During the regional ICANN meeting in Amsterdam earlier this year there was a "side meeting" held by several companies in the domain name industry. The objective? To work on some form of strategy for marketing and education around the domain name industry and domains in general. The meeting was organised by Google's new TLD team, but there was a broad cross-section of both … [Read more...] about New Domain Association Site Launched
Generic top-level domain
Registrar Negotiating Team Issues Statement On RAA
Last night ICANN published a version of the RAA and related documents for public comment. While the Registrar Stakeholder Group's negotiating team (RrSG NT) have been in talks on and off with ICANN staff for the last 18 months the publication of the documents at this time is felt to be premature by the RrSG NT. Here's the official statement: Registrar Stakeholder Group … [Read more...] about Registrar Negotiating Team Issues Statement On RAA
Google Bows To Pressure On Closed Generics
The debate surrounding "closed generics", which we've covered several times in the past, has attracted a lot of attention in recent weeks. At the centre of the debate were a number of new TLD applications from large companies including Google, Amazon and others. Google had stated that they planned to establish a number of domain extensions and operate them as "walled … [Read more...] about Google Bows To Pressure On Closed Generics
ICANN Terminates Two More Registrars
In the last couple of days ICANN has terminated two more registrars for breaching their contracts - CI Host (PDF) and Power Brand Center (PDF). CI Host seems to have vanished. Their listed website no longer works and the contact details that ICANN had for them are no longer valid - the offices are now occupied by another company! Using archive.org I was able to grab a … [Read more...] about ICANN Terminates Two More Registrars
5 Reasons Why Closed Generic New gTLDs Should Be Opposed
I'm on the record multiple times over the last few months for my opinions on "closed generics". I first posted about it here back in June of last year: Big Brands Trying To Corner Generic Namespaces? Since then I've sent several letters to ICANN (supported by many others) and have been quoted and referenced in several articles on the subject including Politico.com: … [Read more...] about 5 Reasons Why Closed Generic New gTLDs Should Be Opposed
Going To ICANN 47 Durban? Check The Hotel Restrictions!
ICANN's first public meeting of 2013 will be held in Beijing in April, but they've opened registration for the subsequent one in Durban, South Africa in July. The July meeting - ICANN 47 - will be held in Durban International Convention Centre with hotel accommodation available in the surrounding area. However attendees need to be careful when booking as the cancellation … [Read more...] about Going To ICANN 47 Durban? Check The Hotel Restrictions!
ALAC To Submit Objection Against .health
ICANN's ALAC plans to submit an objection against .health Why? Their rationale is as follows: Objection statements on community grounds will be drafted for the applications for .health given that the four tests for community objection grounds were passed. ALAC were also examining a few other strings including: .nyc .patagonia .amazon However they did not feel … [Read more...] about ALAC To Submit Objection Against .health
ICANN Sets Firm Launch Date For New TLDs
ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé has announced a firm date for new TLD launch. In a video interview, with Brad White, Fadi Chehadé put April 23rd as a date when the first new TLD could be delegated. He admits, however, that the date may "slip", though this time the "slippage" should be days or weeks and not months. You can watch the full video interview below: Kevin … [Read more...] about ICANN Sets Firm Launch Date For New TLDs
Nominet Appoints Chief Commercial Officer
Nominet, the .uk domain name registry, has announced the appointment of Jill Finney as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). From their announcement: The CCO role has been newly created as we aim to build on our strengths as an internationally-respected registry and respond to the challenges of a liberalised domain name market. As part of her role, Jill will manage Nominet's … [Read more...] about Nominet Appoints Chief Commercial Officer
ICANN Terminates Lime Labs, DomainMonger & DomainsToBeSeen
ICANN's compliance team has been busy of late. Earlier today they followed through on 3 previous breach notices and terminated 3 registrars: Lime Labs LLC Central Registrar Inc DBA DomainMonger.com R. Lee Chambers Company LLC d/b/a DomainsToBeSeen.com All three registrars appear to have failed to comply with their contractual obligations or to satisfy ICANN that … [Read more...] about ICANN Terminates Lime Labs, DomainMonger & DomainsToBeSeen