved all domain names that contain the strings "eorge," and "lackliv" from 28 May to 7 June and found 402. more

ICANN Africa Strategy: A New Approach to Africa - Welcome, But Not Inclusive

There is a new attempt to refocus on Africa. A recent announcement titled "A New Approach to Africa" was greeted with excitement but deliberations that transpired in a Global mailing list have projected a whole new dimension and caused a certain amount of dissatisfaction in some quarters. Africa had a good opportunity in the current ICANN new gTLD programme to submit applications for at least 17 gTLDs. more

Munich’s New Domains Conference Reveals Urgency to Act Now

Whoever said there wasn't enough room in Munich this time of year for anything but the mighty Oktoberfest clearly underestimated the draw of the new Top-Level Domain Program and the interest within Europe. The NewDomains.org conference held in Munich over the past two days confirmed three important insights for me; one: there is a large audience of brands and entrepreneurs who still have little awareness about the new Top-Level Domain program; two: those that are aware of the program and would like to participate are seriously behind schedule in preparing their application and strategy to submit to ICANN during the application window from 12 January to 12 April 2012. more

Is It Time for Social Networks to Adopt Some Trademark Protection?

The headlines this week say that over 200 million domain names now exist on the internet. Pretty impressive... But consider the explosive growth of Social Networks. The top twenty social networks alone have over 2 billion user names. With User Names on social networks rapidly becoming the Internet's new brand identifiers, I wonder: is it time that we apply the same trademark rules we have for domain names to user names as well? more

What Would You Like to Ask at the ICANN Public Fora in Mexico City?

ICANN has its 34th international public meeting in Mexico City on 1-6 March i.e. in just over a fortnight. One of the consistent concerns I hear in my role as general manager of public participation for the organization is that there is not a way for people to ask questions to the staff and the Board. I don't think that's really true but I do accept that the formats used are not liked by a large number of people... more

New TLD Applications: What’s the Status of the Next Round?

For many industry participants, the timing around opening the next round of new Top-Level Domain applications has been frustrating, to say the least. However, with the recent ICANN Marrakech meeting now complete, we thought it timely to provide an update for those who may be interested to apply in the next round or for those merely following the journey. more

Mid-Year .brands Review: 2017 Off to a Brilliant Start

If you've read my blogs in the past, you'll know that I'm really passionate about the benefits that .brands can deliver to organizations and their customers. We are now half way through 2017 which provides us with an opportunity to have a good hard look at the data and reflect on the last six months in the .brands space. Here is the punchline -- it's pretty damn impressive, and for a variety of reasons. more

The URS Also Applies to These Top-Level Domains

The Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS) is often described as a domain name dispute policy that applies to the new gTLDs. While that's true, the URS is actually broader than that. The URS (a quick and inexpensive policy that allows a trademark owner to obtain the temporary suspension of a domain name) applies to more than just the new gTLDs, that is, those top-level domains that are a part of ICANN's 2012 domain name expansion. more

Dot Gay Alliance Announces Plans for .GAY TLD, Profits to Fund LGBT Civil Rights

The Dot Gay Alliance has announced plans to create the .GAY top-level domain (TLD) that also aims to become a source of funding for the LGBT civil rights groups in the US and abroad. The Dot Gay Alliance is led by Founder & Executive Director Joe Dolce, whose media strategy firm, DolceGoldin, provides communications services for the Alliance, according to the announcement released today. Dot Gay Alliance supporters include, New York City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and Sunil Babu Pant, the first openly gay member of the Nepal Parliament. more

Is ICANN Leaving Africa Behind? Or Is It Really the Other Way Around?

As I prepare to jet off to Prague this weekend for the coming ICANN conference, I had to reflect back on the tumultuous year this has been in ICANN and the Internet world generally, especially as relates to Africa and Emerging Markets. And after all the smoke and fury, I had to ask: Is ICANN leaving Africa behind? Or could it be that it's exactly the opposite? That Africa is moving forward and ICANN is missing the party? more

Curious Statement About 2012 gTLD Round Name Collision Fears at IGF

During his presentation at IGF on 7 December in Guadalajara, Akram Atallah, President of ICANN's Global Domain Division, said the following: So when you look at that, you'll see that we are left with only 20 to go. There are a few that need to be withdrawn that haven't withdrawn... This surprised me, but since the meeting was about possible new application procedures and not the handling of the last round's persistent problems, I decided not to ask at that point. more

Will October Be Our Biggest Month Yet for .brand TLDs?

I'll admit I tend to get evangelical when I'm talking about .brands. To me and the team at Neustar, every development in this space is exciting and significant and we're always eager to share the latest news and insights. But you don't have to be a .brands nut to see that the last few weeks have shown some serious signs of momentum. And it makes me wonder, with everything that's developed in just the last week or two, could we be set for October to be the biggest month in .brands we've ever seen? more

Another Day, Another Two Million Dollars

ICANN just published the results of the auction for .HOTELS and .HOTEIS. The high bidder (I'm not sure "winner" really applies here) was Booking.com, who will use .HOTELS. The $2.2M they paid, along with the prior results, notably the $25 million Google paid for .APP, brings the total in ICANN's auction pot to about $60.5 million. There's a few more auctions scheduled for CAM, PHONE, and SHOP/SHOPPING, along with yet to be scheduled auctions for DOCTOR, INC, LLP, and LLC. more

ICANN Suspends Digital Archery

Today, ICANN announced the temporary suspension of the Digital Archery system. ARI Registry Services applauds this development, as it's a clear signal ICANN is listening, considering and acting upon constructive feedback from the community. We encourage ICANN to not only reassess the Digital Archery system, but also the need to proceed with batching at all. more