New TLD debate has degenerated into nonsense. If you live in America, the past several months have been all about loonies on both sides of the health care debate. They'll say just about anything, even if it's not true, to sway opinion on health care. ... Continue Reading20 Comments
Olympic Committee Continues to Pester ICANN for Special Status
· Policy & LawIOC to ICANN: just a friendly reminder that we're important. The International Olympic Committee has sent another letter to ICANN requesting that it be given "holier-than-thou" trademark rights and special protections for the launch of new top level ... Continue Reading8 Comments
.Africa Can Learn from .Asia, and WHOIS Behind Adrenaline TLD?
· UncategorizedWill a continent TLD work, and the mystery of Adrenaline TLD. The number of firms coming out from the woodwork with plans to launch new TLDs is increasing. Some of these groups have been out in the open for a while but are just now revving up the PR ... Continue Reading5 Comments
.Canon: Why Would You Want .Brand?
· UncategorizedI'm still trying to understand .brand. I've never understood the lure of a brand owning .brand. Yesterday Canon announced that it will launch .canon when new top level domain names are allowed. Why? I'd really like to understand everyone's opinion ... Continue Reading24 Comments
Registry – Registrar Integration Debate Far from Over for New TLDs
· Policy & LawSome integration between registries and registrars likely for new TLDs. Last week I reported about an ICANN board resolution that called for "strict separation of entities offering registry services and those acting as registrars. No co-ownership will ... Continue ReadingLeave a Comment
ICANN Board Drops Bomb on Registrars Hoping to Launch New TLDs
· Policy & LawBoard opts for separation of registrars and registries for new top level domain names. [Update: Minutes from board meeting emphasize pending plan from GNSO.] ICANN's board resolved today that there will be "strict separation of entities offering ... Continue Reading11 Comments
Shocker: ICANN Nixes Expressions of Interest for New TLDs
· Policy & LawNo Expressions of Interest for new top level domain names. I guess I'm not in the internal loop at ICANN, but I'm surprised that its board voted to completely nix the idea of "Expressions of Interest" for new top level domain names. The idea was ... Continue Reading14 Comments
.Org Eyes Leadership Role in IDN Top Level Domain Names
· Policy & Law.Org registry PIR wants to bring best practices to IDN top level domain names. One of the big questions facing registries of existing top level domain names is how they should pursue Internationalized Domain Name "equivalents" of their domain names ... Continue Reading4 Comments
Reevaluating New Top Level Domain Names
· Policy & LawA look back at my position on new TLDs, 9 months later. Last May I wrote an editorial titled "Why I'm opposed to new top level domains". I outlined six reasons that I didn't like the current proposal for new top level domain names. Nine months ... Continue Reading20 Comments
Yes, Multiple Top Level Domain Names Add to Confusion
· Policy & LawDuh. More TLDs cause confusion. Perhaps it's outweighed by the innovation? This morning I read Wired's article on ICANN, which discusses new top level domain names. It quotes David Farber saying "I don't think that [adding new TLDs] creates ... Continue Reading19 Comments