According to a press release today Top Level Domain Holdings Limited (AIM:TLDH.L) “will shortly be purchasing its first batch of twenty application slots for new gTLDs on behalf of itself and clients of Minds + Machines.”
“This first tranche will include slots for client applications for geographic-based gTLDs and generic words.”
“The Company expects to submit multiple batches for application slots during the application window.”
So to be clear here what the company is saying is they are sending ICANN in $100K to purchase 20 slots (at $5K per) which will then allow them to submit 20 applications at $180K per. I believe at TRAFFIC Peter Thrush said that Minds+Machines would be making application for 40-50 new gTLD strings at a cost of $10M just for the applications.
“Separately, the Directors are pleased to report that Minds + Machines has today been appointed as the registry services provider for DOT KIWI LIMITED, a New Zealand company that has publically stated it will apply for the “.kiwi” gTLD string.”
“A proportion of DOT KIWI’s domain revenue and profit will be donated to a trust established to help fund the reconstruction of the earthquake devastated city of Christchurch, New Zealand.”
It’s nice to see that .KIWI is planning on helping the community. This is what I see as the benefit to many of the proposed new gTLDs.
A $10M squat. If you type something ambiguous after the dot, this company wants to capture that traffic.
As for the example they give, it’s a classic PR stunt to obscure what they’re really after. And what portion are they donating? And how much revenue will that specific string really bring in? It’s a relatively small market.
All due respect, .kiwi could be done for free. Do you know what it costs to run some nameservers in a small sparsely populated country like New Zealand, to serve local users? Very little.
It’s the other strings, the other gtld applications that they should be telling us about.
This company’s business plan relies on the phenomenon of catching traffic based on consumer confusion. Just like .xxx, it is a protection racket.
The strings they seek to control will have multiple, and broad, meanings. And they will pose a threat to companies who have already paid for registrations in .com and who need to protect trademarks as an increase in strings escalates consumer confusion.
That is just how it works. No matter how you spin it.
Fair balance.