Latest news of the domain name industry

Recent Posts

Watch ICANN approve some new gTLDs

Kevin Murphy, February 20, 2012, 09:22:57 (UTC), Domain Policy

In ICANN’s world, the current new top-level domains application period is actually the fourth, not the first.
As well as the 2000 “proof of concept” round, there was the sponsored gTLD round that kicked off at the end of 2003, and the ongoing IDN ccTLD Fast Track round from 2009.
I’ve finally got around to uploading to YouTube the video of the November 16, 2000 ICANN board meeting at which .info, .biz, .name, .pro, .museum, .coop and .aero were approved.
It was a pivotal moment in the history of the domain name system, particularly starting at the 5:46 mark, when the tide turned against Afilias’ application for .web, in favor of the less attractive four-character .info.
The main reason for the switch was Image Online Design’s competing application. IOD had been running .web in an alternate root for a few years before applying to ICANN.
If the internet had had a .web for the last decade, I believe conversations we’re having about new gTLDs would be very different today.
With .web expected to be a contested gTLD this time around — perhaps by some of the same companies that applied last time — expect this 11-year-old ICANN board meeting to be cited regularly in the near future.

The video was recorded by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard and encoded in RealPlayer format, which in 2000 meant pretty poor-quality audio and video.


If you find this post or this blog useful or interestjng, please support Domain Incite, the independent source of news, analysis and opinion for the domain name industry and ICANN community.

Tagged: ,

Comments (2)

  1. Christopher Ambler says:

    Image Online Design’s original .Web application is still pending. ICANN never turned it down. It is a valid contract and if ICANN awards it to any other company, ICANN may find that they are in breach of that contract.
    Other companies applying for .Web are paying upwards of $300,000 to potentially infringe on an existing business relationship.

  2. Ray Marshall says:

    Like Christopher, many .Web supporters such as myself have been waiting patiently for this awesome new gTLD to be released onto the Internet. While I’m also a big supporter of .CITY tlds, I also believe there’s room for another global generic tld such as .Web. After all these years, we’re still sticking by you Christopher! All the best to Christopher and IOD!

Add Your Comment