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Noteworthy

Domains and Creators: Connecting Creativity, Clout and (Brand) Custody

10 Years of Radix and New gTLDs: An Interview with CEO Sandeep Ramchandani

Building a More Inclusive Internet for All: A Radix Initiative

New TLDs / Most Viewed

Multistakeholderism Is Working: A Short Series of Articles

I was in a conversation with a close friend the other day, you know the kind where you have been friends for so long that you have endured each other experimenting with changed politics, evolving religion, and if you are unlucky, flirtations with multilevel marketing. We were discussing politics that day, which is not unusual given our ancient friendship and the recent change at the helm of the United States. more

A Noteworthy Report on Fast Flux Hosting

This very interesting document was released by ICANN's Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) for public comment yesterday. And it asks some fundamental questions while at the same time pointing to sources such as the Honeynet Alliance's reports on fast flux. more

The New gTLD Chess Game

On June 20th, the ICANN board voted to move ahead with the new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) program, intended to add hundreds, if not thousands of new names to the DNS root. Now what? Not even the most enthusiastic ICANN supporters think that any new TLDs will be added before the end of 2012, but there are other things going on that greatly complicate the outlook. more

gTLDs Opponents Create the Very Confusion They Decry

It's ironic and amusing that while a few well-connected opponents of the new gTLD program were testifying before the U.S. Senate committee, I was asked to help educate top executives of one of the largest global ad agencies and their major clients on the brand marketing and advertising implications of the program. It was clear from the start that virtually all these high-powered executives knew about the program they had learned from the eleventh hour negative campaign. more

Plural TLDs: Let’s Stop Throwing Spanners in the Works!

I don't have strong religion on plural TLDs. For that matter, I don't have strong feelings for or against closed generics either, an other new gTLD issue that has recently been discussed even though it is not mentioned in the rules new gTLD applicants had to rely on. What I do care about is predictability of process. Yet, as Beijing showed, the ICANN community has an uncanny ability to throw last-minute wrenches at its own Great Matter, as Cardinal Wolsey called Henry VIII's plan to divorce Catherine of Aragon. more

Aging the Internet Prematurely, One PDP at a Time

After blogging about ICANN's new gTLD policy or lack thereof [also featured on CircleID], I've had several people ask me why I care so much about ICANN and new top-level domains. Domain names barely matter in a world of search and hyperlinks, I'm told, and new domains would amount to little more than a cash transfer to new registries from those trying to protect their names and brands. While I agree that type-in site-location is less and less relevant, and we haven't yet seen much end-user focused innovation in the use of domain names, I'm not ready to throw in the towel. I think ICANN is still in a position to do affirmative harm to Internet innovation. more

Who Are the Major New gTLD Applicants and… (Part Five: Rightside Registry)

Rightside is a name you may only have heard of very recently. It is a relative newcomer in the new gTLD industry. It is important to note that there is a difference between "Rightside" and "Rightside Registry". One is the Trademark and also the name of this new group to which eNom (a Registrar), Namejet (a platform to buy/sell domain names and Premium domains) and Name.com (another Registrar) belong. As for "Rightside Registry", it is the new name of the platform to operate new gTLD applications. more

A Postitive Look at DENIC’s .Net Bid

The outcome of the .Net rebid process will involve the security, stability and diversity of management of the Internet's critical infrastructure. As well, the rebid process introduces competitive forces that will flow through to users in the form of cost savings and improved service levels. DENIC has submitted a bid that is consistent with the goals and interests of the Internet community and is the only proponent that has done so. Let us consider the following factors and assess the alignment of the bids with the goals and interests for the Internet community. more

ICANN Wins a Very Weak TLD Lawsuit

Back in the 1990s as the Internet was starting to become visible to the world, several people had the bright idea of setting up their own top level domains and selling names in competition with what was then the monopoly registrar Network Solutions (NSI). For these new TLDs to be usable, either the TLD operators had to persuade people to use their root servers rather than the IANA servers, or else get their TLDs into the IANA root. Attempts to get people to use other roots never were very successful... more

“Requiescat in Pace” - the new .RIP Generic Top-Level Domain

I thought "RIP" stood for "Rest In Peace". I thought it was an acronym used in English only and a TLD that would be understood by the next generation; because no one would ever register such a domain name ending in .RIP today. When you say "RIP", it makes you think of death... I have also said that such a TLD was something... typically American and that no other culture would consider buying such domain names because promoting death online is something a bit odd. more

Why New TLDs Don’t Change a Thing

I have a heard a lot lately about ICANN unanimously voting in favor or relaxing top level domain rules and had a few people come to me and ask 'how does that affect what you do?' The short answer is, it won't; at least not for a long time and here is why... There might be some huge potential gain if all shoe companies got .shoes and branded it, but someone would have to manage it and each would have to spend money to brand .shoes to consumers. Adidas gets adidas.shoes but spends nothing to brand it and lets Nike pay to brand .shoes and Reebok to brand it as well and leech. So instead of cartel like behavior (which is hard to maintain), we fall back into .com more

2019 Will Be the Year of New gTLDs, Wired Predicts

In an article published today on the state of new top-level domains, Wired says "2019 could be the year of the obscure domain name." more

Report on TLD Preference by Country

Which domain extensions do people prefer? How do these preferences vary by country? This article reports the results of a poll of domain extension preference by country of residence conducted from May through October, 2003 by Domain Name Journal and the DomainState forum. Approximately 133 people from 34 different countries participated. This poll has limitations that we will discuss, but it does measure the extension preferences of domain registrants and developers in a manner that has not been done elsewhere and it produces some interesting results. more

2019 Domain Name Year in Review

And so it goes, we are coming to the end of 2019, and that can mean only one thing. It's time for another Domain Name Year in Review. And unlike years past, this year was a real doozy. So without further ado, here are the domain name industry's top 10 biggest stories for 2019... To date, 48 leading registries and registrars have signed onto the "Framework to Address Abuse." The initiative was launched in November 2019, just prior to the ICANN meeting in Montreal. more

2012: The Year of the New gTLD Program and the Year to Support ICANN - Part I

The ICANN new gTLD program began today, 12th January 2012, with the application round now open and this important activity will make 2012 a very memorable year. It is expected that a minimum of 500 fresh applications for new generic Top Level Domains will be received by ICANN through the online TLD Applications System (TAS) by April 12 when the round closes, for processing and evaluation afterwards. This promises to be a hectic and engaging period for new gTLD applicants, and also for ICANN. more