News
This
site was launched on 27 October 2013. Some selective news about the
launch of the brand domains will be posted here. The most recent news
will appear first. Please visit ICANN.org
for more comprehensive and up-to-date info.
First Brand Domain
Name Extension Launched
18 Jan
2014 Launch: The world's first brand domain was delegated on 18
Jan, about three months after the launch of ICANN's ambitious new TLD
program. The pioneering organization is Australia's Monash University.
In the
foreseeable future at least, the new .monash string will supplement,
not replace, the existing Monash.edu domain and email destinations.
Monash
CIO Ian Tebbett said new domains would be phased in gradually and would
ultimately improve the university's online presence and representation.
"The
.monash global Top-Level Domain name will allow the University to
manage all of its domain names under the global identity of Monash,"
Tebbett said in a statement.
Adam Bender.
ComputerWorld.
Updated: Monash gets first branded top-level domain.
City Domains Launched
On 8
Jan 2014 the .berlin city string was launched — heralding a
process in which many of the world's major cities will control their
own domain strings. (A small number of significant regions are also
launching domains. For example, .ruhr launched on 10 Dec 2013.)
Other major
geographical strings such as .tokyo, .london, .miami, .quebec and .paris
went live in the January to April period.
These new
city and regional domains will be similar in their operations and functionality
to country code domains such as .cn, .de and .co.uk. More info about
these innovative destinations is available on the Generics
page.
Approval Sought
For Geographical Domain Names
On 20
Nov 2013 the GAC held a meeting in Argentina. They met with the
Brand Registry Group (BRG)
which represents some of the applicants for brand domains. The BRG is
seeking to make a change to the Registry Agreement which would allow
the dot brands to use country & territory names within their brand
TLDs.
(Geographical
terms are currently reserved from use in the new TLD program due to
their sensitivity to national governments and the possibility of confusing
or malicious misuse. However, it is clear that while a new generic
domain such as USA.health could potentially be misleading, a brand
domain such as USA.mcdonalds would not be; and would in contrast serve
the public interest.)
There appears
to be no opposition to the use of geographical terms by the brand domains,
and it seems likely they will be able to use them in the future. Many
Applicants expressly state their wish to be able to use such terms and
some offer to maintain a resolution procedure in the event that any
national government objects to any use. As an example of this issue,
McDonalds states that it "will not use geographic names until ICANN
has approved such use". Sample page LINK.
The GAC
met with the Brand Registry Group to discuss their proposal for a
streamlined process under an addendum to the Registry Agreement for
the approval of country names... The GAC undertook to consider this
proposal further and respond to the BRG in due course.
GAC. Buenos
Aires Communiqué. LINK
The Brand Domains
May Reduce The Use Of Social Media
18 Nov
2013 Report: Research from Afilias (a major registry services provider)
suggests that brand owners who are launching their own dot brands are
likely to reduce their reliance on social media marketing & communications
to promote their goods & services.
A poll
conducted by Afilias at a London Conference revealed that 83 percent
of gTLD applicants and experts who responded consider brand domains
will be more effective than social networks for online interaction.
"...One
of the key advantages of a 'dot Brand' gTLD is that businesses will
be able to take back control of their online presence and reduce reliance
on social networks for online conversations," said Roland LaPlante,
CMO at Afilias.
Afilias.
Social networks likely to lose grip on brand/consumer conversations
in the wake of new "dot Brand" Web domains. LINK
NOTE: Some
brand TLD Applicants specifically mention social media in their applications,
for example Toyota mentions: "websites, social networks, email
and other technologies that will reside within the .TOYOTA domain name
space."
New Domains Launch
Phase Begins
On 23
Oct 2013, ICANN announced the historic delegation of the first four
generic TLDs into the Internet's Root Zone. Certain administrative procedures
must now take place, and the first domain strings may appear as soon
as December.
Official
information can be seen at ICANN's
website.
The four
pioneering strings are all generic domains (and all IDNs — internationalized
domain names) and none are brand domains. Many new non-Latin script
TLDs are set to be launched.
The first
delegated strings are:
".web/network"
(in Arabic)
".online"
(in Cyrillic)
".site"
(in Cyrillic)
".game(s)"
(in Chinese).
The delegation
of non-Latin script gTLDs demonstrates ICANN's efforts to create a
globally-inclusive Internet, regardless of language or region.
ICANN.
First New Generic Top-Level Domains Delegated. LINK
Over the
next few years, up to 1400 new domain strings will be launched, with
close to half of these being brand domains. A few of the IDNs will be
brand domains.
Official ICANN
Information
For accurate
and up-to-date information about the whole new gTLD program, check ICANN's
online content regularly for daily updates:
ICANN
official site — LINK.
My ICANN
site — LINK.
ICANN
new TLD applications — LINK.
ICANN
new TLDs launched to date — LINK.
There
is a vast volume of information available on ICANN websites. You can
even read blogs and sign up for newsletters.
Notes
Brand
names mentioned on this site are registered trademarks or trademarks
of their respective corporations. This site claims no association
with or endorsement by any of these corporations and their marks are
mentioned only to illustrate opinion presented in the public interest.
For a comprehensive
overview of the brand domains and their impact on the web, refer to
ICANN's website and the individual applications (large parts of which
are publicly published).
If you
have a particular interest in an individual company, the public aspects
of their applications are available for download via the "ICANN
new gTLD applications" link above. You can also search a complete
list of applicants there.
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