New TLDs

The Mission Has Already Crept

ICANN's mission, and the avoidance of "mission creep", is currently the subject of intense debate in the Internet community. Multiple cross-community working groups are dealing with the proposal by an agency of the United States government, NTIA, to give up the last vestiges of its control of the IANA function. Many of the new organizational structures under consideration purport to deal with ICANN's expanding mission. more

Have New Domains Had Our Twerking Moment?

There's a lot of .buzz about Google's new holding company, Alphabet. From .NYC to .London to .Tokyo the "new Google" story is making .news everywhere, as the .media large and small speculates on what it means for the .online and .tech industries, and beyond. After all, as one of the .top brands and companies in the .world, when Google makes a move it can have .global impact. more

Challenges for .brands - How to Engage Internal Stakeholders

Developing a .brand TLD strategy requires resources and input from almost every function in your organisation. Unfortunately, most organisations that applied for a .brand TLD have successfully de-prioritised the project to the point where even the executives who signed off on the project in 2011/2012 may need to be reminded what it is. Funding allocation may or may not still exist. Your digital brand roadmap may or may not include reference to the TLD. more

Google Restructures Under New Company Name, Puts .XYZ TLD on the Map

Ari Levy reporting in CNBC: Negari is the founder and CEO of XYZ.com, an Internet domain registry that owns alternative suffixes like .rent and .college. His 10-person company also owns .xyz. Abc.xyz is the web address for Google's new parent entity, Alphabet Inc. more

The IANA Stewardship Transition - Now Is the Time to Share Your Views

The IANA Stewardship Transition process may have started more than a year ago, but last week it reached its pinnacle with the publication of the compiled Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions from the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the Global Multistakeholder Community" by the IANA Coordination Group (ICG). 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

Neustar Acquires Bombora Technologies, the Holding Group for Ari Registry Services and AusRegistry

Neustar announces that it has acquired Bombora Technologies Pty Ltd (Bombora), based in Australia, for AUD $118.5 million, or approximately USD $86.9 million. Bombora and its subsidiaries, which include ARI Registry Services, provide registry services for a number of top-level domains (TLDs) including .au, .melbourne, .sydney, and over 100 new TLDs, including several in the Fortune 500. more

Navigating the .brand Delegation Process

Today marks a major milestone for .brand Top-Level Domain applicants, as we pass the deadline set by ICANN for them to sign their Registry Agreement (RA). For those who have knuckled down over the last few weeks and months to meet this deadline, congratulations -- for many, this was no mean feat and the effort should be acknowledged. more

Auction to Sell .versicherung Top Level Domain

The Top-Level Domain (TLD) .versicherung (German word for INSURANCE) managed by dotversicherung-registry GmbH in Hamburg, will be holding an international auction executed by Right of the dot, LLC in Lauderdale USA in collaboration with Heritage Auctions. The auction will take place on 26th of August 2015, 10:00 am Eastern Standard Time (UTC -4:00). more

ICANN 53: Accountability, Brand Policy & New Round of New gTLDs

In June, MarkMonitor joined our colleagues once again at the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) 53rd public meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Several high-profile and contentious issues were on the agenda, many of which have significant impact on the interests of intellectual property and brand owners. Among these are the ongoing ICANN Accountability issues and the impending departure of ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé; registrant information (Whois) transparency, accuracy and accessibility; and the timing of the next round of new gTLD applications/delegation. more

What Does the July 29 Deadline Mean for .brand TLDs?

This is the first post in a series from Corey Grant, Senior Industry Consultant at ARI Registry Services, on what .brand TLDs need to do to get started and make the most of their TLDs... If you are a .brand Top Level Domain (TLD) and have a Registry Agreement from ICANN which you have not yet signed, you need to sign it by July 29, 2015. You're not alone; there are many others in the same boat -- all staring at their Registry Agreement trying to figure out what to do next. more

ICANN Accountability Deficits Revealed in Panel Ruling on .AFRICA

In an important test of ICANN's primary accountability mechanism, its Independent Review Process (IRP), the organization has been handed a stinging blow over its mishandling of the bid for the new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) .AFRICA. At the crux of the issue are two competing applications for the .AFRICA new gTLD and the decision by ICANN's Board to abdicate its responsibility to ensure that ICANN's evaluation and subsequent rewarding of the domain was carried out fairly, transparently, and in accordance with the organization's Bylaws, Articles of Organization, and established policies. more

The TLD Operator Webinar Transitions to the DNA University

Readers of my posts will have noticed that we've been working over the last two months to launch the TLD Operator Webinar which was held recently. Its purpose was to unite all new TLD applicants and collectively share our experiences in order to build momentum in the industry and support each other in our pursuits. With more than 300 registrations and 40 percent of all new TLDs attending, we were humbled and overjoyed with the success -- validating our 'educated guess' that there was a global appetite for information to assist new TLD applicants. more

DNA University Launches to Support Domain Name Industry

In pursuit of continued domain name industry success, the Domain Name Association (DNA) is delighted to announce the launch of the next industry resource -- the DNA University. The aim of the DNA University is to establish a dedicated education platform to facilitate the exchange of ideas, best-practice methodologies and continued development of the industry's combined expertise. To this end, the DNA University will offer stakeholders an opportunity to share their experiences, learn from each other and provide a forum to incubate concepts that will advance the domain name industry. more

Lack of ccTLD Growth in Africa Only Partially Due to Internet Penetration

ICANN says that, "the lack of ccTLD growth in africa is due to Internet penetration". However, Gideon Rop of DotConnectAfrica and an Internet Governance expert in the African landscape, expressed a different opinion during the Africa DNS forum in Nairobi. more