by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Second chance for businesses to claim names
With over 1.6 billion Internet users worldwide, and only 22 generic top-level domains (the two or more letters that come after the dot at the end of a domain name: .com, .net, .org, .gov), Web site naming rights can disappear faster than the click of a mouse.
Just as location is key in the real estate market, the right domain name on the Internet is key to getting proper advertising saturation through higher placement on search engines. Those people who may not be happy with their current domain name will have an opportunity to re-brand themselves this year. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) plans to open the application process for generic top-level domains(gTLD) in 2010 after it completes development of an application guidebook. The organization has carried out two previous application rounds for new gTLDs: 2000 ( in which .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name and .pro were added); and 2004 (.asia, .cat, .jobs, .mobi, .tel, .travel and .post). This round will be different.
In order to create .Jaguars, .Budweiser or .BankofAmerica — for example — businesses are required to submit a $185,000 evaluation fee with their application, and, if approved, the applicant is required to sign a Registry Agreement with ICANN. Under the agreement, there are two fees: a fixed fee of $6,250 per calendar quarter and a transaction fee of 0.20 USD on future domain registrations and renewals.
“The evaluation fee is our best guess at what it will cost to expand that arena,” said Brad White, director of media affairs for ICANN. “We are a fee-neutral organization, so we can’t make money. If we find that we are charging too much, will we go back to our board and adjust the fee. It is also a way to deter cyber squatters that buy up the names for resale.”
The evaluation process is projected to take several weeks to complete and for less distinctive names like .law, .food or .flowers will take longer to evaluate, said White.
ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers, or domain names.
In this role, ICANN is developing an application guidebook for the new process for acquiring gTLDs. This guidebook will be aimed at dispelling any confusion that applicants may be experiencing. The process will be much more intensive than logging onto a registry Web site and finding out if the name an applicant has chosen has been taken. By creating the name, the applicant becomes the registry, so, for example, instead of accessing GoDaddy.com for a domain name for a Web site, the applicant would become GoDaddy.com by creating the new gTLD. By becoming a registry, the applicant would be able to register applicants under its own gTLD. This is one of the reasons the new process is more intensive.
ICANN will require that applicants have the funding and equipment to operate under the new gTLD. Extensive research will be done during the evaluation process to ensure ownership of the domain name.
Not only the cost, but also the legality involved with ownership could cause businesses to not pursue the opportunity to create a new domain name, according to attorney Richard Vermut of Rogers Towers who practices in intellectual property.
“There are not a whole lot of rules when it comes to the Internet and because of the nature of domain names there really is no policing,” said Vermut. “Domain names are a business, and Registries operate to make money. They don’t want to be in the middle of people’s legal battles when they dispute ownership of a domain name.”
The Registry Agreement ICANN requires registrars to sign includes a “Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy,” which supplies a structure to resolve questions regarding domain name ownership. This policy requires domain name owner and complainant to participate in a mandatory administrative proceeding to prove ownership.
“The problem with the hearing is it is non-binding,” said Vermut. “If you don’t like the result you can go to court and start the whole process again, but the administrative proceeding is the more cost effective way to handle the matter.”
Disputes over domain name ownership have been a part of the process, but after consulting the global Internet community, ICANN plans to revamp the process with the new program launch in 2010.
“The decision to introduce new gTLDs followed a detailed and lengthy consultation process with all constituencies of the global Internet community represented by a wide variety of stakeholders: governments, individuals, civil society, business and intellectual property constituencies, and the technology community. Also contributing to this policy work were ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), and Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC). The policy was completed by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) in 2007, and adopted by ICANN’s Board in June, 2008. The program is expected to launch early in 2010,” according to the ICANN Web site, www.icann.org.
Internet suffixes over the years
Original gTLDs (predating ICANN)
.com .edu .gov .int .mil .net .org .arpa
Approved in 2000
.aero .biz .coop .info .museum .name .pro
Approved in 2005
.asia .cat .jobs .mobi .tel .travel
Recently approved
.post
Internet facts and figures
Usage
According to internetworldstats.com, as of Sept. 30, 2009 there were 1.73 billion Internet users in the world. The following shows the growth of the Internet per region of the world or continent from Dec. 31, 2000 until Sept. 30.
Domain names
Every Internet Web site requires a registered domain name. Over the years, the suffixes attached to those sites have grown from just .coms to many others. The following is the number of the most popular suffixes, according to domaintools.com. The second chart shows the number and type of suffixes that have been registered but are now deleted.
356-2466