While most of the world is sleeping, a few companies are engaged in a land grab the size of which has not been seen since the Colonial Powers divided the world.   But rather than “plundering” countries, the powers in this “land grab” have different spoils in mind, namely generic-word gTLDs that they intend to run as “closed” for their benefit.

To be clear, I am a strong proponent of generic-word gTLDs, and of closed gTLD registries for Communities, or Trademark and Brand names.   In fact some would say I’m a little too excited to see what BMW, Ford, Canon and others are going to do with their TLDs.   However, certain combinations of generic-word gTLDs and closed or exclusive registries (in the absence of a community interest or a trademark right) are a recipe for disaster, and most people have no idea what’s cooking.

As you may know, the

Hiawatha Bray of the Boston Globe wrote an article about the new gTLD domain names today, and I think it offers a very good overview of the new domain names that are coming to the market. In the article, Dot-specific domain names on way to the Web, Bray shared insight from a number of familiar names in the domain space, including Mason Cole, Braden Pollock, Kevin Murphy, and me.

I’ll let you read the article for yourself, but it covers everything from the opportunity new TLDs will create for business who want to use them to the opportunity for domain investors to purchase these new domain names.

To me, the most exciting thing about the new TLDs is