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DotFM going for DotRadio
Wednesday, April 29. 2009
BRS Media Inc. already runs the .FM TLD as a branded suffix aimed at radio lovers and operators. As a logical next step, it is now gearing up to request a .RADIO TLD from ICANN as part of the new gTLD program.
"The .RADIO gTLD will provide an unparalleled branding opportunity worldwide for the Radio, Broadcasting, Streaming, Multimedia, Music and Social Network communities," says BRS Media Inc.
The company has partnered with backend registry operator Minds&Machines for .RADIO. Minds&Machines CEO Anthony Van Couvering, who is also one of the people behind the .NYC initiative, considers BRS Media Inc. pioneers in the field of Internet radio. "Today their name is synonymous with Internet radio," he claims.
ICANN's new ad
Monday, April 27. 2009
In January, ICANN ran an ad highlighting its new gTLD program in the Economist magazine. Well they've just done it again!
On page 53 of this week's issue is a call from ICANN for potential evaluators to step forward. ICANN insiders and watchers already know of the call, which was also put out as a recent news release, but it's interesting to see ICANN reaching out through the Economist once again…
Governments want extra protection for geographic names
Sunday, April 26. 2009
ICANN's next CEO job offer
Sunday, April 26. 2009
Yes, some people actually want new TLDs!
Monday, April 20. 2009
Country code operators tell ICANN: we don't want geographic gTLDs!
Sunday, April 12. 2009
In a statement posted on ICANN's new gTLD program comment page by the ccNSO, ICANN's policy setting body for country code Top Level Domains requests that geographic names not be launched as gTLDs.
While acknowledging the vast amount of work ICANN staff has put into the second draft applicant guidebook, the ccNSO says "We still don’t see that the principle set forward by ccNSO Council (…)This principle states that all country names and territory names are ccTLDs – not gTLDs."
The ccNSO argues that geographic gTLDs would blur the existing difference between country code and generic domains so much that the two TLD classes could even disappear.
Changes are suggested for the next version of the draft guidebook which would state that country and territory names could not be requested as gTLDs, but that other types of geographic names such as city names (which fall outside the purview of the ccNSO Council principals), could be.
Click here to see the full ccNSO comments.
Olympic Committee's strong arm tactics on new gTLDs
Friday, April 10. 2009
In a threatening letter posted as a comment on ICANN's Draft Applicant Guidebook V2 comment page, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) says that "it reserves its right to take action against ICANN for damages resulting to the IOC or the Olympic Movement from the implementation of the gTLD proposal."
In its letter, the IOC is basically requesting special status from ICANN, arguing that its trademarks deserve it due to their "unique nature".
I don't follow. Surely any trademark holder has a unique intellectual property right. Why should the IOC get special treatment? The answer is obvious. They have the means and the power to threaten ICANN – and the innovation that the new gTLD program represents for the Internet – in a way that others do not.
ICANN's current comment period closes on April 13.
.NL confirms plans to open up to non-Dutch registrants
Thursday, April 9. 2009
In January, I gave kudos to the Dutch registry SIDN for coming up with a clever solution to open up .NL to registrants that don't have an address in Holland.
Yesterday, the DomainesInfo editorial team got confirmation from SIDN that the plan is going ahead.
The idea is for SIDN to provide a local address directly for those would-be .NL owners who do not have a local presence.
The innovation is that, by opting to be the "mail box" themselves when its needed, SIDN have found a way to kill two birds with one stone.
On the one hand, they do not have to resort to changing the .NL registration rules, something which the local registrar community is opposed to.
But at the same time, they reach their stated objective to give .NL a wider footprint and a greater presence on the worldwide Internet.
According to DomainesInfo's stats, .NL is already the world's 4th largest ccTLD with more than 3.2 million registrations. Thanks to this new development, maybe it will soon be able to challenge #3 (.UK with 7.2 million), #2 (.DE with 12.4 million) or the new #1 (.CN with 13.3 million).
