Expert view: Alexa Raad

With the release of applications for the new gTLD process, we asked a number of industry experts for their views of what the information shows.

Alexa Raad

CEO, Architelos

What is your overall feeling about the applications?
Overall, a lot more brands than many of the pundits would have led one to believe,especially, the ANA. I suspect some did apply for a closed Brand gTLD, but may soon find out that applying for a TLD and protecting second level domains names are not one and the same thing. That sadly is due to the lack of awareness and education as well as the steadfast refusal of organizations such as the ANA to adequately and fairly educate their stakeholders.

Many of the applicants who will be awarded their TLD will likely decide to change some aspect of the TLD, which would entail an RSTEP. I suspect many prepared their applications in haste, "just to get it in" requests, without adequate thinking about possible scenarios, or business model. They will realize that they will need to make some changes, and that those changes will not only affect their registry contract with ICANN, but also their technical requirements and cost. The whole process of RSTEP will come as an unwanted surprise, and ICANN will likely face a backlog.

What are you most surprised by?
The number of applications by Amazon and Google. The absence of eBay, Twitter, Facebook, and only one application by Apple (.apple)

I am also surprised that there is not as much focus as I thought there would be by backend providers. They all seem to have a smorgasbord of applicants and gTLDs, yet the requirements, and support necessary for a geo TLD is different than for a closed brand TLD.

What are you most excited about?
The potential of new businesses cropping up (think new registrars that focus on serving a few specific TLDs say for an industry vertical).That means jobs and opportunity.

I am also excited that competition will bring about technical innovations that are driven by registrants, customers and end users. There has not been many breakthrough tech innovations in our industry for a long time. Those that have been implemented, such as DNSSec, were initiated deep in the tech and standards community and had a long hard road to adoption.

What are you most irritated about?
Even though right now all we have are numbers (who applied for how many, which back-end has the most applicants etc) it is not the numbers. I liken it to counting the numbers of people who sign up to run a marathon. Not all of them are winners. That takes a long time to see. Ultimately the winners will be those who not only get their TLD delegated, but also who take their commitments to security and stability seriously and run an innovative and financially viable business.

What application(s) stand out to you as particularly interesting?
The more immediate ones are those with the most contention. You have a variety of applicants (amazon and google, TLDH and Afilias ) for example applying for dot-app. It would be interesting to see how this contention gets resolved and how many of these competing apps actually go to auction.

What application(s) would you give the WTF Award to?
Not ready to say yet, as I do not want to judge it solely by the name string they have applied for. Instead, what irritates me are the actions of a few who would define the reputation of the rest of the industry or community. This is business, and it should be conducted in good faith, as we are all on stage. Any applicant who would act in bad faith ( for example, expect to be paid off because of a hastily filed trademark, or in lieu of touting the merits of their own application, decry that of their competitor) will ultimately define for those watching, the reputation of a whole industry.

Alexa Raad is CEO of Architelos, a consultancy, management and marketing company focussed on new gTLDs.