Ken Hittel, Vice President of the Corporate Internet Department at New York Life Insurance Company (a member of CADNA), recently sent me an article written by Todd Silverhart, Corporate Vice President and Director at LIMRA (Life Insurance and Market Research Association, a worldwide association of insurance and financial services companies.) Silverhart writes a column on technology developments in the financial services industry for LIMRA’s MarketFacts, a quarterly publication. Recently, he shifted his focus slightly and addressed the topic of the expansion of global Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) and its effect on brands.
 
The shift in the subject of the column was prompted by a meeting of LIMRA’s E-Business Study Group where a participant mentioned ICANN’s plan to extend the TLD space.  According to Silverhart, the majority of study group members had heard nothing about the plan prior to the meeting.  He found this lack of awareness surprising, given the potentially dramatic impact the change will have on how companies manage their Web sites and overall Internet strategy.  Silverhart goes on to outline the costs companies will incur in defensively registering key domain names in new gTLDs and brings up the controversial question of who will get to control the gTLD for entire industries like .LIFEINSURANCE or .ANNUITIES.  He also mentions the consumer behavior aspect of new gTLDs, and whether Internet users will actually use extensions other than existing ones like .COM. It’s a solid analysis with some great points; I recommend that you check it out.
 
At the end of the column appears a note from the editor that mentions CADNA as a useful resource for those interested in taking action regarding new gTLDs.  CADNA has done a great deal in addressing the issue of new gTLDs, including engaging repeatedly with ICANN, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Congress, and foreign governments to educate them on the risks associated with the expansion, and it was great to see CADNA’s leadership recognized.