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An open letter signed by various members of the domain name industry, including heads of some of the top domain name registries and registrars, was sent today to ICANN CEO and Board of Directors urging them to direct their staff to implement the introduction of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) without further delay. "The time to act is now," says the letter for "many reason" including: Consumer Demand; Safety Considerations; Internet Stability; Innovation; ICANN’s own credibility
VeriSign today released its second quarter 2009 Domain Name Industry Brief where it reports that the total base of domain name registrations across all of the Top-Level Domains [TLDs] has now reached 184 million. However the report also indicates that there has been a 15% decline compared to the same quarter last year. The largest TLDs in terms of base size are reported to be: .com, .cn, .de, .net, .org, .uk, .info, .nl (Netherlands), .eu (European Union), and .biz.
Earlier this year, ICANN began to seriously consider the various effects of adding DNS protocol features and new entries into the Root Zone. With the NTIA announcement that the Root Zone would be signed this year, a root scaling study team was formed to assess the scalability of the processes used to create and publish the Root Zone. Properly considered, this study should have lasted longer than the 120 days -- but the results suggest that scaling up the root zone is not without risk -- and these risks should be considered before "green-lighting" any significant changes to the root zone or its processes. I, for one, would be interested in any comments, observations, etc. (The caveats: This was, by most measures, a rush job. My spin: This is or should be a risk assessment tool.) Full report available here [PDF].
Domain names registered under United Arab Emirates' recently liberalized county code Top-Level Domain (.ae) have attracted such high level speculative interests that red flags have been raised within the country's regulatory agency. Domain names such as 'vip.ae' and 'vips.ae' registered only a little over a year ago are currently receiving multi-million dollar offers according to reports. Abu Dhabi's newspaper, The National, reported last week that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), the .ae administrator, has stated "registering a UAE domain with no intention other than to resell it could hurt the registrants if they are later accused of registering the site in bad faith, something forbidden by its rules."
In light of recent announcements regarding Cameroon's country code Top-Level Domain, .CM, being opened to public registration, Tresa Baldas reports on Law.com: "Trademark attorneys are warning companies about a new target for cybersquatters known as '.cm,' which is the country code -- or top level domain -- for the West African nation of Cameroon. The dot-cm domain is a hot target for scammers, they say, due to 'cm' being a common typographical error for 'com' in the popular dot-com domain. Attorneys say this is significant to brand owners because Internet users searching for brand owners' Web sites frequently mistype dot-com as dot-cm and wind up on a bogus site. Not only is Web traffic lost, they say, but a brand name can get diluted or tainted along the way." (Also see, Nation of Cameroon Typo-Squats the Entire .com Space from 2006)
Andrew Colley of Australian IT reports the AusRegistry, the operator of Australia's Top-Level Domain (.au), has revealed that it has been approached by various groups planning to submit applications to ICANN for the creation of adult-themed generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) such as .xxx and .sex. According to the report, the Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has opposed the idea syaing: "The government does not support the creation of the .xxx TLD." As it has been reported extensively on CircleID, previous attempts to create adult related TLDs (such as .xxx) have so far been rejected by ICANN.
During its board meeting today in Sydney, the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced Rod Beckstrom, the former U.S. cybersecurity chief, as the new President and CEO. Beckstrom will be replacing Dr. Paul Twomey who had been serving this position since March 2003 and announced his resignation earlier this year. Dr Twomey has lately been reported as the primary candidate for heading Australian Government's proposed A$43 billion investment in a new National Broadband Network.
Former New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch announced Thursday he is supporting dotNYC LLC's bid to operate the .NYC web address. City Council Speaker Christine Quinn disclosed during her State of the City speech in February that the City Council and Office of the Mayor will pursue the .NYC top-level domain. The city last month completed a Request for Information about .NYC and is expected to endorse a company to run the .NYC address this summer.
According the the report, a survey of 1,000 consumers found that the majority believe the Internet will become full of pointless domain names (65% of those polled), messy and confusing (57%), too complex to navigate (46%) and out of control (41%). Two-thirds of the 100 UK businesses surveyed are still unaware that liberalization is happening, which is a concern, considering the opportunities and potential risks that it presents."
According to the latest update from ICANN related to the introduction of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs), Dr. Dennis Carlton has reiterated that the planned introduction of new gTLDs will not burden trademark owners with additional defensive registrations. Carlton writes: "I conclude that ICANN's proposed framework for introducing new gTLDs is likely to facilitate entry and create new competition to the major gTLDs such as .com, .net, and .org. Like other actions that remove artificial restrictions on entry, the likely effect of ICANN's proposal is to increase output, lower price and increase innovation. This conclusion is based on the fundamental principles that competition promotes consumer welfare and restrictions on entry impede competition."
The total number of domain names have grown to 180 million world wide, according to the first quarter 2009 Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign. The first quarter of 2009 reached a base of 183 million domain name registrations across all of the Top Level Domain Names (TLDs) -- a 3% increase over the fourth quarter of 2008 and a 12% increase over the same quarter from last year. Country Code TLDs (ccTLDs) rose to 74.1 million domain names during the first quarter, a four percent jump from the previous quarter and an 18 percent increase year over year. Gauged by total registrations, .com remains the most popular TLD category, followed by .cn (China), .de (Germany) and .net. This composition remains unchanged from Q4 2008.
In a video posted on her website this morning, Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, has called for greater transparency and accountability in Internet Governance. She outlines a new Internet Governance model which includes a fully private and accountable ICANN, accompanied by an independent judicial body, as well as a "G12 for Internet Governance" -- a multilateral forum for governments to discuss general internet governance policy and security issues...
The Technology Policy Institute (TPI), an IT and communications policy think tank, has just released a paper proposing that "ICANN's governance structure should be dramatically reformed to make it more accountable before the current tie with the U.S. Department of Commerce is allowed to expire." The paper titled "ICANN At a Crossroads: a Proposal for Better Governance and Performance" is written by Thomas M. Lenard, President and Senior Fellow at TPI, along with Lawrence J. White, Professor of Economics at the NYU Stern School of Business. The 52-page study also asserts that ICANN must have a clear focus on encouraging competition with minimal role as a regulator with respect to the creation of new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs).
According to latest reports from the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), allegations of cybersquatting by trademark holders continued to rise in 2008, with a record 2,329 complaints filed under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP). This represented an 8% increase over 2007 in the number of generic and country code Top-Level Domain (gTLDs and ccTLDs) disputes handled and brings the total number of WIPO cases filed under the UDRP since it was launched ten years ago to over 14,000. To improve efficiency and respond to growing demand, WIPO has proposed an "eUDRP Initiative" to render the UDRP paperless...
The former US vice president, Al Gore, is backing the creation of a new green .eco domain name. Dot Eco LLC, the applicant for the new .eco Top-Level Domain (TLD), announced during the ICANN meetings in Mexico City that it has entered into an integrated partnership with former Vice President Al Gore and his philanthropy, the Alliance for Climate Protection, to secure and promote the .eco TLD. "We fully support Dot Eco LLC in its efforts to secure the .eco top level domain through the ICANN application process and look forward to working with Dot Eco LLC to promote .eco. This is a truly exciting opportunity for the environmental movement and for the internet as a whole," said Al Gore.
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