The Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the non-profit group which controls the internet domain name system, has announced its final guidelines on a new host of web addresses which will allow companies to purchase URLs ending in their brand name. For example Apple could buy the ending ‘.apple’ instead of ‘www.apple.com’.
This potentially opens up a new online marketplace where any company or organization that loses the race for this second generation identity, could be impacted significantly.
Buying a relevant web address has become a significant commercial issue for companies, who found previously that they cannot buy the web URL of choice. “Cyber Squatters” moved in quickly first time around and then, often successfully, forced companies to pay high sums of money to in order to reclaim themselves online. These ‘Cyber Squatters’ are not prone to giving up these rights easily so getting in before them is vital.
However the privilege of owning one of these new TLD’s does not come cheap in the first instance either. The application process for these new names will only be open for 60 days from January 2012 and will cost a whopping $185,000 / £114,000, regardless of success rate! After that, the process will be closed for another three years so companies need to think about this issue urgently.
Due to the costs involved, this opportunity has most impact on governments, large organizations and corporations, however over time I would expect ICANN costs to drop potentially causing a last minute scramble for the most desirable leftovers. To avoid this we recommend that clients review their current and future requirements in the area of their domain names.
So if domain personalisation is only for the business big cheeses, what alternatives are there for everyone else? Well there is a way you can play the TLD game without spending $185K and that is by utilising Dashcoms. What are Dashcoms I hear you cry! They are a free way for anyone to create their own set of TDL’s at no cost and without reference to ICANN, simply by registering new Dashcom (instead of Dotcom) Domains.
Dashcoms are memorable and relevant web addresses such as ‘animal-protection’ ‘live-music’ or ‘tennis-net’, you can even use Facebook Emoticons like musical notes ‘♫♫-♫♫’.
For more information on Dashcoms go to - http://dashworlds.com/src/about.php?P=about
As this is a relatively new technology and needs specific free software installed on the user’s computer this will take a while to build momentum. However, tools are being developed right now that should remove the current need for downloaded software and open up this resource to the masses. Should this happen it could well make the ICANN TDL sale have a whiff of the Emperor’s new clothes. I guess we’ll have to wait and see ………
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