Amazon is on a land grab mission. Is the industry going to sit back and let it call the shots over the .cloud domain? The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has many roles; coordination of Internet Protocol address space and the management of the Top-Level Domain (TLD) name space amongst them. If one application that falls within the latter remit gets the go ahead, ICANN might yet end up being best known as the organisation that sold the cloud to Amazon. source
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Brand gTLD Strategies: Evolution of TV and Internet Content Distribution
Most people access the majority of their television content from a cable box or satellite provider hooked up to their flat screens, but those days are likely numbered. With many savvy media, sports, and entertainment companies preparing for the upcoming expansion of the Internet and thousands of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) rolling out, there is a lucrative opportunity for gTLDs to become channels of distribution within the next few years. Comcast and Dish Network clearly see the proverbial writing on technology wall, with both making bold gTLD plays and…
Read MoreA New Track with New G’s
by Brad White ICANN, on March 13, 2013 I am writing these words on a train en route back home to Washington from New York City and I’m happy to report that the train is moving just a tad faster than development of the new gTLD program. Based on my calculations, it will take considerably less than seven years for me to arrive at DC’s Union Station. The great thing about a train trip is not speed, but the fact that it facilitates reflection. This one allowed me to contemplate…
Read MoreAfrican Union Cybersquatting a Continental Top Level Domain “.africa”
Africa has made the news once again, in the technology sector and as the most attractive continent in the world in terms of technology and business. It’s clearly the next emerging market with top tech and blue chip firms jostling to set up regional head quarters. In the technology frontier and especially the internet and domain related businesses, Africa is smack in the center of a simmering row between two organizations that are applying to get the go ahead from ICANN to set up and manage the African registry under…
Read MoreUS-Congress receives request from DotConnectAfrica for a new gTLD Ombudsman to investigate and report on the existing illegality and irregularities on .africa
The new ICANN gTLD process has received quite unlikely request from an applicant for .africa string DotConnectAfrica which is headquartered in Mauritius, but has a strong base of representation in Kenya, Addis Ababa, California and the United Kingdom. DotConnectAfrica has applied to set up the registry in the Kenyan capital should ICANN delegate it to the applicant. source
Read MoreDespite Pushback, ICANN on Track with TLDs
ICANN has been moving full-steam ahead under new CEO Fadi Cherhade, announcing that April 23rd will be the approval date for the first TLDs for delegation. Once recommended for delegation, an applicant must pass a technical test and sign a Registry agreement with ICANN, which takes between five to six months, before a registry launch—which can take up to a year after they have been approved for delegation. source
Read MoreICANN approves Internet domain expansion in 2013
Hundreds of Internet address suffixes to rival “.com” should be available for people and businesses to use by the end of the year, the head of an Internet oversight agency said Monday. The initial ones, expected in mid-2013, will likely be in Chinese and other languages besides English, said Fadi Chehade, CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. source
Read MoreBreaking: ICANN Publishes Contention Sets & Only Puts Four Non-Match gTLD’s Strings Together
ICANN just published it long awaited New gTLD String Similarity Contention Sets fand quite surprisingly just put four non-matching applications into two contention sets. ICANN placed the new gTLD application for: .Hoteis by Despegar Online SRL into the same contention set as the application by Booking.com for .Hotels ICANN however, did not include the 7 applications for .Hotel into the contention set for .Hotels. source
Read MoreDotConnectAfrica writes 4th letter to ICANN, calling ICANN Ombudsman’s conclusion “Convenient’ and ‘No Brainer’
DotConnectAfrica has taken a swipe at the delay of ICANN to check into the detailed issues of the conflict of interest, and has made apparent its impatience in the pace at which ICANN is dealing with its whistle blowing, in its 4th letter to ICANN dated January 31st, 2013 “However, we write to express our lack of dissatisfaction with the report of the Ombudsman to the extent that no recommendation was made by the Ombudsman regarding any future Conflict of Interests” and continued that “In our estimation, this remains a…
Read MoreICANN publishes the new gTLD contention sets identified by the string similarity review
ICANN has published the contention sets identified by the string similarity review for applications submitted as part of the new gTLD Program. The full list of contention sets are posted here: PDF [162 KB], CSV [65 KB] or from the Applicants’ Corner page on the new gTLD microsite. source
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