According to a report, celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck is heading to the ICANN meeting in Sydney to support his efforts to launch new gTLD's and has several new extensions on his menu. According to the report, he is a definite go with .Food and looking at .Wine and .Restaurant. Having someone of Mr. Pucks statue and reputation behind any of these brand couldn't hurt, but you have to wonder if … [Read more...]
.XXX Extension Heading To Arbitration To Beat The New gTLD Clock
ICM Registry’s top-level domain .XXX proposal is going to arbitration in Washington in late September. ICM Registry is asking for a three-judge panel to rule in favor of its application to serve as .XXX registry operator" because it met criteria set forth in a December 2003 request for proposal". ICM Registry claims in more than a 1,000 pages of documents that ICANN acted inconsistently with … [Read more...]
.NYC Is A Hot Commodity
Most of our stories about the new gTLD's are negative, as we think the releasing of hundreds or thousands of extensions are trouble for the net. However, there are definitely some of the new proposed extensions for which there is a lot of interest. For the proposed .nyc extension there appears to be lots of competition, with at least 6 groups going after the extension. The groups range … [Read more...]
Congress Finally Calls ICANN Out On It’s Finances
Florida Republican Cliff Stearns (a fellow Gator) called ICANN out on its finances , noting that the last balance sheet the nonprofit group showed a $7 million surplus. "You should take that $7 million and make sure that cyber-squatters are gone," he said. "I think your job should be not just developing a surplus but actually implementing, making it cheaper for consumers, and actually doing … [Read more...]
Verizon Testifies To Congress Against the New gTLD’s
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Verizon, testified in front of the House Energy and Commerce Internet Subcommitteepanel, which is holding hearings on ICANN, that new gTLD's shouldn't be allowed unless there is a proven market demand for the names and the Internet is secure and stable. ICANN President Paul Twomey said in his testimony in front of the same committee, "There is a … [Read more...]
The ICA’s Take On The Uniform Rapid Suspension & What’s it’s Going To Do About It
The Internet Commerce Association (the ICA) has just released its statement regarding the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) proposal of the trademark group making up the IRT committee of ICANN. Yesterday we published a post, discussing the IRT committee and their proposals to increase protection for trademark holders in the domain world and make effect that would have on all domain holders, the … [Read more...]
ICANN GuideBook 2.0 Comment Report: Still No Price Caps
In the almost 300 page report of the comments received on the new gTLD guidebook version 2, the issue of most concern to domain holders, is still on the table. Despite many comments, including ours, calling for ICANN to place price caps on registries for the new gTLD's for registrations and renewals, ICANN choice to keep them out. At issue, what's good for the goose is good for the … [Read more...]