'Net Features : top-level domains

Saudi Arabia Trying to Ban New gTLD Extensions

Michael Garrity — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 23:30:00 GMT

The war against porn is still being waged in The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the latest casualties are a slew of new generic top-level domains (gTLD) that have been applied for in recent months.

Claiming that they will “encourage pornography” Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 – among other complaints Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 – the Saudi government has officially objected to 163 new gTLD applications registered with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Some of the extensions that raised the ire of the Saudi Communication and Information Technology Commission are .virgin (applied for by Virgin Group) and .baby, which Johnson & Johnson applied for (among others), presumably to market their baby-oriented health care products.

Other gTLD strings that made the list were .hot, .sex, .porn (obviously), .sexy and even .dating, because who knows where that may lead.

Not every complaint was sex-related, however. The Saudi government took umbrage with any extensions that are related to alcohol or gambling on apparent moral and health-related grounds. This includes .wine, .bar, .vodka, .pub, .casino, .poker and many more. Religious extensions (.bible, .catholic, .islam, etc.) also caused consternation among Saudi officials, as well as the especially grievous .wtf, .sucks and .tattoo.

ICANN, for its part, foresaw objections and complaints being a major aspect of the new gTLD expansion process, and any comments received before September 26, concerning extensions that have been applied for, will be forwarded to independent evaluators. Most of the complaints are coming from major brands who feel that some gTLD applications fail to appropriately protect their trademarks.

Suggest a Top-Level Domain with Afilias Contest

Allison Howen — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 13:47:00 GMT

Get your creative juices flowing, because Aflias Limited has announced a contest that could make you the lucky creator of a new top-level domain.

The Internet registry services provider Aflias Limited, has announced the “Aflias Global Innovation Contest for New TLD Ideas” to generate ideas for new top-level domains. The contest is designed so that organizations will consider all the possibilities for new TLDs under the approaching ICANN New TLD program.

Aflias is looking for unique ideas from participants of this contest, whether it be a “dot brand,” “dot niche” or a “dot city” domain, the objective is to discover ideas for “right of the dot” domains that can’t be done with today’s existing domains like .com or .net.

“Technology visionary Alan Kay once remarked, ‘The best way to predict the future is to invent it,’ and that is what our contest is helping to do: invent the future,” says Roland LaPlante, CMO and Senior Vice President of Afilias. “We’re excited to see what powerful ideas people have for new TLDs. The right TLD can change the Internet — and the world — as we know it.”

Participants to the contest must be at least 18 years old and need to submit their idea in English via the official contest website by October 17th.

First prize participants will win $5,000, while second place wins $3,000 and third place wins $1,500.

More Domain Drama with 4As and .XXX

Michael Garrity — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 21:00:00 GMT

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' (ICANN) decision to approve the creation of generic top-level domain (TLD) names has been rife with controversy, but recent opposition from the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) and the adult entertainment industry has reignited the debate.

The first statement came from the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), a trade association of the adult entertainment industry, advocating adult trademark holders to attempt to protect their brands from being sold on .XXX domains to third parties. The concern of the group is that the expansion of the .XXX domain extension is going to blackball all sites using it on the Internet, and could ultimately hurt the image of the industry in the long-run.

These fears have been somewhat validated by the release of information that only about 20 percent of businesses registering for the .XXX domains are adult content-related, meaning most businesses are registering to keep their brands from becoming associated with a .XXX domain.

4As also recently announced that they are cooperating with other marketing and advertising groups to "strongly" oppose the proposed changes in Internet domain names. They are asking ICANN to reconsider its decision for fear that the new registration will disrupt the ideal of the online global marketplace by diminishing the trust of the consumers that the quality and history of a product or service will continue to be accurately reflected on the Internet, making it harder to make important marketplace choices and decisions.

The recent statements illustrate some of the major concerns that various industries have about the proposed changes to TLD registrations. There are many questions about the impact that these changes will have on brands, especially smaller ones that don't necessarily have the capital to procure secure and relevant domain name registrations.

How Will New Top-level Domains Affect Your Business?

Mike Phillips — Sat, 21 May 2011 12:35:00 GMT

New top-level domains (TLDs) are on the way. Soon, you might see .bank, .hotel and many others. What effect will this have on your business? Are these TLDs something you should even be concerned with?

To get some answers, we spoke with Armando Dacal, senior vice president with Melbourne IT; one of the original domain registrars on the 'Net. These new TLDs could present huge opportunities but they are also already causing some to have big concerns.

Listen now, and subcribe to Website Magazine Radio in iTunes!

LISTEN NOW! (Please visit the site to view this media)

Direct Download (right click and save)

If you would like to have your questions answered on Website Magazine Radio, please send email to mike@websitemagazine.com with "WM Radio" in the subject field.