New gtlds by the numbers (and some observations) Lorna Gradden Operations Director, Valideus 18 June 2012

Transcription

1 New gtlds by the numbers (and some observations) Lorna Gradden Operations Director, Valideus 18 June 2012

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3 About ICANN Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers ICANN a not for profit corporation based in California ICANN administers domain name system & directly manages 24 generic Top Level Domains (gtlds such as.com,.org,.net,.biz, info) Sets technical standards that 270 country code Top Level Domains (cctlds) adhere to (.au,.be,.ch,.de,.es,.fr) ICANN s Mission: To enhance competition and promote choice and innovation

4 All change ICANN is liberalising the gtld system A permissive application programme to allow anyone, anywhere to apply to run their own gtld registry (if they can pass the evaluation).google as well as google.com.search. 谷 歌 ICANN anticipated 500 applications but received 2,091 applications of which 1,930 eventually completed Process has been characterised by implementation errors by ICANN

5 What happened on Reveal Day 13 June 2012

6 Dominated by the First World

7 Origin of brand applications

8 Who applied?

9 Brands Applicants by Sector

10 Most applied for strings

11 Who profits? Only three organisations are seeking financial assistance under ICANN s Applicant Support Program

12 The largest Largest speculative applicants Donuts: 307 applications TLDH/Minds & Machines: 92 (68 for itself with PDT) Uniregistry: 54 (Frank Schilling) Directi: 31 (India) Largest brand applicants Google: 101 registries Amazon: 76 registries Richemont: 14 registries Microsoft: 11 registries (36 of the Fortune 100 companies have applied)

13 IDNs 116 IDN applications Scripts other than ASCII such as Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic 67 in Chinese incl. Richemont, Google, Walmart, L Oreal, Zodiac (for Website, Mall, Shop, I Love You) 15 in Arabic incl. Qatar Telecom, League of Arab States 7 in Russian Cyrillic including Moskva, Kids

14 Competition amongst registry owners but not technical companies Incumbent providers still dominate, especially in provision of Registry services Source: DomainIncite

15 In or Out Who did and did not apply Media & Internet: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, AOL but not ebay, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Zynga Pharma: BMS, Pfizer, Sanofi, Abbott, Merck, Lilly, JNJ, Teva applied but AstraZeneca, Roche, GSK, Bayer did not Autos: BMW, Fiat, Ford, Bentley, Bugatti, Ferrari, Toyota, Nissan, VW, Audi but not Porsche Sports: Bike, Cricket, Football, Soccer, Ski, Surf, Rugby, Tennis but Olympics holding out

16 The quirky and the controversial LOL (x2) Church, Catholic, Kosher, Bible, Islam BlackFriday Memorial, RIP Sucks Horse Ketchup Ninja OOO Rich XYZ

17 So what s the point? Domain names internet s signposts trusted by consumers to point in direction of authentic goods & services Four main reasons why brand owners are applying in the first round: 1.Communication 2.Security 3.Protection of IP/competitive advantage 4.Platform for innovation What we heard: Internet so important, we want to provide our customers a safe experience where we are in control and they are happy to purchase our goods and provide us with their financial & personal data: we are building a Walled Garden

18 What next for non-applicants Review all applicants /applicationstatus Are there any direct or indirect conflicts with Your brands? Areas of commercial interest? What are your competitors doing? How will the process develop? 2 nd & 3 rd round then always open

19 Five Key Steps Step One: Profile Applicants Who are shareholders, investors, directors? How well financed are they? Where are they based? What are competition laws there? Who will be their RSP running the technical back-end of their registry? Who submitted the application for them consultants, lawyers? What does Question 18, Mission & Purpose say? Will they be a Closed or Open Registry?

20 Step Two Consider Negotiation Will they withdraw their application? If for a generic term of importance to you, will they consider working with you? Will they supply an undertaking not to infringe on your rights?

21 Step Three File a Public comment Evaluators take into account any Public Comment received before 12 August ationcomment/login All Public Comments open for scrutiny so target may reply if you post too soon Consider an alliance with others in your industry

22 Step Four File an Objection Four types of Objection: String Confusion, Legal Rights, Limited Public Interest and Community Interest. Objection Period runs for seven months until January

23 Step Five Lobby your government (maybe) Over 120 countries represented on ICANN s GAC: see list GAC Early Warning can be filed if a proposed character string or registry operation raises national sensitivities In some cases, GAC may supply ICANN with Consensus Advice that an application should not proceed: ICANN expected to follow such advice

24 Revise your strategy 1409 unique strings means c registries 1350 registries = 56 registries launching every month for two years (in theory) from January/February 2013 on By end of 2015 domain name system will have grown from 275 registries to c registries Current Best Practice for communication and IP protection in domain name system will not be affordable Choose some new gtlds over cctlds? Utilise new Rights Protection Measures: Trademark Clearinghouse ($150 per case!) supporting Sunrises & IP Claims, the URS or legal action against registries Get involved with ICANN or pay the price

25 Imagining the future Short Term New gtlds to run in parallel with.coms (not to replace) Education of consumers that.brand is a safe environment Business of search to change? Registries run for public interest or private profit Long Term Second & third rounds like dot com boom: thousands of applications at a much lower price Rebranding from.com to dot Brand Impact of on-line abuse minimised 500,000 new gtld registries in a decade

26 It s complicated

27 There will be conflict & new opportunities

28 Valideus Little Russell Street London WC1A 2HN Lorna Gradden Operations Director, Valideus +44 (0) Valideus June 2012