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Tag: ICANN

  • ICANN To Court: ccTLDs Aren’t Property

    ICANN To Court: ccTLDs Aren’t Property

    ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) told a U.S. federal court in the District of Columbia, that a ccTLD (country code Top-Level Domain ) can’t be considered property. For this reason, it says, it can’t be attached by plaintiffs in a lawsuit, when they’re trying to obtain assets of countries they say have supported terrorism.

    ICANN General Counsel and Secretary John Jeffrey explained, “We filed a Motion to Quash in the US federal court today, to ensure that the court has the essential information about how the Internet’s domain name system (DNS) works. While we sympathize with what plaintiffs may have endured, ICANN’s role in the domain name system has nothing to do with any property of the countries involved.

    “We explained in our Motion to Quash, that country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD) are part of a single, global interoperable Internet which ICANN serves to help maintain, he continued. “ccTLD’s are not property, and are not ‘owned’ or ‘possessed’ by anyone including ICANN, and therefore cannot be seized in a lawsuit.”

    The comments come after terrorism victims successfully won lawsuits against Iran, Syria and North Korea. Plaintiffs served ICANN with “writs of attachment” and subpoenas seeking info to help them seize those countries’ ccTLDs in an effort to recover assets from them.

    ccTLDs (and related IP addresses) specifically targeted by the plaintiffs include .IR (Iran), .SY (Syria) and .KP (North Korea). Also being targeted, according to ICANN, are internationalized top-level domains in non-ASCII characters for Iran and Syria.

    ICANN’s filings can be found here. The “Writs of Attachment” can be found here.

    Image via ICANNnews/YouTube

  • GoDaddy Executive Running for Arizona Governor

    A former GoDaddy executive filed nominating petitions last week to enter the Republican primary for governor of Arizona. Christine Jones, a former legal counsel for the Scottsdale-based website hosting company, submitted her paperwork on Tuesday, the opening day of the regular filing period for the August primary.

    Jones, who calls herself an “unapologetic conservative,” endorses gun rights, border security and the elimination of federal meddling in school policy. Jones, 45, was hired by GoDaddy in 2002 as an in-house attorney, when the Internet domain registrar had only a couple dozen employees. Jones left GoDaddy in 2011 after the sale of its parent company, Go Daddy Group Inc., to private investors for $2.25 billion, but still maintains ties as a consultant.

    GoDaddy is planning for its initial public offering later this year, and has hired Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase to coordinate the stock sale. GoDaddy had previously filed for an IPO in 2006, but later cancelled it due to “market uncertainties.” GoDaddy, well-known for its zany television ads, was founded in 1997 as Jomax Technologies by former U.S. Marine Bob Parsons, and became the largest ICANN-accredited registrar on the Internet by 2005.

    Here global supertalent Jean-Claude Van Damme appears as a GoDaddy spokesmodel:

    Jones, who is running without any public funding, commented at a Phoenix press conference, “Let’s encourage job growth by getting the government out of the way. Let’s strive for excellence in education by applying Arizona standards, not federal standards. And importantly, let’s enforce immigration law with no amnesty. If you stand up to the federal government … you can actually make a difference.”

    Jones is ready to drop millions of dollars on her campaign, and is already running television spots in the Phoenix area. She is running against a loaded field of Republicans, most of whom identify as conservatives, including former Mesa Mayor Scott Smith, Arizona state Treasurer Doug Ducey, Arizona state Sen. Al Melvin, former Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas and former California congressman Frank Riggs.

    Jones said to supporters, “You are ready for a leader that is not a career politician, someone who will lead with no strings attached. I am an unapologetic conservative, I am a fierce defender of the Constitution, and as your governor, I assure you I will lead with untethered ideas.”

    Image via Twitter

  • ICANN Chief Says Russia, China Will Not Hijack Internet Oversight

    On March 14 the United States Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced plans to transition oversight of the nonprofit Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to the global “multi-stakeholder” community.

    Headquartered in the Los Angeles suburb of Marina del Rey, ICANN controls what is essentially the address book of the Internet: the massive database of top level domain names such as .com, .gov., .net, and .org.

    Additionally, the NTIA currently contracts with ICANN to carry out the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions. The IANA is a responsible for managing the numbering system for Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

    The NTIA’s contract with ICANN, which has been in existence since 1998, is set to expire in September 2015 and the Department of Commerce says it won’t renew the contract.

    “The timing is right to start the transition process,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Lawrence E. Strickling. “We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global Internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan.”

    Although the announcement was a relatively quiet, low-key one, it didn’t take long for conservatives to start questioning it.

    Republican lawmakers John Shimkus (Illinois), Todd Rokita (Indiana), and Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee) rushed to introduce the Domain Openness Through Continued Oversight Matters (DOTCOM) Act in the House of Representatives.

    The trio said they created the DOTCOM Act “in response the recent Department of Commerce announcement that the U.S. would relinquish its remaining oversight of the Internet’s domain name system to an ill-defined ‘global Internet community.’”

    “In the month of March alone we’ve seen Russia block opposition websites, Turkey ban Twitter, China place new restrictions on online video, and a top Malaysian politician pledge to censor the Internet if he’s given the chance,” Shimkus said. “This isn’t a theoretical debate. There are real authoritarian governments in the world today who have no tolerance for the free flow of information and ideas. What possible benefit could come from giving the Vladimir Putins of the world a new venue to push their anti-freedom agendas?”

    Even former President Bill Clinton has weighed in with doubts about the multi-stakeholder model: “I understand in theory why we would like to have a multi-stakeholder process. I favor that … I just know that a lot of these so-called multi-stakeholders are really governments that want to gag people and restrict access to the internet.”

    On Wednesday ICANN president and CEO Fadi Chehadé, who has long pushed for globalization of the Internet oversight process, defended the NTIA’s plans.

    “Everyone is focused on these three, four countries … but in between we have 150 other countries that value the same values we do.”

    Chehadé conceded that individuals or governments might indeed attempt to seize control of the Internet, but insisted that the “multi-stakeholder model, it stops them. I agree that people will talk about capturing (control of ICANN), but they haven’t. For 15 years ICANN has operated without one government or any government capturing the decision making.”

    Politico calls the announcement a “smart, strategic move by Commerce to formalize, on its own terms, a process of increased globalization that has been going on for some time. It’s actually the opposite of what the critics claim: The Obama administration is trying to head off rising global pressure to give other countries, including China and Russia, more of a say in how the Internet is governed, not bow to it.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • ICANN: Over 175 New gTLDs Delegated So Far

    ICANN announced on Monday at ICANN 49 in Singapore that the number of new gTLDs that have been delegated has surpassed 175.

    The month of March has seen the approval of .NYC, .Cologne, .AXA, .Webcam, .Trade, .Jetzt, .世界 (xn--rhqv96g) – Chinese for “world/shijie,” .DNP, .Ink, .机构 (xn--nqv7f) – Chinese for “agencies/institutions,” .संगठन (xn--i1b6b1a6a2e) – Hindi for “organization/sangathana,” .组织机构 (xn--nqv7fs00ema) – Chinese for “organization,” .орг (xn--c1avg) – Russian for “organization/org,” .Koeln, .Bid, .Okinawa, .Vote, and .Voto.

    They delegated roughly forty of them in February and nearly fifty in January. You can see the full list of those delegated dating back to October 23rd here. Note that the list is not updated in real time.

    “After completing the New gTLD Program, a new gTLD becomes part of the Internet when it is delegated,” ICANN says. “This means it is introduced into the Internet’s authoritative database, known as the Root Zone.”

    ICANN says that over 1,300 of them could become available within the next few years. The delegation process will continue on a rolling basis.

    Image via YouTube

  • U.S. Government To Give Up Control Of IANA

    Since 1997, the U.S. Department of Commerce has overseen ICANN and the Internet Assigned Numbers Association through its National Telecommunications and Information Administration. While the non-profit has thrived underneath U.S. oversight, some, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee, argue that it needs to break off from the U.S. to truly thrive. Well, they just got their wish.

    The U.S. Department of Commerce announced over the weekend that it intends to transition “key Internet domain name functions to the global multistakeholder community.” In other words, it’s going to end its role as steward of the IANA and DNS. The move allows the DNS to go completely private.

    “The timing is right to start the transition process,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Lawrence E. Strickling. “We look forward to ICANN convening stakeholders across the global Internet community to craft an appropriate transition plan.”

    Interestingly enough, ICANN will be holding a meeting in Brazil next month to discuss how the IANA and the DNS will operate when they’re completely free of U.S. oversight. There are bound to be a number of proposals from the countries attending the meeting, but the U.S. Department of Commerce says any new proposal must adhere to four principles:

  • Support and enhance the multistakeholder model;
  • Maintain the security, stability, and resiliency of the Internet DNS;
  • Meet the needs and expectation of the global customers and partners of the IANA services
  • Maintain the openness of the Internet.
  • The Commerce Department also says that it will not accept any proposal “that replaces the NTIA role with a government-led or an inter-governmental organization solution.” In other words, the future of the Internet must remain free from the influence of any government to maintain neutrality.

    Those worried that the Internet might suddenly stop working need not be. The IANA’s current contract with the Department of Commerce lasts until September 30, 2015. ICANN and other interested parties have until then to develop a transition plan that satisfies all parties.

    Image via IANA

  • Demand Media Announces Significant Steps For Domain Business

    Demand Media has a few pieces of domain-related news this morning. Its United TLD subsidiary is now officially an ICANN accredited gTLD registry, eNom and Name.com have signed the 2013 ICANN RAA, and the company has joined the Domain Name Association.

    Regarding the first two bits of news, a spokesperson for the company tells WebProNews, “These are significant steps forward in preparing the domain services business for over a thousand new domain name extensions coming to market – starting as early as later this year.”

    “The speculation is over. New gTLDs are coming to market before the year ends and, with these ICANN contracts, Demand Media is ready to go as both a platform through which these names will be available, as well as bringing specific new gTLDs such as .DANCE and .DEMOCRAT to market,” said Taryn Naidu, executive vice president of Domain Services for the company. “We made a commitment to our business partners and customers that we would lead the way in opening up a new form of expression on the web – and we are delivering.”

    New domain extensions will begin to come online in November. Others from United TLD will include .ACTOR, .ARMY, .ENGINEER, .NINJA, .PUB and .SOCIAL.

    Of the RAA (Registrar Accreditation Agreement), Demand Media senior vice president and vice-chair of ICANN’s Registrar Stakeholder Group, Jeff Eckhaus, said, “This process was truly community driven and collectively organized; we worked to ensure that everything we did would better serve the customer – the person or organization registering a domain name. By signing on to the RAA, both eNom and Name.com have proven that they are fully prepared to support new gTLDs as they come to market in the months ahead.”

    As noted, Demand Media has also joined the Domain Name Association (DNA). This is a new nonprofit that launched today to support the growth and development of the domain name industry. Board members include Eckhaus, United TLD’s Statton Hammock, ARI’s Adrian Kinderis (Chair), Google’s Job Lawrence, Donuts’ Jon Nevett, FairWinds Partners’ Elizabeth Sweezey and GoDaddy’s Richard Merdinger.

    Earlier this month, Demand Media announced that longtime CEO Richard Rosenblatt was stepping down, but indicated that its plan to separate the domain business from the media business is still going forward, though the timing was still being evaluated.

    Last week, ICANN introduced the first four new gTLDs.

    Image: Demand Media

  • ICANN Introduces The First Four New gTLDs

    Over the last two years, the internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has been trying to introduce new generic Top-Level Domains to the Internet. The process was initially wracked by technical issues, but everyone from Apple to Google were eventually able to submit their applications for new gTLDs. Now ICANN is ready to start introducing some of these new gTLDs to the core of the Internet itself.

    ICANN announced today that it has approved the first round of gTLDs that it will introduce to the Internet’s Root Zone. With this out of the way, the owners of the new gTLDs can now work on making them available to Internet users at large.

    “It’s happening – the biggest change to the Internet since its inception,” said Akram Atallah, president of ICANN’s Generic Domains Division. “In the weeks and months ahead, we will see new domain names coming online from all corners of the world, bringing people, communities and businesses together in ways we never imagined. It’s this type of innovation that will continue to drive our global society.”

    Interestingly enough, the first four gTLDs to be approved are all in non-Latin script. The addition of non-Latin script gTLDs was a major departure from how the Internet was previously run as Web sites in countries like China and Russia can now offer Web addresses in their native languages.

    Here’s the first four gTLDs being added:

  • شبكة (xn--ngbc5azd) – Arabic for “web/network”
    Registry: International Domain Registry Pty. Ltd.
  • онлайн (xn--80asehdb) – Cyrillic for “online”
    Registry: CORE Association
  • сайт (xn--80aswg) – Cyrillic for “site”
    Registry: CORE Association
  • 游戏(xn--unup4y) – Chinese for “game(s)”
    Registry: Spring Fields, LLC
  • Now, sites with these gTLDs aren’t active just yet as ICANN requires the registrars to “complete a final process built into the new gTLD program to protect trademark rights holders.” This process only lasts for 30 days, however, and sites with these new gTLDs can then be opened to the public at that time.

    With these four new domain names, the total gTLD count is now at 26. ICANN says that there may be over 1,400 gTLDs by the end of all this. We’ll even see gTLDs like .amazon, but it won’t belong exclusively to the retailer.

    [Image: ICANNnews/YouTube]

  • ICANN Says Amazon Can’t Own .Amazon Domain Name

    ICANN finally wrapped up the application process for new generic top level domain names last year. The results of which are still far from over, however, as the nonprofit now has to sort through all the applications and decide who to award the new gTLDs to. Amazon and Google both applied for a lot of domains, but Amazon’s request for its namesake has already been rejected.

    The Wall Street Journal reports that ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee has rejected Amazon’s request for the .amazon gTLD. The rejection stems from the Committee saying its unfair for Amazon to control the gTLD. Some assume that this means South American countries objected to Amazon owning the gTLD for the river that runs through most of the continent.

    For many in the world, however, Amazon no longer refers to a river, but rather the multinational online retailer. With the .amazon gTLD, the retailer could offer “a unique and dedicated platform for Amazon.” Some potential examples could be music.amazon or movies.amazon. With those examples, you can see why Amazon would love to control the gTLD.

    Of course, trying to own the gTLD for a geographic location probably wasn’t going to work out in Amazon’s favor. South American countries would obviously want to use the .amazon gTLD for their own purposes, whether it be for tourism or conservation Web sites. Amazon might still be able to use the .amazon gTLD, but it won’t be able to exclusively own it.

    So, where does this leave other companies that sought to own their namesake in gTLD form? Well, Google isn’t exactly a geographic location, and nobody else can really claim to own the Google name. As far as I’m concerned, Google will probably be granted the .google domain name.

    It’s going to be interesting to see if Apple meets a similar fate to Amazon. It only applied for one gTLD – .apple. Like Amazon, the word apple isn’t exclusive to the company. I find it hard to believe that ICANN would hand Apple exclusive control of the .apple gTLD, but it’s possible.

    Speaking of which, Amazon isn’t entirely out of the game just yet in regards to the .amazon gTLD. ICANN can still vote to approve Amazon’s request for the gTLD, but the Wall Street Journal notes that its rare for the nonprofit to go against the rulings of its Governmental Advisory Committee.

  • Google Might Be Willing To Let You Use That .Fun Domain You Always Wanted

    Early last year, ICANN opened up applications for generic top-level domains. At the end of it all, it was revealed that Google applied for 101 gTLDs. Now more details are starting to emerge on what Google plans to do with them.

    CNET reports that Google sent a letter to ICANN last week about its intentions for the gTLDs it had applied for. Most of the letter is spent dispelling the fear that new gTLDs will stifle competition on the Internet by giving Internet giants like Google a distinct advantage on the Web over smaller startups and competitors. The most interesting part of the letter, however, is this one paragraph:

    After careful analysis, Google has identified four of our current single registrant applications that we will revise: .app, .blog, .cloud and .search. These terms have been identified by governments (via Early Warning) and others within the community as being potentially valuable and useful to industry as a whole. We also believe that for each of these terms we can create a strong set of user experiences and expectations without restricting the string to use with Google products.

    What this means is that Google recognizes some of the gTLDs it applied for would better serve the company if others could use them. In a report from last year, it was presumed that Google would be saving the above gTLDs for its own products, or perhaps leasing them out only to certain partners. This new revelation from Google seems to indicate that the company is willing to open these domains to the public.

    Of course, it should be noted that Google does not own these domains yet. Other companies, like Amazon, has also applied for many of these same gTLDs. That being said, Google is planning to do something with these domains if it can obtain them. The question now is what that something is.

    Most seem to think that Google will use these domains to enter the lucrative domain registrar business. Such a move would put Google in direct competition with Go Daddy and others offering similar services. With domains like .soy and .fun potentially on offer, who wouldn’t want to register through Google?

  • New ICANN CEO Lays Out The Future Of The Internet Under His Watch

    ICANN is sort of like the Justice League of the Internet. They are a NGO that’s dedicated to protecting the Internet from any one stakeholder from gaining too much power. They are the people behind the expansion of the gTLDs earlier this summer that led to Google and Amazon bidding over domain names like .book and .talk. The group now has a new CEO and he has a plan to keep the Internet like it always has – free of any one stakeholder’s influence.

    On June 22, ICANN announced that Fadi Chehadé was to become the next CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. Since the announcement, it was expected that Chehadé would take on the role of CEO starting October 1. That’s why it’s a surprise that he has announced his rise to the position of CEO starting today. He relieves Akram Attalah of his duties as interim CEO who will now return to his prior position as COO.

    “I have spent the past two months asking myself and many others from all over the Internet community worldwide the same questions,” said Chehadé. “How can ICANN work better with its stakeholders to bring all interested parties to the table to debate and agree how to improve the DNS? How can we ensure that all global citizens can share an open Internet which is sustainable and resilient?”

    Chehadé says that his plan puts stakeholders first. He will be amassing a team to help speed up Internet engagement across the world. He will also be expanding the roles of his key officers to help oversee the new initiatives from ICANN including the creation of multiple new gTLDs.

    ICANN will also be establishing many of its top brass in European regions to help “strengthen ICANN’s international engagement at all levels.” This includes Tarek Kamel, senior adviser to the CEO, who will be in charge of developing an effective strategy to boost Internet penetration in Africa.

    “I’ve spent the summer putting the right team in place – looking deep within ICANN and beyond to find the best mix of talents to help me to fulfill ICANN’s mission,” said Chehadé. “Frankly I am impressed and humbled by what these diverse leaders bring to the table. I’ve been fortunate to have great support from the ICANN Board as well as the staff and I know that we will be able to build upon the organization’s many achievements.”

    He will also be making many other departments report directly to him. Most corporations would rather have a supervisor below them to take care of the smaller details, but it looks like Chehadé is up for the challenge. Here’s hoping the new management can help prevent more incidents like those that plagued the gTLD registrations earlier this year.

  • ICANN Still Rules The Internet Whether You Like It Or Not

    If you know anything about the Internet, then you know about ICANN. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has power over the the most important parts of the Internet – domain names, IP addresses and protocol numbers. That kind of power comes with great responsibility and the US Department of Commerce agrees that ICANN is the only one capable of doing it.

    The Register reports that the US Department of Commerce has agreed to extend ICANN’s rule over the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority for the next three to seven years. The news was confirmed by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration last night. The most important part of the deal is that ICANN has retained the power to add and remove top-level domains as they see fit.

    The retention of that power is essential as ICANN recently hosted the largest digital land grab in history with companies from all over the world paying to own various generic top-level domains, or gTLDs. Companies like Google and Amazon applied for scores of domains to either use for their own purproses or lease out for individuals to run Web sites with the .soy domain.

    All of this doesn’t means that ICANN is free to as they wish with the entirety of the Internet like they used to. The NTIA published a press release that details the new regulations that ICANN must adhere as the overlord of the IANA.

    Based on input from the global community, NTIA added new requirements. Those include a clear separation between the policy development associated with the IANA services, and implementation by the IANA functions contractor; a robust company-wide conflict of interest policy; a heightened respect for local national law; and a series of consultation and reporting requirements to increase transparency and accountability.

    While some may not like ICANN’s approach to ruling the Internet, they are not alone. They have to work with multiple stakeholders from around the world to actually get anything done. It’s the kind of approach that has worked well for the Internet and maintains a level of equality for all who wish to surf the Web (local governments blocking access to sites notwithstanding).

    Besides, if you don’t like ICANN, you can at least agree that it’s better than the UN controlling it. Here’s hoping ICANN can keep it that way when the UN meets later this year to discuss a possible take over of the Internet.

  • Does Google Want To Get Into The Domain Provider Business?

    It’s no secret that Google applied for 101 gTLDs in ICANN’s recent yard sale. The company applied for all kinds of domains from .tech and .soy to the usual suspects like .google and .youtube. It seems that there might be more at play here beyond Google wanting to just start out strong in the Internet land grab race.

    CNET has dug up Google’s plans for its gTLD applications and it’s pretty surprising. It would appear that Google wants to offer up many of the domains it has applied for to the public. In that sense, Google would become a competitor to Go Daddy by selling the domains to places like .book and .shop.

    It makes sense for Google to walk this path when the other tech companies did not. Offering domains allows Google to have its hand in one more of the Internet’s cookie jars. Whereas Apple and Microsoft just want to have domains for their own personal use, Google is on track to becoming everything to everyone. Offering domains is just the next step in this strategy.

    As you can see in this excellent graphic from CNET’s James Martin, Google will be offering some domains to everybody, some to select parties and reserving the rest for its own internal operations:

    Google Wants To Get Into The Domain Provider Business

    We can ignore the Google only domains for now because it’s pretty obvious what they’re going to be used for. It’s far more interesting to speculate on the domains that will be used by all or select parties. Starting with the domains that will be leased out to anybody, it’s interesting to note that Google is offering things like .book and .buy while domains like .music and .movie will only be offered to some.

    Using the specific examples of .music and .movie, more than just professional studios offer these services. When Google is willing to allow anybody to register a domain of .book for their newest novel, but requires something else for anybody interested in using .music; it’s causes a little concern. Will Google allow an independent artist to register a .music domain, or do they have to be signed with a major label to gain access?

    The ICANN gTLD registry has the amazing potential to open the Web to more targeted domains that make it easier for people to find what they want. If Google wants to get in the business of offering their domains to the public, that’s fine. They should not, however, allow for abuse on either side. Independent artists and businesses have just as much a right to domains like .movie and .car that the major players in these businesses do. Here’s hoping Google is less than stingy with their domains.

    It’s important to note that Google might not end up with even half of these domains. Many of them were applied for by multiple parties and it’s up to ICANN to decide who gets them. Most of the domains could end up in another party’s hands. It’s still pretty wild to consider that Google could one day be the steward of such powerful new domains like .film and .phd.

  • ICANN to Announce New President and CEO

    The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) just revealed that they will be announcing a new president and chief executive officer.

    The news comes as no surprise since, Rod Beckstrom, their current president and CEO, recently announced he will not be standing for reelection at the end of his contract expiring on July 1st.

    The introduction of their new president and CEO will take place at a news conference two days prior to ICANN’s 44th public meeting in Prague. Board Chairman Dr. Stephen Crocker will join Chief Operating Officer Akram Atallah and the next CEO in answering questions from journalists during the news conference. The event will be webcast live from the Czech capital.

    The news conference will be on Friday, 22 June 2012, 1600-1700 Prague (1400-1500 GMT/UTC) at Room – Palmovka /Rokoska, Hilton Prague Hotel, Pobrezni 1 Prague, 186 00, Czech Republic.

    A live video webcast may be accessed at http://icann.adobeconnect.com/prg44-press. Telephone access may be obtained by dialling an international toll-free number obtained from this list www.adigo.com/icann. The toll free access number in the U.S. is +1.800.550.6865. Once you have reached the conferencing center, dial 25594. It will be broadcast in English.

  • Demand Media’s Military, Political gTLD Choices Simply Driven By Data

    There are a lot of interesting sub-stories behind the big Internet land rush that has been the gTLD application process. This week, ICANN released its big list of the gTLDs that were applied for during the application window, as well as the companies that applied for them. Google applied for as many as 101 of them, and Amazon applied for 76, many of which were in direct competition with Google. Facebook, on the other hand didn’t apply for any.

    Demand Media’s story has been a pretty interesting one, having applied for 26 on a standalone basis, with the potential to acquire others from Donuts, thanks to a partnership between the two companies. The really interesting part about Demand Media’s applications, however, are the actual gTLDs they chose to apply for, particularly those related to the armed services and political parties. Such gTLDs include: .airforce, .army, .navy, .democrat and .republican. You can see the full list here.

    It turns out that Demand Media’s choices were driven purely by data, much like other parts of the company’s business practices have been historically. Demand Media made a name for itself by producing content based on what data shows is in demand. Presumably, that’s where the company’s name comes from. Based on comments made by a spokesperson, Demand Media approached its gTLD application strategy in a very similar way.

    Leyla Farah, speaking on behalf of Demand Media, talked to TheDomains.com, and explained the approach, when asked about the company’s choices to apply for gTLDs directly related to the armed services and political parties.

    According to the site, Farah said: “Our entire portfolio of gTLD applications were all grounded in the same data-driven process. We analyzed all of the data we could find to determine which words people were consistently using to navigate through their digital world. Many of the most interesting words capture a universal sense of personal or professional identity, or are words that have come to define large and important ideas around the world. Ideas like ‘democrat’ and ‘army’ and ‘actor’ represent global, vibrant communities that naturally gravitate to one another using shared language and experiences. They are universal ideas that aren’t limited to any single entity like an armed service or political party in a single country — in fact they are often used generically (e.g., ‘Arnie’s Army’ etc.). Because of the universality and generic nature of of these words, there really aren’t grounds for objection by anyone.”

    In other Demand Media news, the company’s President and CFO, Charles Hilliard is stepping down, while the company has reaffirmed its guidance for Q2.

  • Demand Media Applies For Military, Political Domains

    ICANN released the big list of gTLD applicants today. Google applied for over 100 different ones. Facebook didn’t apply for any. There were certainly plenty of interesting applications. You can peruse the whole list here.

    We knew Demand Media had applied for some, but now, we know which ones, and the choices are interesting.

    The company applied for 26, and for 16 of them, they were the only applicant. Here are those 16:

    .actor
    .airforce
    .army
    .dance
    .democrat
    .engineer
    .gives
    .immobilien
    .kaufen
    .moda
    .navy
    .ninja
    .pub
    .rehab
    .republican
    .social

    “We are very pleased with today’s results. We selected our TLDs based on data-driven algorithms that leveraged our leading registrar and content platforms to determine what domains small businesses and consumers were demanding,” said Demand Media EVP Taryn Naidu. “We are excited about the market potential for each of our TLDs and look forward to the innovative new product offerings that will result from making these available to consumers.”

    The ones Demand Media applied for that have multiple applicants are:

    .bar
    .cam
    .fishing
    .gay
    .green
    .map
    .mom
    .moto
    .rip
    .wow

    These 26 domains are just the ones the company applied for on a stand-alone basis. Additionally, the company has an agreement with Donuts, through which it may acquire rights in certain other gTLDs, once they’ve been awarded to Donuts.

    These rights, Demand Media says, are shared equally with Donuts and are associated with 107 gTLDs for which Donuts is the applicant. I won’t list them all here, but they include things like: .golf, .home, .hosting, .hot, .insurance, .investments, .law, .living and .media.

    More on the Demand Media/Donuts partnership here.

  • What Does Google’s gTLD Applications Say About The Company?

    ICANN revealed the list of generic Top-Level Domains today and there was something interesting to be found in it. Aside from Top Level Domain Holdings Limited, Google was a definite contender for most gTLDs applied for. The search giant applied for over 101 new gTLDs and will probably get most of them. Can we gather anything about Google’s aspirations with these applications?

    Here’s the full list of domains that Google has applied for:

    ADS
    AND
    ANDROID
    APP
    ARE
    BABY
    BLOG
    BOO
    BOOK
    BUY
    CAL
    CAR
    CHANNEL
    CHROME
    CLOUD
    CORP
    CPA
    DAD
    DAY
    DCLK
    DDS
    DEV
    DIY
    DOCS
    DOG
    DOT
    DRIVE
    EARTH
    EAT
    ESQ
    EST
    FAMILY
    FILM
    FLY
    FOO
    FREE
    FUN
    FYI
    GAME
    GBIZ
    GLE
    GMAIL
    GMBH
    GOO
    GOOG
    GOOGLE
    GUGE
    HANGOUT
    HERE
    HOME
    HOW
    INC
    ING
    KID
    LIVE
    LLC
    LLP
    LOL
    LOVE
    MAIL
    MAP
    MBA
    MED
    MEME
    MOM
    MOTO
    MOV
    MOVIE
    MUSIC
    NEW
    NEXUS
    PAGE
    PET
    PHD
    PLAY
    PLUS
    PROD
    PROF
    RSVP
    SEARCH
    SHOP
    SHOW
    SITE
    SOY
    SPOT
    SRL
    STORE
    TALK
    TEAM
    TECH
    TOUR
    TUBE
    VIP
    WEB
    WOW
    YOU
    YOUTUBE
    ZIP
    みんな (Everyone)
    グーグル (Google)
    谷歌 (Google)

    The list is a little intimidating to be honest. It really does seem like Google has applied for just about everything that makes sense as well as a lot of things that make little to no sense. The obvious domains like .google and .gmail were guaranteed to show up. What’s up with the weird domains like .family, .mom and .baby? According to Google’s Chief Internet Evangelist, Vint Cerf, the strange domains were acquired because they have “interesting and creative potential.”

    Another oddity is that Google applied for these domains under a company named Charleston Road Registry. Every other big tech company from Microsoft to Apple filed for domains using the company’s name. Was there a reason Google wanted to be different aside from just being different? We’ve reached out to Google and will update this story when he hear back.

    For the time being though, it’s always fun to speculate on things that Google may be planning. It seems that Google may just be buying up domains to be prepared for anything. It’s a far cry from Apple who just applied for .apple and none of their products. Google applied for all of their major products and then some. Could these be future products in the pipeline at Google or are they just setting up domains just in case?

    It’s also interesting to point out that Google was the only one who applied for a lot of these domains. Whereas domains like .music and .movie had multiple applicants, there were some domains that came out of left field like .soy and .dog. The domains just seem too specific and direct to be just random placeholders.

    It will be interesting to see if any of these new domains pan out over the coming months and years once they go live. I personally can’t wait to see what Google does with .soy. I hope they get into the health food business.

  • ICANN Reveals List Of gTLD Applicants With .App Being The Most Popular

    After numerous delays and a last minute call for new applicants, ICANN has finally closed registration for new generic Top-Level Domains. As expected, ICANN has now published the list of applicants and the domains they applied for. There are some interesting applications in here, so let’s take a look.

    Before we get into this, it’s important to understand what the gTLD is all about. The new system from ICANN allows businesses, or regular people if they have the cash, to apply for a new generic Top-Level Domain. This means that people will soon be able to access a site not only with .com or .net, but with a whole host of new domains like .microsoft or .apple, both of which were applied for by their respective companies.

    Aside from Microsoft and Apple, Google obviously applied for .google, but also .goog. Other interesting company choices include .acer, .abc, .aol and .fire. The domain .fire is interesting because it was registered by Amazon presumably for its Kindle Fire device.

    Speaking of Amazon, the company filed for 76 different gTLDs with the most obvious being .amazon. The company also filed for gTLDs covering numerous areas like .buy, .music, .mail and .author.

    Google, filing its gTLDs under Charleston Road Registry, applied for over 101 domain names including .and, .android, .are, .baby, .blog, .book, .music, .fun, .game and .lol.

    Microsoft applied for very little compared to the others with only a little over 10 gTLDs. These include .bing, .docs, .hotmail and .office.

    As for Apple, they only applied for the one domain – .apple. It’s odd as I figured they would want to snag domains for .iphone or .ipad, maybe even .itunes. Nobody else grabbed those domains so at least Apple doesn’t have to worry about some Chinese company claiming to own .ipad.

    Interestingly enough, .app was the most applied for gTLD. Thirteen different companies applied for the domain including Amazon, Google, multiple entities of Dot App, and other smaller companies.

    One of the more interesting details of the new gTLD system is that ICANN is now allowing non-Roman alphabet domain names. This has led to many companies applying for domains in Japanese, Chinese, Arabic and Russian. While the majority of applications were for Roman alphabet domains, there were quite a number of foreign language applications with most being in Chinese.

    Since I can only read Japanese (and not Chinese), let’s take a look at what companies like Amazon or Google are up to. Google applied for two Japanese domain names – みんな and グーグル. The first is “minna” in hiragana which means “everyone.” The second is just romaji for Google. Amazon applied for way more domains in Japanese with all of them being in Romaji. Some of the standouts include アマゾン which is Romaji for Amazon and ファッション, or fashion. Fashion is interesting as Amazon did not apply for the English equivalent.

    You can find the full list of applications at the ICANN Web site. Check it out to catch a glimpse of what may be the future of the Internet. I for one welcome the arrival of the .pizza domain.

  • Demand Media Applies For 26 gTLDs, Partners With Donuts For More

    Demand Media announced this morning that it is pursuing some new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). Specifically, the company says it has selected names in categories connected to ecommerce, personal & professional identity, education, entertainment, internet life, sports, small business and social media.

    “We believe the new gTLD program represents a significant milestone in the evolution of the Internet,” said CEO Richard Rosenblatt. “In addition to delivering more choice for consumers and business owners, we expect the domain name expansion to spur innovation and new business opportunities.”

    The company has applied for 26 names on a stand-alone basis. It has also partnered with Donuts Inc. so that it may acquire rights in certain gTLDs, after they’re awarded to Donuts by ICANN.

    Demand Media tells WebProNews it will not comment further on specifics.

    We did speak with Donuts Vice President of Communications and Industry Relations, Mason Cole, who told us, “If you look at the existing namespace, there are only 22 existing generic told level domains. There are hundreds of country coded TLDs, like .jp for Japan, and so on, but in the generic name space, it’s awfully constrained. It’s very hard to find a good Internet identity that a company, or a person, or a family, or a new product, or a cause of some kind can use to identify themselves and promote their interests on the web.”

    Watch the video for the full interview:

    Donuts CEO, Paul Stahura said, “As previously announced, Donuts has raised more than $100 million in funding to pursue the new gTLD opportunity. Donuts’ strategic arrangement with Demand Media takes us well beyond that $100 million funding and enables both companies to utilize additional resources, expertise and talent to generate the most value and benefits for customers from this historic opportunity.”

    Last week, Donuts announced that it selected Demand Media Europe (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Demand Media), as its registry services provider.

  • Google Submits Generic TLDs

    Google Submits Generic TLDs

    The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) just closed, after over 1900 applications were submitted. Google had submitted its own applications for new TLDs, falling into four categories:

    – Google trademarks, like .google
    – Domains related to our core business, like .docs
    – Domains that will improve user experience, such as .youtube, which can increase the ease with which YouTube channels and genres can be identified
    – Domains we think have interesting and creative potential, such as .lol

    For a bit of backstory, the ICANN application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN, who moderates the address system of the internet, also began accepting non-traditional domain name endings this year, including ‘.sport,’ ‘,food,’ and ‘.bank,’ in hopes to prompt innovation in web commerce. Though, some critics have stated that the new extensions might only confuse consumers and force established online storefronts to spend millions on securing new versions of their brand web addresses.

    Either way, Google seeks to make the introduction of its new generic TLDs a good experience for web users and site owners. Google pledges to:

    – Make security and abuse prevention a high priority
    – Work with all ICANN-accredited registrars
    – Work with brand owners to develop sensible rights protection mechanisms that build upon ICANN’s requirements

    Google’s Vint Cerf, Chief Internet Evangelist, states, “We’re just beginning to explore this potential source of innovation on the web, and we are curious to see how these proposed new TLDs will fare in the existing TLD environment. By opening up more choices for Internet domain names, we hope people will find options for more diverse – and perhaps shorter – signposts in cyberspace.”

  • ICANN gTLDs Application Window Closes

    It was recently reported that The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers’ (ICANN) system for submitting applications for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) was finally set to be reopened on May 22, and COO Akram Atallah has announced the TLD application system has now closed, after over 1900 applications were submitted.

    For a bit of backstory, the ICANN application platform, called TLD application system (TAS), was taken down after a glitch was reported which allowed applicants to see each other’s user names and file names. ICANN set April 12th as the last day to submit applications before taking the system offline, after its board of directors approved an increase of the number of gTLDs from the current amount of 22 last June. ICANN, who moderates the address system of the internet, also began accepting non-traditional domain name endings this year, including ‘.sport,’ ‘,food,’ and ‘.bank,’ in hopes to prompt innovation in web commerce. Though, some critics have stated that the new extensions might only confuse consumers and force established online storefronts to spend millions on securing new versions of their brand web addresses.

    Akram points out that submitted applications and payments are still being processed, and final numbers and a list for applied-for domains will be published on a target date of June 13. Akram adds, “We thank all applicants and the ICANN community for their support throughout the application process.”

  • ICANN Finally Accepting gTLDs Applications Again

    It’s been a long and arduous road for ICANN since last month when their application system for new generic top-level domains went down due to a software glitch. The glitch allowed applicants to see each other’s usernames and file names. It was pretty bad, but things would return to normal at some point in the future.

    The future is now, or at least a future where people can start applying for gTLDs again. It was announced a few weeks ago that the application site would open again on May 22. Today is May 22 so you can start submitting applications once again. The new deadline has been set to May 30.

    The great thing about the new gTLDs system is that you can apply for a TLD that is in non-latin or non-English scripts. While we’ll still have the good old domains like .com or .org, there is a chance that we’ll see some awesome new domains like .もえ.

    ICANN fully expects that most of the applications were taken care of back in April when the application system was first taken down. The eight days between now and the final deadline are mostly for people who may not have finished the entire application process. You can still apply for a new domain though.

    In a statement on the ICANN Web site, they said that a review of the system logs have revealed two instances where a single file was not available to an applicant. That problem has been fixed and the applicant notified.

    You should get back to applying for a new TLD if you haven’t already. Of course, somebody might have already applied for the TLD that you want. PCWorld got their hands on the stats and found that there were over 2,000 applications in the system when it was taken offline. There were also 214 applications where ICANN had not received the application fee yet.

    If you have yet to apply for a TLD or were in the middle of finishing up the application, ICANN suggests that you review the TLD checklist. It’s a comprehensive checklist that goes over every detail including the $185,000 fee it takes to register a new TLD. Anybody want to foot the bill so that we can register .もえ as a top-level domain name? Either way, you can start the application process here.