The .nokia Dot Brand

Nokia Corporation is a leader in mobile communications and device manufacturing. More than 1.3 billion people were using Nokia phones in 160 countries at time of application. (NOTE — in September 2013 Nokia commenced a deal under which Microsoft will purchase most of its device and service businesses, subject to approvals.)

NOTE: Prior to its brand TLD application, Nokia was the world's leading manufacturer of mobile devices, from voice optimised mobile phones to internet connected smart phones. Nokia's application was made in that context...

Nokia plans to add innovation & competition to the DNS (domain name system) which will support ICANN's broad goals. The company has a prior history of involvement with ICANN including being represented on the ICANN board and providing substantial contributions to policy development through various groups.

One of Nokia's key business aims in applying for the .nokia string is to ensure the ongoing integrity and value of the "Nokia" brand. Part of the strategy is to build a brand presence at the highest possible level of the DNS. InterBrand recognised the brand as the 14th most valuable in the world in 2011.

...Nokia has a portfolio of registered intellectual property rights around the world. Securing the string "NOKIA" in the domain name system is an extension of current brand development and protection.

Nokia currently provides online content via a variety of traditional existing domain extensions. Nokia expects that its new, unique .nokia TLD will be able to offer new opportunities to explore innovation and differentiation. Consumer choice will be enhanced by new possibilities of creativity and inspiration.

Nokia strives to provide its customers with great "ease of use, relevance and reliability" in its products and services and the company intends to incorporate those same goals in its new domain space.

In the initial stages, domains in the .nokia registry are projected to forward to existing Nokia websites. Meanwhile, the company will closely observe best practice by other brand domain owners. It will also watch the development of ICANN consensus policies to help determine the future implementation of the string.

Nokia will strive to operate the TLD with the highest level of professionalism and guidelines will be provided on the company intranet defining how internal stakeholders may use the domains. Nokia foresees a continuing positive evolution for its initiative.

In the future Nokia will explore a variety of use cases for its TLD registry. Nokia anticipates that future innovations and technological development in the market can provide future opportunities for differentiation, innovation and consumer choice.

The security of the .nokia TLD and its stability on the DNS will be primary considerations. Since it will be a single entity registry, consumers will be offered an "enhanced level of authenticity". Nokia will protect the privacy and confidentiality of employee and customer data. It will operate a strong anti-abuse policy to prevent fraud, spam, phishing, pharming, malware distribution, fast-flux hosting, botnet command & control, hacking and so on.

Only Nokia and its Affiliates will be able to register second level domain names in the .nokia gTLD registry. Internet users will not have to worry about malicious behaviours or false or inaccurate information from a site under a .nokia gTLD.

Nokia makes the special point that the "only anticipated consumer vulnerability is the possibility of phishing attacks". The company already monitors for any such activity to minimize any possible risk, follows the work of the Anti-Phishing Working Group, and collaborates with law enforcement agencies etc to achieve best practice in online security.

Geographic Dot Brands

Nokia is committed to operating its brand TLD in compliance with Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, applicable laws, consensus policies, best practice guidelines and RFCs (Requests For Comment).

The Applicant will therefore restrict from registration a combined list of country and territory names as contained on the ISO 3166-1 list, a UN Group of Experts reference manual on geographical names and a UN Working Group standardized name list.

The .nokia string will be under the sole ownership of Nokia, and being a single entity registry, geographical domains will not be offered to any third parties, including governments and other official bodies. However, the company anticipates that it may apply for the use of country terms itself in the future and makes the point that "Localization is a fundamental element of good user experience".

We envisage that over time, there will be demand from brand TLDs leading to the development of a standardised process for requesting GAC review and ICANN approval for the release... When such a process is in place, Nokia expects to apply for the release of country and territory names within .NOKIA.

Nokia will work with its technical provider Afilias to conform with the requirement to block the relevant country identifiers until such time as they are permitted.

Possible .nokia Brand Domains

Phones.nokia
SmartPhone.nokia
Lumia.nokia
Connect.nokia
Research.nokia
Technology.nokia
CameraPhone.nokia
Apps.nokia
Shop.nokia
About.nokia
Here.nokia

NOTE: "Here" is a Nokia map and location service.

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.

All quotations on this page are from the respective companies' official ICANN brand TLD applications unless otherwise stated.

Many possible theoretical dot brands are mentioned (in English). There are also countless possibilities in other languages. This has significant potential value for international navigation.

This site is focused on reporting the strategic impact of the brand domains on internet communication, competition and commerce, and some comment is speculative.

It is not a comprehensive overview of what some of the world's largest corporations have chosen to reveal about their plans for the implementation of their proprietary domain strings.

ICANN is particularly concerned with the technical, financial, security and legal issues associated with the new TLDs. These issues are beyond the scope of this website.

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 these ICANN links: You can also search a complete list of applicants there.

ICANN new gTLD applications

ICANN official website

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