What Precedes the Dot in Open TLD's?

As I mentioned in my post about that very odd ICANN decision to open up Top Level Domains (TLD's) to virtually any words, it seems like a rather odd move toward confusion and a blow to the concept of Intellectual Property rights.

The first thing to occur to me when I heard this idea mentioned a few weeks back was "What comes before the dot?" Often mentioned in this discussion is the fact that eBay is agitating to be one of the first corporations to buy a TLD - dot ebay. But WHAT.ebay and do they now become registrars or do they simply now have the ability to control the domain name and add virtually anything they like ahead of the dot?

I imagine they'll use the domain name to break out areas for product categories such as auto.ebay and cameras.ebay, etc. And/Or perhaps they'll sell those domains to sellers who have "stores" on ebay so they have a "brand" on ebay. But what of those who start brand squatting within those sites - say Apple.ebay or Canon.ebay etc. Hmmm - not just ebay, but everywhere they can get hold of a new second level domain or even subdomain - who will police this? Wipo?

Below is a quote from Matt Hooker on CircleID about the new domain TLD's.

... it will lead to absolute confusion, and people will not be able to remember one web site from another based on their names. People will not be able to differentiate one web site from another based on their names - and this is a disaster in the making, since we humans use names for everything. We use Language, and by allowing more gTLD's we are creating great confusion in the language of the internet.

This isn't just about confusion and IP protection, it's got to affect reputation management for even the little guy online. If someone else takes your domain name as a TLD - or even as a second level domain within that TLD - how to you maintain search rankings, which until now have been helped by using your brand or keywords in the domain name.

Is Google looking nervously at this development? That element of the algorithm where keywords or brands in domain names carry significant ranking weight is about to be discounted unless they stick with dot com as the default ranking element and manually adjust each new, open domain TLD for it's (subjective) authority - based on the owner of that new domain - the age and probably on inbound links.

Type-in traffic is about to go out the window with this development, cookies may become much more important to customer retention and search engine optimization may be negatively impacted by this potential dilution in domain name authority.

Dot Doh! New TLD's: I Think ICANN, Therefore, ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers (ICANN) has just thrown open the doors to a truly wild TLD concept at their meeting in Paris this week - in which anyone who can pony up a couple hundred grand or so, can make up their own domain extension. Below is the official ICANN announcement. Rather than quoting from it, I'll let you read and I'll reserve my commentary for follow-up posts.

Biggest Expansion to Internet in Forty Years Approved for Implementation

26 June 2008

Paris, France: The Board of ICANN today approved a recommendation that could see a whole range of new names introduced to the Internet's addressing system.

"The Board today accepted a recommendation from its global stakeholders that it is possible to implement many new names to the Internet, paving the way for an expansion of domain name choice and opportunity" said Dr Paul Twomey, President and CEO of ICANN.

A final version of the implementation plan must be approved by the ICANN Board before the new process is launched. It is intended that the final version will be published in early 2009.

"The potential here is huge. It represents a whole new way for people to express themselves on the Net," said Dr Twomey. "It's a massive increase in the 'real estate' of the Internet."

Presently, users have a limited range of 21 top level domains to choose from — names that we are all familiar with like .com, .org, .info.

This proposal allows applicants for new names to self-select their domain name so that choices are most appropriate for their customers or potentially the most marketable. It is expected that applicants will apply for targeted community strings such as (the existing) .travel for the travel industry and .cat for the Catalan community (as well as generic strings like .brandname or .yournamehere). There are already interested consortiums wanting to establish city-based top level domain, like .nyc (for New York City), .berlin and .paris.

"One of the most exciting prospect before us is that the expanding system is also being planned to support extensions in the languages of the world," said Peter Dengate Thrush, ICANN's Chairman. "This is going to be very important for the future of the Internet in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Russia." The present system only supports 37 Roman characters.

Upon approval of the implementation plan, it is planned that applications for new names will be available in the second quarter of 2009.

Frequently asked questions on the process

1. Are you selling these new names?

 ICANN is not "selling" new top level domain names. There will be a limited application period where any established entity from anywhere in the world can submit an application that will go through an evaluation process. It is anticipated that there will be additional rounds relatively soon after the close of the first application round.

2. What's to stop others registering my brand name?

Trademarks will not be automatically reserved. But there will be an objection-based mechanism for trademark owners where their arguments for protection will be considered.

3. How did this proposal get developed?

ICANN has a multi-stakeholder policy development process that served as the foundation for the process design. It involved consultation with domain name industry, trade mark attorneys, the business sector, users, governments and technicians.

4. How will offensive names be prevented?

Offensive names will be subject to an objection-based process based on public morality and order. This process will be conducted by an international arbitration body utilizing criteria drawing on provisions in a number of international treaties. ICANN will not be the decision maker on these objections.

5. When will all this happen?

ICANN is working towards accepting the first applications in the second quarter of 2009.

About ICANN:

ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet's system of unique identifiers like domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .uk) and the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols that help computers reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet's operation, so ICANN's global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet's ongoing security and stability. ICANN is an internationally organized, public benefit non-profit company. For more information please visit: www.icann.org.

Media Contacts:

Jason Keenan
Media Adviser, ICANN
Ph: +1 310 382 4004
E: jason.keenan@icann.org

International: Andrew Robertson
Edelman (London)
Ph: +44 7921 588 770
E: andrew.robertson@edelman.com

This file last modified 26-Jun-2008 (Current Version)

© 2008 Internet Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers

Dot .tel Top Level Domain Names December Sunrise

We started with web sites in their most simple form as online business cards with the requisite contact data, regardless of the domain name the information was hosted on - that was the beginning of web 1.0. We've come a long way since then, with ever more complex functions and levels of interactivity possible online, but still - domain names are more often a function of brand identity and business and personal touchpoints than single-purpose locations for ever more granular data assigned to separate domains.

We now have what appears at first glance to be a domain name intended as an internet business card with complete contact data served up publicly on a curiously non-hosted domain. This interesting animal is showing nothing but (extensive) contact data. It starts with the basic of phone numbers, emails, web sites, street addresses linked to maps, and including hyperlinked entry into all social networking pages. Kind of an expanded Whois which not only serves up contact data for the single representative of the domain owner, but any and all other contact data. This seems like a domain named equivalent of Plaxo.com.

This all appears to come with many layers of privacy protection so that you can offer only limited information publicly and more details to those you've "Friended" via an application process. But as always - one has to seriously question the levels of security and trust you are placing in the organization hosting this data on their servers. Hacker proof? Secure login and protected systems that cannot be accessed by anyone but the owner (that's you).

Still, it's an interesting prospect to have a single place to go for a globally accessible sort of phone book with granular access controls and privacy. It appears to allow instant editing from any web interface - so if you add a business location for your office in Los Angeles, it can be easily added to contact data for businesses. Email addresses and phone numbers can be added or edited at any time, assuming that secure login again.

The odd part of this concept is the idea of UNIQUE domain names. On the site, they show video tutorials which explain how businesses might reserve their corporate name as say, Apple.tel and list all of their worldwide offices, sales outlets and perhaps a staff directory of contact data and job titles. OK, that makes sense for those with registered trademarks and worldwide ownership of a corporate name.

What about individuals, which TelNic separates out to "Individuals" links and shows an example of an imaginary "Emma.tel" which of course belongs to a person named Emma - but what of the fact that there are several tens of thousands of Emma's who might (eventually) want that dot tel domain name? And forget it if your name happens to match a major corporation as they will undoubtedly qualify for ownership of surnamed companies, like oh - Ford.tel or McKesson.tel or similar instantly recognizable company names.

But when it comes to first names, we can't copyright and protect them - it's first come, first served. Celebrities - say Madonna.tel or ... you get the picture. Second to the table will no doubt choose FirstLast.tel names and then FirstMiddleLast.tel names, but that's about the limit and then we switch to .name hosted domains? Clearly pricing will determine how popular and competitive this space becomes. So far I haven't see pricing information on the TelNic.org site beyond this:

Prices for a .tel domain name will vary from registrar to registrar, but should remain comparable with the prices for other popular domain names

The .tel domain name itself brings images of "Telephone" and the registrar promotes it as viewable "on any platform" which also suggests phone accessibility, not to mention the demos on the site picturing several phone browsers, including the iPhone.

Ironically, here is how TelNic.org looks on an iPhone, courtesy of the iPhone Screen Shot App
But it seems to be more about a sort of directory and the TelNic Site says "Tell the World" as part of their promotion.

Below is the official press release which came out on Saturday.

PDF Version of Press TelNic Launch Announcement Press Release here.

PARIS, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Telnic Limited, the Registry Operator and Sponsoring Organization for the new sponsored top level domain (sTLD) .tel, today announced details for launch at the ICANN meeting in Paris. Sunrise applications from national trademark owners will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis as of Wednesday, 3rd December 2008.

.tel enables you to store, update and publish all your contact information, web links and keywords directly on the internet under your own unique domain name. Simple, fast and accessible from any device, .tel provides a new internet standard to take full control over how and where people reach you. The .tel delivers:

• integration of any and all means of communication (i.e. Phone numbers, IM, VOIP, email, social media)
• real-time publishing of your contact information on the internet
• full ownership of your published data
• protection of your private data, only viewable by people you authorize
• simple structured navigation to easily reach the most relevant information
• high speed global access optimized for mobile devices
• multi-language, search engine-friendly structured information and keywords

"Thanks to its rich functionality and open specifications, .tel will open up new opportunities for registrars, resellers and developers alike," explained Justin Hayward, Communications Director at Telnic. "We've been working hard over the past years to make sure that everything we're delivering to the industry will enable it to take advantage of this new ecosystem."

As well as announcing its launch, Telnic unveiled its new website -http://www.telnic.org - for people to find out more about .tel. The Telnic website hosts comprehensive videos, information, policies and procedures for registrars, resellers, developers and IP owners.

About Telnic Limited

Founded in 2000, Telnic Limited is the UK-based Registry Operator and Sponsoring Organization for the new .tel sponsored top level domain (sTLD). For more information regarding the .tel domain or Telnic Limited, please visit http://www.telnic.org.

.NYC Domain Names Coming? Petition & Fundraiser

From the New York Times Blog comes this story of a campaign to launch a .NYC domain name! While it sounds as though the organizers of the non-profit organization at ConnectingNYC.org want a city name TLD to host city government, educational, and public works types of domains - there are some mentions of other city name TLD's on the official NYC campaign Wiki as well.

.HK is mentioned as one example, although after last weeks report on .hk as the most dangerous of all ccTLD's (is this a country or a city?) tarnishes that as an example to aspire to. There is also mention of Paris and Berlin seeking city name TLD's on a site that documents other city names seeking domain name extensions.

There is another domain that LOOKS like a city name, but actually isn't ... Here is the Wikipedia account of the .LA name.

The LA Names Corporation, based in Guernsey, has gained the rights to market .la registrations, and they had used the registry services of Afilias and, formerly, the registrar services of DreamHost. However, DreamHost has discontinued registrar services as of May, 2006, and CentralNic now provides these services. CentralNic is based in the United Kingdom, while the .la domain is allocated to Laos, but the registrar site claims it to be the "official domain of the city of Los Angeles", a city that is known by the "L.A." initials. It is also often used as an unofficial domain for Liverpool, because Scousers used to call each other 'La'. As registrations are taken directly at the second level, and many English words end with -la, this presents an opportunity for domain hacks.

The New York Times Blog Post by Jennifer 8. Lee which discusses the .NYC domain campaign is funny and has more than a few one-liners going for it.

So last year, Icann announced a process in which groups could essentially propose their own dot-whatevers if they had both the financing and technical ability to handle the registration. Imagine: .radio to go along with .tv (which is actually the country domain for the country of Tuvalu), and .dog to go along with .cat (which is actually for Catalan), .con to go with .pro. (If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress? Joke.)

Separately, the blog post covers the organizer of the .NYC domain campaign,

The .nyc effort is led by Mr. Lowenhaupt, a 61-year-old civic-minded Jackson Heights resident. “The role of .nyc is to reconnect the city,” he said. Mr. Lowenhaupt was on Community Board 3 in Queens — which includes Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Corona — when the board passed a resolution in support of .nyc in 2001. “A year and a half ago, I decided that no one else as been really doing it,” he said. So he set aside his consulting work and has been more or less working full-time on the project since then. “I think it’s important to the city,” he said. He has enlisted a small group of volunteers and essentially goes around lobbying for support of the idea.

Hong Kong, King of Malware at Top Level Domain .hk

In it's yearly promotional press release touting their "SiteAdvisor" browser plug-in which warns users of spamming or malware infected domains, McAfee has announced that the ccTLD for Hong Kong - that is .hk - is the most dangerous to web surfers. Runner up is China's ccTLD of .cn as the second most dangerous to web surfers who find themselves on Chinese malware domains. I'll reproduce the press release in full below so you don't have to hunt all over the McAfee web site to find it like I did.

New McAfee Research Names Hong Kong as Most Dangerous Country Domain; Finland is Safest

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Hong Kong (.hk) domain has jumped 28 places as the most dangerous place to surf and search on the web according to a new McAfee, Inc. (NYSE: MFE) report called "Mapping the Mal Web Revisited" which is released today. Hong Kong takes the mantle from Tokelau, a tiny island of 1,500 inhabitants in the South Pacific.

"Just like the real world, the virtual threats and risks are constantly changing. As our research shows, Web sites that are safe today can be dangerous tomorrow. Surfing the Web based on conventional wisdom is not enough to avoid risk online," said Jeff Green, Senior Vice President of Product Development & Avert Labs.

The second annual McAfee "Mapping the Mal Web" report into the riskiest and safest places on the Web reveals that 19.2% of all Web sites ending in the ".hk" domain pose a security threat(1) to Web users. China (.cn) is second this year with over 11%. By contrast Finland (.fi) replaced Ireland (.is) as the safest online destination with 0.05%, followed by Japan (.jp).

The most risky generic domain from 2007's report became more dangerous with 11.8% of all sites ending in .info posing a security threat and is the third most dangerous domain overall while government websites (.gov) remained the safest generic domain. The most popular domain, .com, is the ninth riskiest overall. The full McAfee "Mapping the Mal Web Revisited" report is available for download at http://www.mcafee.com/advice

Using the award-winning McAfee® SiteAdvisor® technology, McAfee analyzed 9.9 million heavily trafficked Web sites found in 265 different country (those ending in country letters e.g. Brazil .br) and generic (those ending in .net or .info for example) domains.

The study compared the ratings of sites found in each of the 265 country and generic domains and ranked them by the number of risky Web sites found in each domain that contained adware, spyware, viruses, spam, excessive pop-ups, browser exploits or links to other red-rated sites. (2)

    The World's Most    Overall  Overall  The World's       Overall   Overall
    Dangerous Country   rank in  rank in  Safest Country    rank in   rank in
    Web Domains          2008     2007      Web Domain       2008      2007

    (ranked in order)                    (ranked in order) 
    Hong Kong (.hk)        1       28     Finland (.fi)       74        70
    PR of China (.cn)      2       11     Japan (.jp)         72        57
    Philippines (.ph)      4       19     Norway (.no)        71        68
    Romania (.ro)          5        4     Slovenia (.si)      70        62
    Russia (.ru)           8        7     Colombia (.co)      69        64

Among country domains Romania (.ro) and Russia (.ru) remained in the top five most dangerous places with 6.75% and 6% of their Web sites ranked as risky while country domains like Japan (.jp) and Australia (.au) remained safe surfing environments.

Other key findings from McAfee "Mapping the Mal Web Revisited" report 2008 include:

• The chance of downloading spyware, adware, viruses or other unwanted software from surfing the Web increased 41.5% over 2007
• Sites which offer downloads such as ringtones and screen savers that are also loaded with viruses, spyware and adware increased over the last year from 3.3% to 4.7%
• The Philippines (.ph) experienced a 270% increase in overall riskiness
• Tokelau (.tk) and Samoa (.ws) were notably safer in 2008 dropping to 28th and 12th
• In Europe, Spain (.es) experienced a 91% increase in overall risk

"For administrators of top-level domains this study should act as a wake-up call. Last year's report spurred Tokelau's domain manager to reexamine its policies," said Jeff Green, Senior Vice President of Product Development & Avert Labs. "Not all domain managers are as accommodating so our mission is to educate consumers of the dangers and protect them in every way they enjoy the Web whether through their PC, the Web itself, or mobile phone. With our new secure search and website safety certification, we're taking the guesswork out of searching and surfing online so that consumers enjoy a safer Web experience."

Note to editors:

• The domain risk assessments come from the McAfee SiteAdvisor site rating database. SiteAdvisor tests sites for the presence of risky behaviors such as browser exploits, adware/spyware/Trojans/viruses, high likelihood of receiving spam, affiliation with other risky sites, and aggressive pop-up marketing. Red site ratings are given to Web sites that exhibit one or more of these behaviors. Yellow site ratings are given to sites that merit caution before using
• Rankings are restricted to 74 heavily tested top level domains and based on percent of red and yellow sites

McAfee SiteAdvisor

McAfee SiteAdvisor tests and rates, on an ongoing basis, nearly every trafficked site on the Internet. Site Advisor site ratings are created by using patented advanced technology to conduct automated Web site tests. In addition, as part of the user community forum function, users can provide direct feedback to other users and to McAfee analysts regarding their personal experience about the sites they visit on the Internet. McAfee SiteAdvisor can be downloaded quickly and for free at http://www.siteadvisor.com  McAfee SiteAdvisor works with Internet Explorer and Firefox.

SiteAdvisor has received numerous honors, including: five-star reviews from CNET's download.com, Time Magazine's "50 Coolest Web Sites," Popular Science's "Best of What's New" and the U.S. Department of Commerce's "Recognition of Excellence in Innovation" honor.

About McAfee, Inc.

McAfee, Inc., headquartered in Santa Clara, California, is the world's largest dedicated security technology company. It delivers proactive and proven solutions and services that secure systems and networks around the world, allowing users to browse and shop the Web securely. With its unmatched security expertise and commitment to innovation, McAfee empowers home users, businesses, the public sector and service providers by enabling them to comply with regulations, protect data, prevent disruptions, identify vulnerabilities and continuously monitor and improve their security. http://www.mcafee.com

McAfee and/or other noted McAfee related products contained herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of McAfee, Inc., and/or its affiliates in the US and/or other countries. McAfee Red in connection with security is distinctive of McAfee brand products. Any other non-McAfee related products, registered and/or unregistered trademarks contained herein is only by reference and are the sole property of their respective owners. © 2008 McAfee, Inc. All rights reserved.

SOURCE McAfee, Inc.

Dot Me Domain Names: It's All About Me, Yu See?

In keeping with the focus on user generated content from social MEdia sites, it could be that this new domain name may actually get legs and walk away with a target audience currently using .name domains. The headline here leads to the wikipedia entry for .me. The dot me domain is actually a country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for Montenegro and in a twist that is almost too funny to be true ... well here is the Wikipedia explanation of how this came about:

This follows Montenegro's June 3, 2006 declaration of independence from Serbia and Montenegro, which used the code YU. The .me registry is operated by doMEn, which won a contract to do so after a bid process conducted by the government of Montenegro. In addition to declaring .me to be independent of .yu, a new .rs domain is to be deployed for Serbian use.

Wow! It's almost like the "Who's on First" sketch from Abbot and Costello and if you haven't seen that - here ya go!

Well now that we've had our fun. Let's learn a bit more about the sale of .me domains. It is currently not a live domain and is in what is known as the "Landrush" phase of sales in which you can put in your bid for $49 if nobody else bids for your .me domain until June 26, 2008, which followed the "Sunrise" period where trademark holders could buy domains first for $100 each.

On July 17, 2008 we reach the "GoLive" stage where anyone can purchase any unclaimed .me domain names. If you bid on a domain during "Landrush" and someone else bids on the domain you request, the bidders enter an auction in which the highest bidder pays that amount PLUS the $49 to take the .me domain you compete to win.

All that make sense? You wanna buy me? No not me, you, wanna buy dot me domain names? Back to Abbot & Costello. ;-)

Dot Org Domains Price Increase Announced by PIR.org

According to Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica, the Public Interest Registry has announced a .60 cent increase in wholesale prices for the dot org (.org) domain fee. This increase seems negligible to me and, like the cost of postage, seems entirely reasonable to increase. The fact that you can send written or printed communication across the country for less than half a dollar has always been fascinating to me - yet each time the cost goes up a few pennies, people wail about it. Each time a rate increase is announced for anything, people rail against the effect of prices increasing.

Guys, come on, it's sixty cents per year! Yes, it will cost domain squatters a bit more to renew their portfolio of profit-makers. Yes, it will cost true non-profits a few pennies for the domains they hold for true charity work - but just like postage - look at the value received. That name should represent the online identity of an organization. How much more is spent on signage, marketing collateral, branding and visibility for national organizations, press release distribution, PR and marketing, intellectual property protection and on and on. The cost of the domain is, by far and away, the least costly element of an online presence - even at twenty times current levels.

I've always recommended to clients that they consider extending their registration out to the maximum allowable 10 years in any case. Those who do that, including non-profits, not only decrease the likelihood that they'll forget to renew it or that their contact information will go stale and they'll lose it to forgetfulness or just plain negligence. Now I can add this additional reason - you are protected from price increases and lock in your identity for the silly low (wholesale) price of your $6.15 .org domain registration times ten.

And if you own any dot org domains, you still have until November 9th to renew them - you can have a fundraiser to cover that .60 cents. ;-) Just kidding around, but honestly, it's your online identity and worth the tiny cost.

Google Android Mobile Domains vs Squatters

Last November, a site called Android Community posted a dicsussion thread titled "Squatting on Android Domains - Are You Guilty?" and then listed that Google had moved a large collection of Android based domain names to point at Google DNS servers (though none resolve to a destination as of this evening). These domains are all based on the name for Google's mobile phone operating system and "Software Developers Kit" called - what else - Android.

The Android Community owner, an Android enthusiast and apparent iPhone fan and retailer of accessories, Vincent Nguyen, admitted to having reserved a bunch of Android names himself.

So in line with yesterdays post about Google-owned domain names related to Google products being protected by Markmonitor.com for Google. I took a look at the thirteen Android related domain names on the long list of those domains posted by Pingdom.com and discussed here yesterday, then did a bit of standard web searches to find the Android discussion forum post mentioned above in which Nguyen lists the 26 additional dot net and dot org domains reserved by Google and protected by MarkMonitor.com.

Currently this list of domains all fail to resolve to any server.

androidalliance.com androidalliance.net androidalliance.org androiddevice.com androiddevice.net androiddevice.org androiddevices.com androiddevices.net androiddevices.org androidfederation.com androidfederation.net androidfederation.org androidhandset.com androidhandset.net androidhandset.org androidhandsets.com androidhandsets.net androidhandsets.org androidmobile.com androidmobile.net

androidmobile.org androidphone.com androidphone.net androidphone.org androidphones.com androidphones.net androidphones.org androidplatform.com androidplatform.net androidplatform.org androidsdk.com androidsdk.net androidsdk.org androidsoftware.com androidsoftware.net androidsoftware.org androidtechnology.com androidtechnology.net androidtechnology.org

My question for Google and MarkMonitor is why these and not the literally thousands of others that will no doubt be reserved by typo-squatters, enthusiasts and haters of Google, the Android mobile phone operating system, and plain opportunists looking for a few advertising dollars or domain parking income.

What is that determines those domains worth protecting and those that go unprotected and eventually fall to creative and quick domainers? Is this based on Google or MarkMonitor algorithms that suggest the most commonly searched domains? What makes MarkMonitor protect over 125 dot come (probably 375 including the .org and .net tld) domain names related to the Google IPO and only 39 related to the Android SDK? There must be a formula based on the amount of the cost to fight squatters for ownership through their expensive IP and trademark attorneys or in some cases costly court battles.

Who

ICANN's New Generic Top Level Domain Names (gTLD)

A new round of top level domains (TLD's) is being considered by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) and they've posted a gTLD draft proposal evaluation flow chart (PDF) for "Discussion Purposes on the ICANN web site. The flow chart recommends a minimum of 18 steps to gain approval for a new gTLD as seen in the marked up version below:

OK, so new and existing registrars will be allowed to propose new gTLD's (new domain extensions such as .com, .net etc.) and submit them to an approval process which essentially breaks down into the following rules:

1. It should be good and not harmful/offensive
2. It should work for everyone politically and technically
3. Registrars should be able to perform and deliver flawlessly
4. Winning registrar pays the piper and gains approval

First here's the existing list of domain names, plus reference to the 258 two letter country name TLD's.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Wow! I want to jump in there and offer up a few ideas and proposals of my own. Nevermind that I can't deliver, can't win the auction to sell my proposed names and all that. Wouldn't it be cool if we could just have our first name as a domain? So I'd reserve valentine.mike - You know Valentine (Dot) Mike - hey! Why not? That would really be delivering domain NAMES!

One Million Dot Ca Domains: Canadian Milestone

One of the frustrations of ecommerce entrepreneurs who do business worldwide (especially those of us in the publishing and information business) is the inability to legally register top level domains (TLD's) in those countries we serve outside of our own.

There are search engine visibility advantages to canadian domains for canada.com searches, Google.ca searches and http://ca.yahoo.com/ searches. While those latter two send plenty of US speaking Canadian visitors to .com domains - the added value of a home-grown perception for Canadians in visiting and frequenting those domains in their own .ca TLD can bring significant benefits to a business.

Canada is one example where one must reside in the country or have a legitimate office there to qualify to reserve a dot .ca domain name under the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) rules. So until your business expands to have a physical presence in Canada, you must remain content to watch the celebration of a million dot ca domains as an outsider. What follows is the CIRA press release and announcement of the celebratory "One Million Domains dot CA site.

April 15, 2008

CANADA HITS ONE MILLION DOT-CA (.CA) INTERNET ADDRESSES

OTTAWA, Ontario, April 15, 2008 – The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) announced today that Canadian Internet users have registered one million dot-ca (.ca) Internet domain names. As one of the world’s most wired nations, Canadians continue to use the Internet for personal and business reasons in ever increasing numbers. Reaching the one million dot-ca domain name milestone demonstrates Canada’s strong Internet presence and the popularity of Canadian websites.

Brent Krause of Calgary, Alberta, registered the one-millionth dot-ca domain name, krauslaw.ca, and is using it for a website to promote his private law practice. “I’ve recommended dot-ca domains in the past and dot-ca was my first choice for my own legal practice,” says Krause who has over 10-years experience in intellectual property law.

The dot-ca domain name was established in 1987 by a group of volunteers at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and transferred to CIRA in 2000. In 1988 the first dot-ca domain name, upei.ca, was registered by the University of Prince Edward Island. Since then dot-ca domain name usage has grown at over 20% per year. This growth is remarkable considering that dot-ca domains are reserved exclusively for Canadians. “Dot-ca represents Canada on the Internet. A dot-ca domain name, website, or email address means you can be confident that you are dealing with a Canadian or Canadian business online,” says Byron Holland, President and CEO of CIRA.

Dot-ca now ranks as the seventeenth largest Internet domain name registry when compared to generic domain names like dot-com and country specific domain names like dot-uk (United Kingdom). “The registration of over one million dot-ca domains is a testament to the great work being done by CIRA. On behalf of the entire ICANN community, congratulations,” said Dr. Paul Twomey, President and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global organization that governs Internet domain names.

To thank Canadians for making a dot-ca their domain name of choice CIRA has launched a celebration website, www.onemilliondomains.ca to highlight dot-ca success stories. Dot-ca domain names are available through a network of over 140 Canadian domain name registrars who also provide a range of Internet solutions including website hosting, email service, and website design.

About CIRA
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) is the not-for-profit, member-driven organization that manages Canada's dot-ca (.ca) domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada's Internet community, and represents the dot-ca registry internationally. CIRA processes over 300 million requests per day to connect Internet users with over one million dot-ca Internet addresses.

For more information or to schedule an interview:

Melisa Durak-Buljubasic
Public Relations and Communications Specialist
Phone: 613-237-5335 (ext. 294)
Cell: 613.219.5328
melisa.db@cira.ca

Money.co.uk Nets $2.4 Million - £.com For Sale

Apparently the domain name Money.co.uk has sold for $2.4 Million in Britain. It's fitting that money is apparently quite expensive and we all know that the pound is richer than the US $ Dollar these days (even though the less classy Pizza.com was auctioned for $2.6 Million last weekend).

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From the company who bought the site on their own "About Us" page they state:

money.co.uk is owned and managed by Dot Zinc Limited. Our address is 16 Borough High Street, London. SE1 9QG. Dot Zinc Limited (reg. no. 4093922) is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority to conduct the regulated business of introducing mortgages and insurance products. Dot Zinc Limited is entered in the Financial Services Authority (FSA) register under number 415689. See FSA Register.

money.co.uk is a free, online comparison service allowing customers to compare a range of personal finance products and utilty services. Our objective is to present information in a simple format, enabling initial comparisons to be made 'at a glance' so that customers can make informed financial decisions.

In a related note, the British Pound symbol is now represented in a Domain Name of £.com and backed up by the name poundsymbol.com for those without the character on their keyboards. A press release was posted with the announcement today of a planned June 26th auction for the one character domain:

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For Over 400 Years the British Pound Symbol has Identified the UK's Unit of Currency, the Pound…

Now the pound's online home is for sale. On the afternoon of 26th June 2008, Great Britain's symbol-based "pound domain" will, along with associated property, be offered for sale at public auction.

London, England. April 14 2008 -- Moneyedge Limited wish to announce the sale of it's historic domain name, representing the British pound.

Arguably the pound's "home on the net", this is one of a handful of symbol-based domain names in the world. Richard Haigh, Director of Moneyedge, had this to say about his company's offering:

"This domain name has never been promoted commercially yet has many users curiously typing the name in to their browser on a daily basis. I would say that 99.99% of internet users still do not know that symbol-based domains like this exist. This is understandable, however, as they are extremely rare (only 16 in '.com') and until recently could not be promoted".

"The sale includes other intellectual property, including poundsymbol.com, which will allow our symbol domain to pass the 'radio test' and be promoted in every media. This IP portfolio will probably be acquired by a company looking to create a wholly unique financial services identity on the internet".

This unique web identity makes use of IDN (International Domain Name) technology and to access the domain directly visitors need to have a recent web browser like Internet Explorer 7 or Firefox 2 and be in one of the 18 countries that have the British pound symbol on their keyboards.

Further information on the sale may be obtained from our exclusive sales agent Ocean Tomo (www.oceantomo.com), the USA’s leading Intellectual Capital Merchant Banc ® firm.

About Moneyedge Limited

Established in 1999, we are a small UK company specialising in internet investments, particularly those with a strong marketing angle.

To Be or Not To Be: The Domain Question

In 2000, I wrote the following Domain Name soliloquy after a client debated for days on end about whether they should buy this or that domain name. I've never seen such reluctance and hesitation for so simple a business decision. No, it's not simple to choose a great domain name, but it is incredibly inexpensive and very easy to decide to spend seven bucks on a domain to hold it while you make the decision.

Ultimately that client lost his preferred domain name to someone with more decisiveness and I thought, "Wow, what an epic inner battle, over a simple purchase decision! - You'd think they'd die if they didn't make the right decision!" So I sat down and adapted the following Shakespearean soliloquy, spoken by Prince Hamlet while holding the skull of Yorick and ruminating on his own death.

adaptation by Mike Banks Valentine
with apologies to Shakespeare

To be, or not to be: that is Domain question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of slow, free hosting,
Or to take arms against a sea of wannabees,
And by opposing, end them. To search: to seek;
No more; and, by anonymity to say we end
The heartache of a million useless search results
That eBiz is heir to, 'tis a relevancy
Devoutly to be earn'd. To look; to seek;
To find? perchance to link! Ay, there's the URL;
For in search fatigue domain names may come,
When we've shuffl'd off this long URL,
Must give us pause. There's the address
That takes gigabytes for so long a name.
For who would bear the tilde and subdirectory,
The competitor's URL, the name so catchy
The pangs of taken domains, the listing delay,
The insolence of Yahoo, and the spurns
That patient merit of unworthy MySpace,
When he himself might his IPO make
Without Domain name? Who would Google bear,
To grunt through subdirectories and filenames,
But the dread of something after backslash,
The undiscovered Facebook pagefrom whose URL
No surfer returns, puzzles the will
And make us rather bear those URLs we have
Than buy the others that are already taken?
Thus creativity does make cowards of us all;
And thus rush'd to registration of a name
We worry o'er lowly cost of reserving,
And enterprises of great riches and power
With this regard our clients turn away,
And lose the name of action.com

Now when a client asks me about domain name decisions, I simply say, "Go buy them all and don't hesitate - even if they are owned by others seeking to profit from them. I can't bear another Hamlet performance!"