According to a press release just issued by Top Level Domain Holdings (TLDH) "a turning point has been reached for the timetable for the implementation of the new generic top level domain ("gTLD") program." and they expect that certain new registries "are likely to be revenue producing in 2013." "The first contracts or delegations are expected to be concluded following the next ICANN meeting in … [Read more...]
Registrars Come Out Against Additional Rights Protections Policy Changes For New gTLD’s
In a letter sent by the Registrar Stakeholder Group to ICANN, today, the group has come out against making any additional changes to the Rights Protection Mechanisms (RPM) for trademark holders in the new gTLD's. The letter was sent by the Chair of the Registrar Stakeholder Group Matt Serlin who wrote in part: ""We also understand various parties are advocating for the inclusion of … [Read more...]
The Future Of Geo Domains: Chicago.com Makes $125K In 1st Year Of Selling SubDomains & Email Addresses
I had a chance to sit down with Josh Metnick who owns Chicago.com and started selling subdomains & email addresses ending in Chicago.com. In the first year, sales of subdomains and vanity email addresses using Chicago.com generated some $125,000 in revenue with virtually no marketing. Josh shared the numbers with TheDomains.com exclusively: ""Chicago.com is going well -- our first … [Read more...]
GNSO IP Constituency Sends Letter To ICANN WIth Changes Of Right Protections For New gTLD’s
ICANN just posted a letter sent from the President of the GNSO Intellectual Property Constituency to ICANN of it's "Consensus Position of Business Constituency and Intellectual Property Constituency" for changes for the new gTLD program Extend Sunrise Launch Period from 30 to 60 days with a standardized process. Extend the TMCH and Claims Notices for an indefinite period; ensure … [Read more...]
ICANN On New gTLD’s: “No Contracts Will be Executed or Delegations Made Before the Beijing Meeting”
At the ICANN Meeting today Kurt Pritz who is in charge of the new gTLD program laid out a timeline for the new gTLD program. "In December, we're going to hold this prioritization drawing. This drawing will prioritize the applications, meaning it will be the order in which applications are released and then processed through the rest of the evaluation. So the ability to choose the form … [Read more...]
ICANN To Hold Lottery To Get New gTLD’s To Market Sooner: Draw To Occur December 4-15; Objection Period Extended To March 13th
If you have been following the new gTLD process then you know that ICANN has been trying to figure out a "fair" way to determine which new gTLD applications would be processed and how new gTLD's would be delegated. We noted back in August that ICANN which couldn't define a method for the order in which it would process the applications, they would have the same problem when figuring out how to … [Read more...]
Al Jazeera TV Covers Donuts & Its New gTLD Applications
Donuts new gTLD applications and its relationship (or lack therefor) to Demand Media, Inc, has made it all the way to the Middle East as the news network AlJazeera just covered the company. The video of the AlJazeera report by Tarek Bazley is on YouTube.com The video includes a interview and a Akram Atallah appears as the representative for ICANN, Richard Tindal appears for Donuts and … [Read more...]