The president of ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) Fady Chehade told the Wall Street Journal that the organization will launch Chinese character options for top-level domains in the second half of this year. (A top-level domain is the part of the Web address after the dot, so the Chinese characters would replace the .com, .net, .org’s, etc. that you see in most Web… → Read More
If it gets it, Google wants to turn .search into a “dotless domain,” the company told ICANN a few days ago. Last year, Google applied to manage the .app, .blog, .cloud and .search generic top-level domain (gTLD) names as part of a major expansion of the domain-name system. ICANN, which is managing this expansion, hasn’t awarded any of the gTLDs yet, and the whole program remains… → Read More
After raising $100M+ last June, Donuts — a registry for the new top-level domain names that ICANN is ushering in this year (such as .yay or .jobs) — has announced it has raised a new funding round. The exact figure for its Series B, which is led by existing investor Generation Partners, has not been disclosed but the company said the equity investment is “twice the valuation” of the Series A. → Read More
Another step along the long road of ICANN expanding the number of sanctioned top-level web domain names: it has launched a Trademark Clearing House to create a “foundation mechanism for brands to protect their trademarks against potential infringement”. → Read More
If Google is awarded the right to manage the domain registrations for .search, .app, .blog and .cloud, there is now a good chance that it won’t just use them for its own services and will open them up for non-Google properties, too. Last year, when ICANN opened up the first phase of the registration process for new generic top-level domain names, Google accounted for about 100 of the over 1,900… → Read More
Icann — the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which oversees a host of Internet-related operations, including the assignment of domain names – today revealed a list of nearly 2,000 top-level domain names that businesses and other organizations have applied to own, as part of a new move to vastly expand the range of domains that can be used. And while some of the applications… → Read More
A little bit of a song and dance today from Icann as it released the full list of businesses and other organizations that have applied for their own customized top-level domain names, the first significan expansion on the 22 TLDs in existence today. The full list is here.
In a press conference in London to mark what Icann is calling “Reveal Day,” Icann’s SVP Kurt Pritz noted that over 500… → Read More
Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) closed its window for new generic top-level domain name applications. ICANN will publish a list of all the applied-for strings in two weeks, but Google today already announced some of the names it applied for. Among these are, as expected, .google and .youtube. According to Google’s chief Internet evangelist and “father of the… → Read More
The Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) is today calling on the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to withdraw its controversial plan for new top-level domains. ICANN’s plan would significantly expand Top-Level Domains, allowing companies and brands to register just about any word they want as a top level domain (TLD).
That means in addition to traditional TLDs like .com… → Read More
Esther Dyson, who was the founding chairwoman of ICANN (among other things) doesn’t like the new top-level domains that were recently approved by ICANN. These will allow new domains to be created for practically any word or brand someone wants to register. Instead of just .com, .org, and .tv, there could be .techcrunch, .coke, .apple, .ipad, and so on. “I don’t really think that adds to the sum… → Read More
The ICANN board has voted to approve the new gTLD program, which was first announced three years ago. The new program will significantly expand Top-Level Domains (TLDs) to allow companies, organizations and even cities to turn their own brands into domain name extensions. Think .ADIDAS, .HOTEL, .BRUSSELS, .FACEBOOK and the likes.
Applications for new gTLDs will be accepted from 12 January 2012 to… → Read More
This is a guest post from Andrew Allemann, author of Domain Name Wire, a blog covering the business and policy of domain names. He has been active in the domain name industry as a buyer, seller, and consultant for over ten years.
A new .xxx top level domain name is coming soon, and a lot of people aren’t happy about it.
On Friday, the Board of Directors of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names… → Read More
Pretty important day in the history of the World Wide Web, if not the Internet as a whole. ICANN, sorta the Internet’s regulator, will for the first time now allow non-Latin characters for Web addresses. That means that, if we wanted, sometime in the future we could register a Russian version of CrunchGear.com at KPYHЧГИP.PYC (that’s just an example, who knows what the actual Russian country… → Read More
As expected, regulatory body ICANN has approved plans to let web addresses be written in non-Latin characters in a move that it calls the “biggest technical change” to how the Internet works since its invention four decades ago.
The vote was announced at the last day of the non-profit group’s Seoul conference.
The proposal would mean that domain names could be written in the languages such as… → Read More
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, has approved the sweeping overhaul we mentioned the other day. Now companies will be able to register their own unique top-level domain (TLD), which is sure to be as annoying as it sounds. But think of the branding opportunities! “Go to littlebigworld.ps3 to see the all new trailer!” ”Download a special coupon from… → Read More
Who’s ready for http://www.CrunchGear.xxx? The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will vote later this week whether to “shake up,” as the Beeb puts it, the way the Internet works. Imagine an Internet with URLs in non-Roman letters, relaxed rules for those wanting a .com or .tv address, and, yes, the controversial .xxx top-level domain. ICANN had previously been… → Read More
Network Solutions and ICANN are being sued over the “front running” domain registration practices that we covered last month. “Network Solutions has forced millions of people to buy Internet domain names from them instead of cheaper competitors through a scheme that’s netted the firm millions of dollars,” according to the federal class action lawsuit filed by Kabateck… → Read More
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