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PRINTRegistrars
When a gTLD isn't a gTLD
Mon, 01/23/2012 - 11:28 — Josh Bourne — PermalinkFor brand owners, the launch of a new generic top-level domain (gTLD) brings with it a now all-too familiar nuisance: the Sunrise period. Sunrise periods are a necessary evil for businesses: on the one hand, they provide businesses with the opportunity to protect their brand in newly launched extensions, but on the other hand, they require businesses to monitor for announcements, navigate through the steps of registering their trademarks, and pay the associated fees. For companies that hold multiple trademarks, this can be an expensive and time-consuming process. However, as the number of gTLDs is poised to expand significantly, participating in Sunrise periods will remain an important aspect of businesses’ online brand protection strategies.
Unfortunately, there is a lack of clarity among many businesses about when participating in a Sunrise period is a smart defensive move. Some registrars appear willing to take advantage of this confusion, and the “better safe than sorry” attitude that often accompanies it, with vague marketing practices. Take, for example, the so-called "Sunrise period" for the .JP.NET extension that opened on January 16. Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: .JP.NET is not a top-level domain. Rather, the registry services provider CentralNic has registered "JP" as a second-level domain in the .NET domain space. Businesses that register their trademarks in .JP.NET are actually purchasing a third-level domain on the JP.net second-level domain.
CentralNic argues rightly that the third-level registrations in the JP.net domain open up opportunities for businesses that were unable to obtain their desired domain name in the .NET gTLD or Japan's .JP country-code TLD (ccTLD). What is unsettling, however, is that .JP.NET is being marketed by registrars as the debut of another top-level domain with no reference to the fact that .JP.NET is not, in fact, a top-level domain. Rather, the .JP.NET rollout seems designed to mirror the recent, high profile launch of the .XXX gTLD with a four-phase registration process that includes Sunrise and Landrush periods along with a promotional period for .JP and .NET owners to register matching .JP.NET domains before General Availability begins. This strategy seems aimed at inciting brand owner confusion and anxiety, and, of course, drumming up sales.
The bottom line is that registrants should be told, up front, what they are actually getting by registering a .JP.NET domain. Without such an explanation, however, the burden falls upon brand owners to be informed and strategic with regard to domain name registrations. As countries increasingly open up ccTLDs to general registrations (Columbia's .CO and Montenegro's .ME are two of the most recent examples), and with the first extensions from ICANN's New gTLD Program predicted to go live in early 2013, the number of Sunrise periods is only going to increase as time goes on. Staying aware and informed will be the key to making smart decisions.
Network Solutions Joins Register.com after Acquisition by Web.com
Mon, 08/08/2011 - 09:19 — Josh Bourne — PermalinkAs reported by Forbes and other outlets, Web.com will be acquiring domain name registrar Network Solutions for $405 million in cash, plus 18 million shares of common stock, valued at around $155 million.
This acquisition should help Web.com, parent company of Register.com, compete with GoDaddy, which was acquired by a group of private equity firms led by KKR & Co. and Silver Lake Partners last year in a deal worth $2.25 billion. Network Solutions is majority-owned by General Atlantic, another private equity firm, and after the acquisition, General Atlantic and other Network Solutions shareholders will own 37 percent of Web.com.
Network Solutions will bring its two million retail customers, hundreds of thousands of wholesale customers and over six million domains to Web.com. Register.com and Network Solutions are two of the oldest and highest priced registrars in existence.
This development, along with Go Daddy's acquisition, could signal a trend of consolidation in the domain name industry in anticipation of the potential explosion of activity in the domain name space as a result of ICANN's June 20 approval of the New gTLD Program.
Treating the Disease, Not the Symptoms
Thu, 09/17/2009 - 14:45 — Phil Lodico — PermalinkNetwork World recently ran an article about how “cyber-criminals are plundering domain-name registrars around the world” while registrars such as Go Daddy fight a round-the-clock battle to fend them off.
Cybersquatting is rampant in the domain name space, and the truth is that even if all registrars were conscientious about pursuing infringers, the fight against cybersquatting would still be a never-ending battle. To make things worse, there are registrars out there that do in fact ignore the domain name abuse that is occurring and some even collude with cybersquatters to get a cut of the deal. While these bad-actor registrars certainly enable or cause abuse in the domain name space, ultimately it’s the structure and regulation of the domain name space that is at fault—if the proper transparency, accountability and safeguards were in place, we would not be in quite the mess we’re in now.
The article touches on this fact—that domain name abuse exists as a result of the structure of the domain name space. ScanSafe researcher Mary Landesman points out that while the domain name system was not intentionally designed to allow for domain name abuse, its structure provides loopholes and opportunities for cybersquatters. She also rightly points out that effective reform is needed; although while she claims that reforming the domain name registration process “would strike at the heart of Internet crime,” the system needs to be reformed at a much more fundamental level. That fundamental level is ICANN. As the regulatory body of the Internet, ICANN needs to be reformed in such a way that makes the organization better able to respond to issues of safety and stability within the domain name space and less beholden to contracted parties that focus on policies that will help them generate revenue from domains.
Getting Graphic
Fri, 04/17/2009 - 15:30 — Josh Bourne — PermalinkFrom conversations that I’ve had, the following description of the ICANN supply chain tends to set off some light bulbs and pique interest:
If you look at this chain and then remember that the GNSO (a major policy development entity in ICANN) was recently restructured to favor the wholesalers and retailers, the conflict of interest within ICANN becomes clear.
It may seem counterintuitive to think of brand owners being taken advantage of; after all, it’s not often that the brand owner is the little guy. But the reality is that brand owners (and all end users that register domain names) are consumers in a system where the wholesalers and retailers control the governing body that regulates the merchandise.
It always strikes me as strange that ICANN tries to position itself as representing the global community—it doesn’t. ICANN started as an experiment for a governing body that turned into a business. Now it’s a business that consistently pursues policies to promote its own interests. I think that members of the Internet community need to view themselves as stewards and be more active in taking back the reigns to make the Internet a more broadly inclusive global organization that fairly balances the needs of every Internet user group without financial bias.
