All Change: application open for new gTLDs
90 days to apply
12 January 2012
Today ICANN opens the 90 day application window for organisations wishing to operate a new generic Top Level Domain registry.
The identity of applicants and the character strings they have applied for will not be revealed until three weeks after application closes. At the start of May 2012 we will know which character strings have been applied for and how many brand owners have invested $185,000 in application fees. Whilst it is clear that speculators hope to generate revenues from the sale of domains in registries that match the most popular key words such as .hotels or .music, and that communities, regions, and cities hope to heighten their profile, why are some brand owners applying?
The key reasons are to protect their intellectual property, to enhance secure communication and to invest in the internet real estate of the future. Once consumers realise that “If it does not end in ACME, it’s not ACME” and search engines prioritise sites under new gTLDs, dot Brand registries could yet become a valuable asset. Shorter domains exactly matching brands as they appear across global media offer organisations for which innovation is important many opportunities at a time when four out of every five mobiles sold are Smart Phones.
ICANN insiders predict that there will be 500 applications. We believe the number may be closer to 1,000 or even as high as 1,500. If ICANN’s processes were better, if they had paid more attention to the legitimate concerns of rights owners and Governments, demand might have been greater. Time and again over the five years the new gTLD programme has run, ICANN has sought consensus rather than the right solution, giving too much influence to those with vested self-interests. Where clarity of decision making was required, we got muddle. Where speed was of the essence, we got delay. Even now, confusion abounds: today, the very moment when the programme is launched, ICANN posted yet another version of the Applicant Guidebook, increasing demands on applicants. Yesterday ICANN closed a woefully inadequate 30 day Public Comment period on how to process financial support for applicants from emerging economies. It is hard not to agree with the American National Advertisers which in its regrettably overdue campaign to halt the process stated, “ICANN clearly has not adequately addressed, let alone answered, the many questions that remain with respect to its plans for further TLD expansion”.
Perfect may be the enemy of good but ICANN could have staffed up and the staff could have been better served by the Board and allowed to use their considerable expertise to create a better application process that reflected the concerns of internet users especially businesses. The need for more IP protections has been a theme since the start of the programme and there are obvious practical improvements ICANN should have made. For example, why not create three tailored application streams for Closed (including dot. Brand), Open (keyword) and Community applicants? Why not assess and then accredit back end Registry Service Providers? Why not allow applicants to beta test the on-line application system?
If you can see beyond these short-comings and are still thinking of applying perhaps because you can’t allow a third party with a competing right to seize a key term or a competitor to pull away, there is just enough time if you can satisfy five key demands of the application process in the next 90 days:
1. Can you identify a suitable vehicle to apply through, bearing in mind that background checks for criminal records or a history or cybersquatting will be undertaken on directors, shareholders and officers? Where should this vehicle be incorporated to give you maximum security and control?
2. Are you nimble enough to contract with a Registry Services Provider (a company that will supply “the engine” for your registry, standing up your character string in the root zone of the domain name system)? Your provider must supply the answers to the 20 scored technical questions which will be well-over 100 pages in length.
3. Can you find $5,000 to register in the on-line application system to be followed by the remaining $180,000 of the application fee, bearing in mind that ICANN won’t invoice you (though you can download a remittance advice afterwards)?
4. Can you identify the experts to assist you in creating an ICANN compliant application that features a summary of registry policies, an explanation of your Mission and Purpose, a description of how you will protect Geographic Terms? Do you have an in-house financial expert who can help to complete a three year Financial Plan for your registry using an inflexible template formatted by ICANN?
5. Who in your organisation will take responsibility for signing-off on the application, bearing in mind that what you say will form the basis of a 10 year registry operator’s contract with ICANN?
If application is not for you in the first round, what will be the impacts? On 1 May 2012, ICANN will be publishing details of applicants, the character strings applied for and the proposed purpose of each registry. At this point a seven month Objection Period will open and you can file Public Comments on any application. You will need to check if your IP has been infringed, what your competitors are doing and whether a speculator is seeking to monopolise a key term such as the generic word for your industry area. It won’t be until the very end of 2012 that the first new gTLDs go live but from January 2013, 10 new registries will be launching every week. The domain name system and patterns of brand protection are changing forever and now is the time to consider your budgets, policies and long-term priorities?
For further information on our new gTLD services contact info@comlaude.com
