UNICEF looking for a .brand TLD partner

The UN-backed charity UNICEF has become the second organization, after Canon, to confirm publicly it is planning to apply for a .brand top-level domain.

The organization has put its feelers out for a registry operator to apply for and manage .unicef, publishing a Request For Information on its web site this week.

The RFI says:

Taking the long view, as time goes on a name such as www.donations.unicef and www.cards.unicef will become more intuitive in a more crowded Internet, and thus more valuable because the name reflects exactly that of an organization and declares what it does.

With unscrupulous individuals frequently seeking to capitalize on global tragedies to bilk money out of people through bogus web sites, charities could very well see some anti-phishing benefits from having their own sufficiently publicized TLD.

As I noted yesterday, it looks like the Red Cross may be thinking about a similar initiative.

UNICEF appears to want an operator that will be able to both manage the ICANN application process and then, for at least two years, the operation of the registry.

The deadline is July 30, so vendors have just a week to fill out and submit a questionnaire outlining their capabilities.

The questions appear, to me, to betray a degree of unfamiliarity with the DNS business and the new TLD process in particular.

What are the timeframes for developing and provisioning the application including all necessary activities (i.e. obtaining ICANN’ registration, facilitating the transition of current domains to the top level domain etc) from the moment a contract is signed with the selected vendor?

Good luck answering that one.

(Hat tip: newTLDs.tv)