New TLDs

Contention for Three More gTLDs Resolved in Fourth Applicant Auction

The Fourth Applicant Auction has concluded, resolving contention for three more strings. Donuts Inc. came away from the auction as the winner of all three strings: .LIFE, .CHURCH, and .LOANS. Life Covenant Church, Inc. will be compensated for withdrawing their application for .CHURCH, and Radix will be compensated for their withdrawal from .LOANS, while Xiamen 35.com Technology Co.,Ltd and CompassRose will be compensated for their withdrawal from .LIFE. more

Healthy Domains Initiative Isn’t Healthy for the Internet

We had high hopes that the Domain Name Association's Healthy Domains Initiative (HDI) wouldn't be just another secretive industry deal between rightsholders and domain name intermediaries. Toward that end, we and other civil society organizations worked in good faith on many fronts to make sure HDI protected Internet users as well. Those efforts seem to have failed. more

FTC Chief Concerned Over Most New gTLD Bids

Kevin Murphy reporting in DomainIncite: The US Federal Trade Commission is still "looking at" ICANN's new gTLD program amid concerns that most of the applicants applied defensively, it has emerged. ... "We have been very, very concerned about ICANN and their dramatic expansion of the domain names, which we think will cause consumer confusion and even worse lead to more areas where malefactors can hide from the law while defrauding consumers," FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said. more

ICANN57 Preview: What to Expect in Hyderabad

The domain name industry descends on Hyderabad this week for ICANN's 57th annual public meeting, with a mixed sentiment of excitement and determination as ICANN stands on its own two feet absent US Government oversight. We'll have to get used some new acronyms as a result: PTI -- Public Technical Identifier; and the CSC -- Customer Standing Committee, but otherwise I don't think many of us will notice the difference. more

The [Dot]Brand Tribes - Part 2

Staggering! According to the annual Interbrand Top 100 Brands report for 2009 the top 10 global brands are worth $422,901 ($m). Good leadership, innovation, protection, reach and solid products have created lasting consumer relationships and new entanglements that drive that amazing number. In this post from my original series back in March 2010, we'll discuss the high level value a dot brand could create. more

gTLD Applicant Strategy: Clarifying Financial Questions (Part 1)

It is certainly proving to be a long and winding road for the 1923 gTLD applications submitted to ICANN. Glitches, delays and now a very high percentage of applications will very shortly be receiving clarifying (financial) questions on 26 November. Currently a very high percentage of applicants have not scored the required 8 points to pass financial evaluation. This is the next huge challenge for applicants. more

What’s in a Name? The Power to Reach a Global Audience.

I've been asked a number of times recently which new gTLDs are working well. What's popular and where are some examples of them being used. Another question I have been hearing recently is what are some good examples of marketing activities that are working. We have seen a handful of examples of names with websites. Just enter site: favourite gtld in the search bar and you'll get a list of live sites for a given TLD... more

TLDs, CJD and Other Mad Cows

"At every crossroad on the road that leads to the future, tradition has placed against us ten thousand men to guard the past". These were the words of Stanley Prusiner in 1992 describing the opposition to his radical discovery of what he called prions, the causative agents of a clutch of baffling brain diseases. These include kuru, affecting New Guinea cannibals, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD), and BSE or mad cow disease. And today these guardians of the past are in place again at the crossroad that leads to a future of thousands of top-level Internet domain names. more

“Open” or “Closed” Generic TLDs: Let the Operators Decide

(The following is an edited version of comments I submitted to ICANN regarding "closed" generic TLDs.) On February 5th, ICANN solicited comments on whether ICANN should determine the circumstances under which a generic TLD operator is permitted to adopt "open" or "closed" registration policies. Allowing gTLD operators to make these determinations, as opposed to ICANN, will promote innovation on the Internet to the benefit of consumers. more

NCUC Workshop: One World, One Internet? New gTLDs & Competition in a Changing Global Environment

The Noncommercial Users Constituency (NCUC) has organized and is holding a policy workshop, One World, One Internet? New gTLDs & Competition in a Changing Global Environment, next week in Beijing at ICANN-46. The program, which brings together top Western and Chinese experts, will explore pressures for integration versus fragmentation of the Internet and implications for ICANN, as well as different competition and regulation perspectives as they relate to new gTLDs. more

Akram Atallah Named Head of ICANN’s New Generic Domains Division

In a post today, ICANN's CEO, Fadi Chehadé, has announced the creation of a new division within ICANN, called Generic Domains Division, in order "to handle the tremendous increase in scale resulting from the New gTLD Program." Akram Atallah, who is currently the Chief Operating Officer (COO), will become divisional President of the Generic Domains Division that will include gTLD Operations, DNS Industry Engagement, and Online Community Services. more

Google Wins .APP New gTLD Auction for $25 Million

Michael Berkens reporting in TheDomains.com: "The new gTLD .APP sold for $25 Million to Google today in a ICANN Last Resort Auction which I think is very good news for the new gTLD program in general. This is the highest price paid in an ICANN Last Resort Auction. It looks like Google was willing to pay over $30 Million based on the info published by ICANN..." more

How I Think CIRA Should Evolve: Towards CIRA 2.0

There's been some good discussion here about possible policy changes which Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) could consider. But there's more to the CIRA Board election which is underway than simply arguing about whether a PO Box satisfies a "presence" requirement. CIRA's done pretty well over the past decade, but it's not perfect. As a candidate for re-election to the CIRA Board (and currently Vice-Chair) here are some of my own personal thoughts regarding ways in which CIRA might improve. I call this (unoriginally, I know) CIRA 2.0. more

ICANN All Set for the gTLD “Reveal Day” in London

ICANN plans to announce the long-anticipated list of applied-for domain names under its new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program tomorrow. The announcement will be made in London at 12:00PM and streamed live on ICANN's website. ICANN has received over 1,900 applications from around the world. more

Legal Threats Should Not Diminish ICANN’s Resolve

Guidebook for all interested parties. The best way to start this process would be to give conditional approval to the proposed final AGB next week. This may in fact involve acquiescing to the specific requests placed before it by litigious special interests, but those requests should be granted because they are reasonable and in the best interests of the program and its participants and stakeholders, not because ICANN feels it has to cave at the first sign of a gTLD opponent lawyering up. more