No Country Names in New TLD Round

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

So much for .zimbabwe.

The latest version of the draft applicant guidebook for new top level domain names prohibits country names (e.g. .mexico) from being registered.

It’s a good thing, really. It eliminates another conflict ICANN would have to deal with: ruthless dictators hoping to spend more of their ill-gotten gains on a new top level domain name might not pass the background check.

The background check will cover a number of items, including

-Corruption and bribery
-Terrorism
-Serious and organized crime
-Money laundering
-Corporate fraud and financial regulatory breaches
-Arms trafficking and war crimes
-Intellectual property violations

Talk about an awkward phone call from Rod Beckstrom:

“Mr. Mugabe, I’m afraid we’re going to have to reject your application for .Zimbabwe.”

And forget continent names, too. The rules for getting a continent are very tough:

In the case of an application for a string which represents a continent or UN region, documentation of support will be required from at least 60% of the respective national governments in the region, and there may be no more than one written objection to the application from relevant governments in the region and/or public authorities associated with the continent or the UN region.

Yeah, good luck with that. The requirement was reduced from 69% to 60%, which must be a target for a specific continent. But once you see the numbers for .asia, no one should want to get a .continent name, any way. (Sorry, .africa.)

Further Reading:

  1. GAC to ICANN: Limit Next Round of New Top Level Domain Names
  2. Another new TLD application round within one year?

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4 Comments » - Posted in Policy & Law by

Comments

  1. j
    June 1st, 2010 | 1:28 pm

    So these background checks are being done by the ruthless at ICANN? ;-) They are angels?

  2. John Berryhill
    June 1st, 2010 | 6:56 pm

    Well, so much for Microsoft. They’ve been tagged with patent infringement how many times now?

    Ditto Google. They’ve been sued over TM claims more times than John Zuccarini!

  3. roddy
    June 2nd, 2010 | 1:50 am

    i think all or nothing is a much clearer way to do business ….yes all .countries or no all .countries

    call me crazy

  4. roddy
    June 2nd, 2010 | 1:51 am

    after 25 more years i really wonder if a domain extension will even exist ?

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