Liberalisation of the Internet - The ICANN Process
ICANN provides a wide range of information about the new gTLD process on its website www.icann.org. This includes the rationale behind it and the process interested parties should follow to be involved and keep up to date with progress. A selection of the most common questions and a basic overview are provided here.
When will all this happen?
ICANN is expected to start taking applications for new top-level domains in early 2010, and a number of groups have already announced interest for city top-level domains such as .berlin, .paris, .london and .nyc. Industry or activity-specific names are also expected to get attention, for example for .music, .sport or .movie.
The decision to introduce new gTLDs followed a detailed and lengthy consultation process with all constituencies of the global Internet community represented by a wide variety of stakeholders – governments, individuals, civil society, business and intellectual property constituencies, and the technology community. Also contributing to this policy work were ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), At-Large Advisory Committee (ALAC), Country Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO), and Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC). The policy was completed by the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) in 2007, and adopted by ICANN's Board in June, 2008.
Why is there a need for new gTLDs?
The wider Internet community that takes part in the ICANN policy development process has advocated for new gTLDs. The expansion will allow for more innovation, choice and change to the Internet’s addressing system, now constrained by only 21 generic top-level domain names. In a world with 1.5 billion Internet users—and growing—diversity, choice and competition are key to the continued success and reach of the global network
Who can apply to setup a new extension?
Any public or private-sector organization can apply to create and operate a new gTLD. Any established corporation, organization, or institution in good standing may apply for a new gTLD. Applications from individuals or sole proprietorships will not be considered. ICANN expects a broad range of public and private sector organizations from around the world to apply. Applicants for new gTLDs will need to meet operational and technical criteria in order to preserve Internet security and stability.
How much will it cost?
The evaluation fee is set at a level to ensure the new gTLD program is self-funded. That means ICANN’s implementation costs must not exceed program fees. This was one of the guiding recommendations of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO).
There are three components in fee estimate: $US26,000 (per applicant) in historical program development costs; approximately $US100,000 per applicant in readily identifiable costs of evaluating and processing an application and; approximately $US60,000 to cover additional elements of the application and delegation process that are very difficult to estimate in this first round of new gTLDs.
A detailed outline of the Evaluation Fee and other financial considerations are detailed in the Explanatory Memoranda paper: “Cost Considerations for New Top Level Domains”.
Further information
More information on the ICANN liberalisation process and the application procedure can be found on the ICANN website.
Published on Monday 8 June 2009 by Joe
Comments
thats $186k ! who's going to go for that I wonder? - knowing that everyone wacks a .com on the end of their urls anyway
Hi Nooge, yes quite a lot
But there have already been quite a few interested parties. In fact ICANN expect 300-500 applications as soon as they open the doors early next year.
Have a look at the full report for a list of some of the TLDs that have been talked about.
You can get it here http://www.gandibar.net/public/Gand...
Happy reading!
Joe
Money, money, money... the new government.
There is no real needing to do this, and people may have the right to learn and trust the existing namespace.
Hi Free,
You're right people aren't crying out for it, but it doesn't mean they may not find uses for these things when they arrive. The dotcom space is being increasingly littered with ad sites, spam sites, squatters and more, so the usable number of domains is going down. According to Nominet (the UK registry) only 40% of UK addresses resolve to a useable website, the rest don't resolve, or go to ads or holding pages (see http://www.nominet.org.uk/digitalAs...).
So there may be need for more space as more of the global population come online.
And consumers and businesses in our survey did seem to like the idea of a more localised (e.g. .london, .paris, .nyc) internet with more interest specific extensions (.music, .sport, etc.).
I hope that helps,
Joe
Ya... so now someone can basically steal business from established dotcoms.. just by using a different tld and spending a few more bucks on advertisments.. of course, on the same note, that sort of thing can backfire
Wow! This really broadens the SEO competition, though... especially with localized domain names (e.g. nyc, paris, etc). Small businesses will have a huge opportunity to compete in the SERPs where they didn't before.
I'm excited about this announcement.
With the news of localized domains coming soon (e.g. nyc, paris...) How does this work? Who can buy one of these domains? Would the city or country own the domain then companies can purchase from them?
"Who's going to go for that?" ...are you serious? Countless corporations, individuals, organizations, etc, would love to grab their own TLD. Yes, even at that price. That's a drop in the bucket compared to how much it would impress your clientele to have a one-of-a-kind TLD. Would it impress me? That's a different story. However, this is all about the money. Keep your eye on the prize.
Does Gandi have a Take Down Policy, if so how does one go about having slanderous and hate content removed from a site which is currently being hosted by Gandi?? - or does one have to get the legal fraternity involved.
Send a mail to abuse at Gandi dot net with more details.