New gTLDs issue index (21 Jun 12)

Applications for new Internet extensions make it clear that change is coming, albeit wrapped in the Stars & Stripes

The Internet of tomorrow is here, US-style

At the launch of hundreds of new extensions to the Internet last week, the head of the organization overseeing the process was embarrassed when an audience member pointed out that all the Arabic names appearing on a screen behind him were written backwards.

The CEO, an American, immediately apologized. As did his head of communications, also American. She further pointed out that the incorrect names had been noticed before the event but there hadn't been time to change them, so they went ahead with the wrong versions.

As analogies go, this exchange describes perfectly the seven-year process to create new generic top-level domains, and its end results. With the information finally published, it seems that this is to be a very American revolution.

After years of playing the coy .virgin, waiting for the right moment to say yes, the excitement of ICANN's potential suitors is writ large in their .love letters posted in that most unreliable of matchmakers, the TLD Application System (Is that an 18-letter long string in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me working again?)

Not all suitors will be rewarded, and none will get their $185,000 engagement rings back, so it's only fair to award applicants for efforts to stand out in a very crowded room.

In London within a few weeks there's a big sporting event whose name cannot be mentioned in the context of gTLDs. So, taking inspiration from the only successful thing Greece currently can claim credit for (and they need plenty of credit), here are...

The Definitely Not The Oly*pics gTLD Awards

Purely a demonstration sport, so no medals, but a tie between:

.americanexpress (15 characters)

.allfinanzberater (16 characters)

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.

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.

Gavin Brown

CTO, CentralNic

The Big Reveal Day has come and gone, and seemed strangely anti-climactic for me as I sat in the crowded conference room in London waiting for the list to be made public.

I’ve spent the last couple of years writing RFP responses and application material, meeting clients, and seeing CentralNic’s projected applications list double, and then double again (to a total of 60), all the while having to keep quiet about who we were working with. Once that all-important list entered the public domain, it was actually quite difficult to switch modes and be a bit more open about who our clients were.

ICANN has announced its new CEO, Fadi Chehadé. He will begin on 1 October 2012. Current CEO Rod Beckstrom will leave the organization at the end of this month.

We identified Fadi as one of the last four candidates for the job back in April. He previously worked with ICANN's current COO Akram Atallah, with them both in the same roles.

Here is more information about Mr Chehadé.

ICANN announced that its new gTLD project manager Michael Salazar had resigned. The claim isn't true. Following an unannounced Board meeting at the end of last week - the third in as many months - chair Steve Crocker demanded that someone on staff be held accountable for the failure of the TAS application system which had caused a six-week delay in the program. Salazar was identified and promptly fired. The decision has left the new gTLD program without a head at a crucial time. A replacement for ICANN's CEO is due to be announced this week although he isn't expected to start for several months.

Should generic top-level domains be under sole control of one company?

Controversy is brewing over some companies plans to make generic gTLDs private online spaces

In November 1999, in one of its first actions, ICANN came good on its mandate to introduce competition within the Internet's infrastructure and signed an agreement with Network Solutions that required it to allow other companies to sell registrations under the dot-com registry.

It was the beginning of a rule that no Internet registry can sell domain names under its own name, and it should give ready access to other companies that wish to. The result was an explosion of competition, and a drop in domain prices from $50 to $6 a year.

We've been through everyone of the 1,930 applications and here are our picks.

KETCHUP

Why pick this?
Because it pushes the boundaries of commonsense

Who applied for it?
Heinz

What will it be used for?
Dot-ketchup will be a “trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for consumers to access content related to Heinz Tomato Ketchup worldwide.”

So what?
We can see many wonderful and innovative uses for new top-level domains but, forgive us, we really think that a single ‘ketchup.com’ would probably do on the topic of ketchup. Do you really need a fundamental piece of Internet infrastructure to cover the vagaries of tomato sauce? (No, you don’t.)

What does it tell us about new gTLDs?
That some companies felt compelled to protect their leading brands, even
when it made little sense to do so. This should be a prime candidate for Heinz to drop now that they know no one applied for it, and recoup $130,000.

Anything else?

ICANN finally released details of the new gTLDs program. There were a few surprises: Google and Amazon applied for 101 and 76 applications respectively. A number of new organizations also appeared with large portfolios of generic names. Now they will have to duke it out with others to find out who gets what. Shortly after the release of information, .Nxt published its database of new gTLD applicants and applications to provide a more useful and user-friendly version of the information.

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.

James Bladel

Director of Policy Planning, GoDaddy

Before ICANN opened the new gTLD application process, Go Daddy CEO Warren Adelman cautioned ICANN to take the time to carefully launch new gTLDs. We've already seen a few bumps along the way, like the TAS 'glitch.'

On the Internet, most people still think of dot-com as the extension for websites. It will be interesting to see which new gTLD extensions gain traction with the public. As has been our practice, we will look to our customers to tell us what they want when it comes to deciding which new gTLDs Go Daddy should offer.

Keynote Speech by Lawrence E. Strickling Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information U.S. Chamber of Commerce Telecommunications and E-Commerce Committee

Read it on the NTIA website.

Washington, D.C.

June 15, 2012

I am pleased to be invited to address today’s meeting of the Telecommunications and E-Commerce Committee at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Today is a particularly timely opportunity to address the multistakeholder process of policymaking for the Internet as it has been a busy spring for developments in this area.

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.

Lesley Cowley

CEO, Nominet

Overall feelings?
There were more applications than I had expected when things first kicked off years ago. In the run up to the reveal, the predictions (or leaks) were pretty accurate. But there are now just shy of 2,000 applications in the mix, so it’s safe to say not all of the new gTLDs will be successful.

The sheer volume of applications means that, due to conflicts, many of the bids will not make it through the starting gate.

Inevitably, the volume also means there are applications whose merits are less obvious than others. ICANN of course must be neutral about the ‘content’ of the applications. Many of the bids under application – like dot-bbc, which we are involved with - make sense.

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.

Michael Berkens

Director, RightoftheDot.com

What is your overall feeling about the applications?
Well I think it was as interesting to see who applied as who did not apply.

Google i think shocked everyone applying for so many generic TLDs, Donuts shocked the world by applying for over 300 after talking about applying for 10.

It was good to see domainers among the applicants including Frank Schilling, the Directi group and Daniel Negari.

I was equally surprised to see Apple not applying for dot-app especially in light of the fact that they have been in litigation over the trademark for App Store with Amazon for quite a while or dot-mac which was could have been applied for by the cosmetic company and therefore lost.

I was also surprised not to see an application from eBay, Facebook and Twitter who have millions of active members.

The MLS Domains Association (MDA) has joined up with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to apply for the gTLD dot-mls. Both parties were working on individual applications until they became aware of the other, and under the new agreement CREA will make the application to ICANN, and MDA will provide financial support. MDA will also protect CREA's "Multiple Listing Service" and "MLS" trademarks within Canada and the US and in return has exclusive rights to use dot-mls domains for marketing real estate in the US. The application faces competition from Dublin-based Afilias Limited which has also applied for the domain.

US Assistant Commerce Secretary Larry Strickling gave a broad-ranging speech covering everything from the current privacy debate to the IANA contract, WCIT meeting in December and ICANN's new gTLD process and general accountability.

There were no bombshells but Strickling made it clear that he rejecting some calls to make discussions around a privacy code of conduct a closed-doors discussion. He also gently chided ICANN and warned that he was still watching the organization closely on its promises to improve accountability as well deals with policy and compliance problems.

He finished his speech but warning against about the potential dangers of the WCIT meeting to be held in Dubai in December.

The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) of ICANN sent a strong letter to the organization's chairman advising the organization to move away from the badly flawed "digital archery" process for splitting the 1,930 new gTLD applications it has received into batched. "ICANN may not have fully considered the implications of these processes, and highlights the need to fully consult with the community before taking decisions of this magnitude," it chided. The letter also warned ICANN that the GAC would not be in a position to make determinations on new gTLD applications until April 2013 - five months later than ICANN had hoped.