First batch of new generic top-level domains born, Amazon looking unlikely to snag .amazon

First batch of new generic toplevel domains born, Amazon looking unlikely to snag amazon

After spending over a year thumbing through applications, ICANN has inked agreements for establishing the first new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). Those that made the cut this round were the Arabic word for web or network (.شبكة), game in Chinese (.戏), and the Russian for online (.онлайн), as well as website (.сайт) -- as ICANN notes, these gTLDs will be the first to use non-Latin characters. Also coming out of the ICANN47 meeting for internet overlords is a bit of bad news for Amazon. A committee recommended that the retailer should not be given control of the .amazon domain, likely due to confusion the suffix could create with the Amazon region in South America. ICANN may see fit to go against the recommendation, but if Amazon's history with objectionable applications is anything to go by, it's looking like yet another $185,000 down the drain.

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Via: The Verge

Source: ICANN, Wall Street Journal

Introducing .nyc: New York City to get its own top-level domain

New Yorkers are notoriously proud of their city, and what better way to show hometown love than with a .nyc address? According to Mayor Bloomberg's official Twitter account, that will soon be possible for Big Apple residents. The just-launched website for the "ultimate New York City address" (har, har) says the top-level domain will help local businesses' visibility in search results, in addition to eliminating all doubt as to where you reside. "Businesses, organizations and residents" will be eligible for the TLD, with registration beginning in late 2013. When it launches, .nyc will be the first city in the United States to receive a geography-based domain. Did you think New York would settle for anything less?

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Source: .NYC, @MikeBloomberg

ICANN lists first custom TLDs up for consideration, starts with Chinese word for ‘Catholic’

ICANN lists first custom TLDs up for consideration, starts with Chinese word for 'Catholic'

The bidding process for custom top-level domains led to many candidates, but there can only be one that ICANN considers first. Which one gets the honor? Thanks to a semi-random draw, it's .天主教, or "Catholic" in Chinese -- a domain registered by the Catholic church's Pontifical Council for Social Communication. The position could give the church one of the first active custom TLDs in 2013, ahead of Amazon, VeriSign and others that were among the frontrunners in a 1,930-domain pack. There's no guarantees that the church or any of the other early bidders will be accepted when there's substantial dispute over who, if anyone, should own many of the given domains. Knowing who goes through ICANN's scrutiny, due early next year, may still prepare us for a changed internet landscape.

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Via: Reuters

Source: ICANN

ICANN shows the full generic TLD application list, Google’s bidding splurge

Crazy with domain names

ICANN told us that June 13th was the golden day that we'd get to see all of the initial applications for generic top-level domains (gTLDs), and the full list has surfaced on cue. The early roster shows a lot of competition for certain domains -- we're seeing a baker's dozen in companies trying for .app alone. Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and other companies are understandably trying to protect their brand names, but we're just now seeing the full extent of Google's gTLD madness: we're counting 101 instances in which the search firm has tentatively pulled the $185,000 trigger. ICANN still has to settle on which bidders get the domains they want, though, and there's no certainty that Google will fulfill its dreams. When even the cherished .lol domain has a challenger, you know the competition is getting fierce.

ICANN shows the full generic TLD application list, Google's bidding splurge originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Jun 2012 14:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google springs for .lol, .youtube domains, we wonder if it’s going TLD .crazy

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Google just can't wait until ICANN reveals custom domain name bids in mid-June to say what it's trying to buy -- and it's clear that Mountain View went on a shopping spree. Some of the top-level domains in the land grab are ones you'd expect safeguarding Google's prized possessions, such as .google, .youtube and .docs. Others make us fear for the future of Internet memes. Google claims that it's bidding for TLDs such as .lol to explore their "interesting and creative potential,' but we have a hunch it's just taking the addition of LOL to the dictionary a little too seriously. The company does assuage our fears with a promise to prevent TLD abuse. If we ever see omgwtf.lol become a reality, though, we'll know Google has gone off the .deepend.

Google springs for .lol, .youtube domains, we wonder if it's going TLD .crazy originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 21:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ICANN stops taking custom domain names at 7PM ET, details the TLD explosion June 13th

ICANN to stop taking custom domain names at 7PM ET, detail the TLD explosion June 13th

ICANN anticipated that we'd see the first fruits of its open season on top-level domains (TLDs) roughly a year after the hunt began; sure enough, it's winding down applications tonight. If you have the $185,000 plus $25,000 per year to make a domain your own, you've got until midnight GMT (7PM ET) to get that custom spin on the web. Don't think that you'll get the rubber stamp right away, though. ICANN plans to detail the requests on June 13th and consider any objections over similarity or multiple bids for the same name. If all goes smoothly, the first generic TLDs will be active within nine months, while those who face a fight could be waiting roughly one to two years. We're just hoping someone had the courtesy to pick up .gadget for us -- not that ICANN's worried about a gap in registrations after taking $352 million in fees and over 2,000 applications so far.

ICANN stops taking custom domain names at 7PM ET, details the TLD explosion June 13th originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 30 May 2012 12:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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