Registry Services

VeriSign Supports New gTLDs with Appropriate Safeguards

The introduction of new Internet domains to the global marketplace has the potential to dramatically grow the domain name marketplace, increasing the value of domain names, driving new demand for registry services and opening new markets for registrars and registries alike. Because VeriSign operates .com -- the legacy generic top-level domain (gTLD) -- many in the Internet community have assumed that we would oppose the introduction of new gTLDs. The truth is quite the opposite.

Post Delegation Dispute: A Once Supportable Concept Proposed by the IRT is Now Unsupportable

This comment is being presented in my personal capacity and does not represent the views of my employer (Neustar, Inc.) and its subsidiaries or affiliates, or the Implementation Recommendations Team. Ok. I admit it. I supported the concept of a post delegation dispute resolution process for generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Registries. I served as the only gTLD registry member of the Implementation Recommendation Team (IRT) appointed by the Intellectual Property Constituency of the Generic Names Supporting Organization of ICANN. I was one of the authors of the IRT Recommendation in favor of a Post Delegation Dispute Resolution Procedure.

DOC to ICANN: Time to End Double-Weighted Voting of Registries and Registrars

The US Department of Commerce and ICANN announced today an Affirmation of Commitments. One of the important elements of that document was in section 4, namely that "ICANN and DOC recognize that there is a group of participants that engage in ICANN's processes to a greater extent than Internet users generally."

Registry-Registrar Cross Ownership: Framing the Issues

There has been much said and written recently about the issue of registry-registrar cross ownership with regard to New Top Level Domains ("New TLDs"). It is clear that there appears to be a fair amount of confusion about the issue and the positions espoused by various parties. To assist the ICANN community in understanding the issue -- the points of agreement and debate -- I offer the following overview on behalf of Network Solutions and Central Registry Solutions...

Domain Registry/Registrar Cross Ownership: A Reality Check

Funny how marketplace reality can poke holes in claims and theories. A debate is raging between some existing registries (Afilias, PIR, Neustar) and registrars like ourselves over the issue of 'cross-ownership' in Top-Level Domains (TLDs). At question: should the same set of shareholders be allowed to own all or part of a registry as well as a registrar that sells names in the TLD owned by the registry? These registries are saying 'no', and one of their principal objections is they think current registrars have an unfair advantage in pursuing TLD deals.

Swedish Regulator Bans Inclusion of Letters “b”, “a”, “n”, “k” in Domain Names Under .SE

Swedish Regulator PTS have today notified .SE, the Swedish (.SE) TLD registry that they have to change the rules... In short, the decision implies that any form of the sequence of the characters "b", "a", "n", "k" are illegal in domain names in Sweden. Further that checks of what domain names are registered are to be checked before registration.

ICANN Regional Meeting and More Questions on nTLDs

Congratulations and thanks to ICANN for hosting the North America Regional meeting at the Sheraton in downtown Toronto, Canada. This event was done first class and was in my opinion a highly successful meeting... At this regional ICANN meeting many interesting topics were covered. Some topics though not at the foremost of my mind, surprisingly were not only highly interesting but very informative.

ICANN Must Simultaneously Reveal TLD and Second-Level Registration Rules

I outline two possible drawbacks with the idea of first revealing rules for the new proposed Top-Level Domains (TLDs) and then for second-level registrations. I propose a lottery process to initially allocate second-level domain names. A number of people have voiced concerns about the idea of automatically granting the winner of the TLD a monopoly power over second-level domain registrations. We should also be worried about the financial interest ICANN has in not providing the rules for the two-level registrations simultaneously.

Corporate Domain Registration Practices in Light of New gTLDs

For years, corporate domain name administrators have scoffed at every new second-level and third-level country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) liberalization, and rightly so. Until recently, most had continued the practice of registering significant numbers of variations, misspellings and typo-squats. While I have never encouraged the practice of registering every variation in every geography, as this becomes prohibitively expensive over time... With what seems to be the imminent launch of hundreds of new TLDs as a result of ICANN's new initiative, companies appear to be saying enough is enough, and meaning it.

New gTLDs: Let the Gaming Begin (Part I - TLD Front Running)

A series of recent applications for national trademark rights in terms that correspond to likely strings for new top-level domain names, or TLDs, (e.g., ".BLOG") highlight just one way in which ICANN's new generic TLD (gTLD) application process is likely to be "gamed." But it is also a strategy to which some trademark holders may feel compelled to resort to defend their rights to that string. Unfortunately, it does not appear that ICANN is addressing these important public policy considerations.