Public comment period open for 1 and 2 character .biz domain names.
Last Friday Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) opened up a public comment period on .biz registry NeuStar’s proposal to offer one and two character .biz domain names.
NeuStar has cleared the initial hurdle at ICANN, which found no significant security, stability, or competition issues to releasing the short domain names.
NeuStar’s original proposal was to offer a request for proposal to find domain registrants with good plans to develop the one and two character domains. NeuStar would then have rights to auction the domains, presumably if more than one qualified proposal was received. However, the contractual changes essentially let NeuStar use and RFP, auction, or or first-come-first-registered approach.
dotMobi has already received permission from ICANN to release one and two character .mobi domain names, which it is allocating through an RFP process.
.Biz has been a laggard of so-called “new top level domains”, and is an example of what is likely to happen to new top level domains released under ICANN’s TLD expansion program.
Well, this is a bit confusing…I was interested to read more about the possibility of a two letter dot biz for my company. I tried calling up Nuestar.biz, which doesn’t resolve (hardly surprising as it’s not registered). Nuestar.com is a parked page. Deciding to reverse the spelling in the first paragraph of your post, I checked Neustar.biz, which appears to be a telecommunications company unrelated to dot biz. Finally found them at NeustarRegistry.biz, which oddly enough seems only to have been registered in 2006 (but dot biz has been around for some years before that surely?). Where has dot biz been hiding all these years then?
Where has dot biz been hiding all these years then?
http://www.neulevel.biz/ 😉
Such 1 & 2 letter offerings will prove to be no more than short term exploding PR life rafts for extensions destined to be remain relegated to the swamplands of the Internet.
Can someone explain why ICANN needs to approve NeuStar’s release of 1 and 2 character domains? I would assume that would be controlled completely by NeuStar, but assume there are documents involving ICANN that says when and why 1 and 2 character domains are released?
@ Marg – the telecom company you found at Neustar.biz is essentially the same company.
What surprises me is they don’t own http://www.biz. It’s probably reserved, but since it’s not activated if I enter it in my browser it forwards me to http://www.biz.com.
@ Andrew – all new domains have 1-2 letter domains reserved. There are over a hundred two character country codes, so there’s some worry about confusion.
@Steve – “destined to be remain relegated to the swamplands of the Internet”
Steve, you appear fully invested in the everglades: advisably, agented, bearapy, businessly, creditry, doughsend? Are you serious? .BIZ is least of your concerns.
Yes, MM; serious I am.
Heard the same comments regarding Healthify.com … er, um … until General Mills bought it … and PennyTalk.com … until IDT bought it.
There’s gold in them thar .com everglades, my friend … if you know what you’re doing. 😉