I posted this on a private domain board today, but I thought I should make a short post about it on my blog, too. Since ICANN has decided to open up the TLD space, I’ve been asking myself this question:
If a company (e.g. Nike) is offered Shoes.com and .SHOES, which will it choose?
It is the answer to that question that could determine the aftermarket value of generic .com domains in the future.
I’ve always been a user and supporter of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. In fact, I’ve thought that it is a good product (I still do so). But after installing the latest version of Mozilla FireFox on my computer yesterday, all I can say is this:
FireFox 3 is just better. I think that it is the best browser currently available.
It is much faster than version 2, at least that’s been my impression. It also offers an improved intelligent address bar that makes navigating to visited websites faster. On top of that, you can still upgrade FireFox by installing useful add-ons and plug-ins.
After all, I can recommend FireFox 3 to anybody who enjoys surfing on the web. But I also have a question for those long-time FireFox users of you:
Which are good add-ons or plug-ins you’re using and that you can recommend? Currently, I have the following add-ons installed:
Looking forward to your recommendations! 
Widely reported by now, some different opinions expressed. On its Paris meeting this week, ICANN has announced that it is considering to allow individuals and companies to create their own top-level domains.
Lots of companies, organizations and cities have applied for their own extensions in the past years, including Berlin (.berlin) and New York City (.nyc). Not one of these TLDs has been accepted yet, but ICANN might be changing its mind very soon.
If the ICANN board votes in favor of an open domain system, we will see hundreds if not thousands of new TLDs being created. Especially corporate users will love having their company name as a domain extension.
For example, eBay could use .eBay to promote its various auction categories: Movies.eBay, Coins.eBay, Sports.eBay, Cameras.eBay and so on. It would also be possible to create generic TLDs like .auto and .money. These gTLDs would probably be highly coveted… who knows whether ICANN is be going to auction these off to the highest bidders in order to raise even more cash. Another possibility is the creation of geographic extensions, as mentioned above. The cities could then make money by selling domains to end users or by creating business directories: Lawyers.NYC, Doctor.NYC, CarDealer.NYC, Money.NYC, Stocks.NYC, News.NYC, etc.
You see, there will be lots of opportunities if ICANN decides to give this a green light in the end. But what would this mean for today’s domain industry? First of all, registrants who are going to register a domain under .com that isn’t available anymore will decide to switch to another TLD and they might then choose one those that have been newly created. It is likely that they will have plenty of possibilities to choose from, because I expect a run for generic and geographic top-level domains. This means there will be more substitutes for .com.
Now, I’m not sure what to think of this myself. It could be that new TLDs will strengthen DotCom, as has been the case in the past, but an open domain system could also increase people’s awareness of other TLDs and therefore cause quite the contrary: a decrease in demand for .com domains.
On the other hand, it is also very well possible that traffic to .com domains will go up, when people looking for Cars.NewExtension, for instance, type in Cars.com. Another possibility would be that people will respond negatively to an overwhelmingly large number of TLDs and opt for good old .com, which in turn would have a positive influence on the value of DotCom domains again.
Well, nothing has been decided, yet, so speculating won’t help. But it has been reported that ICANN is going to make a decision this year, which means that we could have an open TLD system as early as 2009. I have read that the price for your own TLD is expected to be in the range between €25,000 and €250,000, so it would be mostly companies and well-funded individuals getting their own extensions. But by acting as a registry and selling domains under their TLDs to others, all this could result in hundreds of thousands of additional domain names being registered within the next few years. Where this will leave us remains to be seen.
Someone must have been telling lies about Josef K., he knew he had done nothing wrong but, one morning, he was arrested. – The Trial, Franz Kafka
George Kirikos has always done an excellent job spotting potential dangers for the domain community. Now he has found a new request by Afilias for a registry service relating to the “abusive” use of .info domain names. DotInfo has been a popular top-level domain with spammers, because the .info annual registration fee has usually been lower than the renewal fee of other TLDs.
Although the policy request has been made with good intentions, it might also embody a danger for upright domain registrants, as George points out:
… While most folks (including myself) probably care very little about the .info TLD, my concern is that any bad implementation in .info might be copied or used as a precedent in other more important TLDs, in particular .com run by VeriSign.
In particular:
Pursuant to Section 3.6.5 of the RRA, Afilias reserves the right to deny, cancel or transfer any registration or transaction, or place any domain name(s) on registry lock, hold or similar status, that it deems necessary, in its discretion;…
I would be against giving VeriSign (if the model was copied to .com) that discretionary power over my company’s domains, especially the “right to cancel.” What exactly is “illegal”? In China, I’m sure there are many things that are illegal that are perfectly legal in Canada, the USA or the EU. …
This is, in fact, a very dangerous clause, because it would give the registry the uncontrolled right to take domains away from their owners. If the policy is accepted by ICANN, it will dramatically curtail the rights of domain holders. The domain registries already have too much power and a monopoly that allows them to virtually set prices as they wish, but the policy proposed by Afilias would only make things worse, and it would make investing in the domain industry a very risky undertaking many outside investors would shrink away from.
Click here to find out how to submit public comments on this issue to ICANN.
(via CircleID)
Frankfurt-based domain registry Denic does not allow the registration of two-letter .de domain names. But German carmaker Volkswagen has always wanted to own VW.de, because the company is widely known under this acronym and thus wants to protect its brand on the Internet.
That’s why Volkswagen has recently sued Denic for the domain. The Frankfurt court now entitled Volkswagen to VW.de and said Denic would have to make the domain name available to the carmaker.
There are only few exceptions to the blocking of two-letter .de domains, namely ix.de, hq.de and Deutsche Bahn’s DB.de. All of these domains were registered many years ago when the Internet was still in its infancy.
The Frankfurt court has made a decision in favor of Volkswagen, because Denic’s not-for-registration rule would discrimate Volkswagen and its well-known brand name. Denic has appealed against the judgement, but the appeal was rejected. Against this rejection Denic has filed another complaint, so the court ruling isn’t effective yet. But as it looks the ruling will not be revoked, which means that Volkswagen will most likely be the owner of VW.de very soon.
Although the court decision does not force Denic to make two-letter domains available for registration in general, it is possible that other companies will now sue Denic for their company acronyms, too. Will it only be a question of time until two-letter .de domains will be made publicly available? Just as two-letter or one-letter .com domains, they’re very rare and highly valuable. Denic’s take on this subject seems to be clear, but I think the German registry provider could also be going to auction the remaining two-letter domains off in the future. We will see.
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