They could be forced to buy transliterations within a limited time period.
Verisign has been negotiating its contracts for transliterations of .com for a long time, and last week we got an idea about what the hold up is.
ICM Registry, the domain registry for .xxx and the forthcoming .adult, .porn and .sex top level domains, announced that it finally inked contracts with ICANN for new TLDs. The catch is that ICM had to change how it handled its Domain Matching program.
ICM wanted to reserve second level domain names that match existing .xxx domain names, and then offer the reserved names to the .xxx owner if (and whenever) they decide they want the new domains. The idea is similar to what .UK is doing for owners of third level .uk domains. In that case, third level owners have five years to claim their second level domains.
But ICANN wouldn’t let them do it this way, according to ICM. There are two issues at play, as I understand it.
The small issue is that ICANN demands that domains not be held back from sunrise. This probably isn’t a big deal, as few generic domains will be captured in sunrise.
The bigger issue is that ICANN won’t let ICM “hold on the shelf” the matching domains in perpetuity. This is why it is now giving .xxx owners only a limited amount of time to register the matching domain. They’ll have to come up with a lot of cash to get the matches, rather than waiting until they want to use the domains to pull the trigger.
If Verisign is forced to do the same thing, this won’t be pretty for people who have waited patiently for the introduction of .com transliterations.
They already own IDN .com, and Verisign told them they would be able to get the matching IDN .com-as-IDN when they came out. The plan was to not force IDN.com owners to buy the matching IDN.IDN within a set time period.
That might be in jeopardy now. IDN.com owners might end up having a limited window in which to buy the matching domain.
Of course, this isn’t set in stone yet. Verisign is still negotiating with whatever leverage it can find. That might be minimal, given its tenuous relationship with ICANN.
I can imagine some creative solutions for Verisign to run the program in a way that meets its stated objectives, but they’re all messy and expensive.
JSL says
Unless ICM was denied an “Approved Launched Program” http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-12nov13-en , it cannot be said that they did everything in their power to implement their plans.
I asked the question on TheDomains and here http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-12nov13-en , still no answer.
JSL says
*Sorry it should have read “Approved Launch Program”
JSL says
Sorry, difficult morning. The second link is https://twitter.com/jslascary/status/532347944545308673
Did ICM apply for an Approved Launch Program ? If not it cannot be said that they did everything they could.
Now, will Verisign apply for one, that’s the question. I think they have until the end of the contracting window (December 30th) to make a move.
Cheers
Steve says
If this happens then most investors will register their best ones and let the others drop. Verisign is dropped the ball big time imo. There is lots of traffic going to idn.com names right now. I noticed the most for me is idnChinese.com and idnRussian.com names. Hundreds of visitors to some of the names. Verisign should be promoting the fact that the Internet will finally become global but I don’t think I have heard a peep. Sad.
Direct nav traffic is going to idn.com without the translit. I am sure many other owners of decent idn.com names are noticing this as well.
Stuart Lawley says
@jsl
yes we did submit an Approved Launch Plan and yes that was rejected by ICANN
JSL says
Stuart, I would be interested to learn more.
In the Press Release, it is said that your original grandfathering plan were denied because “in contravention of ICANN’s Rights Protection Mechanisms”.
given you applied for an ALP, this cannot be the ultimate reason for the denial, as the purpose of an ALP is to be exempted for some of the RPMs. If this was it, the whole thing would be a catch22.
An ALP can be denied on two grounds. Im quoting verbatim :
“ICANN’s review of all Launch Applications (including those with presumptions of being approved as described below) will be based on a Registry Operator’s demonstration that the requested registration program will not contribute to consumer confusion or the infringement of intellectual property rights.”
I don’t think consumer confusion was ever in question. Does it mean that ICANN determined your ALP would contribute to infringement ?
You also mentioned somewhere else that there were Security and Stability concerns.
Which was the prime reason for the denial.
Thank you
Stuart Lawley says
Dont understand the question.
We asked for exactly what we had asked for in our application and ICANN said no . Havingb fought with ICANN for over 10 years we know first hand what is involved .
JSL says
I will rephrase.
The purpose of an ALP is to be exempted from the RPMs. How can an ALP be denied on grounds that it is in contravention of the RPMs, isn’t that the whole point of an ALP ?
On what grounds did the ALP fail.
Stuart Lawley says
Good question , please direct your questions at ICANN
Rubens Kuhl says
A formal ALP would have triggered a public comment period, like .madrid ALP just did, so we know it hasn’t happened.
And the only thing ICANN RPMs are to blame for is the match for sunrise registration. The general availability has been blamed on technical capabilities of registrars in other articles on this topic.
BTW, there is no limit to shelving of domain names; they can sit in reserved name list forever if a registry so wants it, provided it goes thru 90 days of claims when released.
Joseph Peterson says
Privately, I have been weighing the pros and cons of a class action lawsuit against the ICM Registry, assuming they go forward with what seems to be their current plan.
My understanding of that plan is this: That the ICM Registry intends to charge preexisting .XXX registrants full price (retailing around $300 per string per year) for matching .ADULT and .PORN domains; otherwise dumping them on the market.
Such a release into general availability will devalue years of investment in .XXX on the part of domainers. It will undo the safeguard assumed to be in place by registrants whose motivation was brand protection. Or else it will extort TRIPLE the fees from ICM Registry customers … QUADRUPLE once the ICM Registry obtains and threatens to release .SEX domains in similar fashion.
Anybody who has renewed a .XXX domain through 2015 will have paid approximately $400 for it — assuming it wasn’t bought at a much greater premium. And those renewal decisions were based — for many registrants — on ICM Registry promises that .ADULT / .PORN / .SEX domains would NOT be dumped on the open market and would NOT be used to exact further fees. Quite a bit of ICM Registry language in its press releases talked about free domains or (at most) a “nominal fee”.
Those promises seem to have been thrown aside. Although the ICM Registry has blamed ICANN technicalities, its very intention to charge its pre-existing customers full price for .ADULT and .PORN or else release them into the wild looks to me like complete disregard of consumer interests and utter absorption in profit.
Squeeze registrants for 3-4 years with promises of no added cost and no added risk from .ADULT / .PORN / .SEX. Then find a convenient loop hole, blame ICANN, and squeeze registrants again, quadrupling their annual holding costs!
How confident am I that the ICM Registry deliberately stabbed its customers in the back? I don’t think good intentions would be any excuse. What counts except the negative consequences for consumers after 3 years of misleading ICM Registry press releases?
Last week when I broached this subject over at TheDomains.com, I was biting my tongue. It seemed fair to give the ICM Registry a chance to clarify its intended pricing and (upon public criticism) return tot he drawing board to come up with a different plan that would be more in keeping with its past promises, more equitable to ICM Registry customers.
It seems to me as though the ICM Registry would have no difficulty in scooping up .ADULT and .PORN domains to protect the interests of .XXX registrants. After all, Uniregistry has registered plenty of its own domains through a subsidiary. If the ICM Registry did likewise, it could honor the basic outline of its promises.
Even .XYZ — which I would until now have called the most mendacious of registries — has found it in its power to give away free domains … and to people (unlike ICM Registry’s customers) who hadn’t spent a penny with the company and who haven’t been promised something very specific year after year.
.XXX registrants have been lured into expensive renewals for going on 4 years now only to see their ongoing costs quadruple. And if they don’t pay up by a sudden deadline (and continue to pay at a higher level indefinitely), then their past investment will be diluted to the point of near worthlessness.
We’re not just talking about domain resellers and adult webmasters who have been double-crossed by the ICM Registry. This 180-degree turn also affects companies and colleges who registered .XXX domains believing that, by doing so, they would be protected. In the future, they all must pay 4 times what they used to pay and what they have systematically been led to believe that they would be paying in the future.
ICANN technicalities or not, in effect this is a shake down. How often did the Mafia quadruple its asked-for protection money overnight?
The ICM Registry ought to devise a solution that protects its customers. After all, they’ve spent 3-4 years publicizing their intention to do so.