TLDH News on .Miami and .Music

Elliot Silver
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I received some news from publicly traded Top Level Domain Holdings (TLDH) about two gTLD registries the company is interested in operating. First, the city Commissioners in Miami, Florida voted unanimously to award the contract to apply for the .Miami gTLD  to Minds & Machines (subsidiary of TLDH).

The second piece of news from TLDH is its announcement of its plans to apply for the .Music gTLD. The company has signed a joint venture agreement with LHL TLD Investment Partners of Beverly Hills, a group that is made up of “leading music industry figures including artists, managers, music producers and lawyers.”

As of a February news release, TLDH had already applied for 40 gTLDs on behalf of itself and clients, and the company intends to apply for more gTLDs before the application window closes next month.

Full press release below.

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InformationWeek: NYC Selects Neustar to Run .NYC Registry

Elliot Silver
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According to an article on InformationWeek, the city of New York has selected Virginia-based Neustar to apply for and manage the .NYC gTLD. InformationWeek’s source is Nicholas Sbordone, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications. According to its website, Neustar currently provides registry services for .biz, .us, kids.us, .co, .cn, .tw, .travel, and .tel.

Terms of the deal between Neustar and the New York City government can be found in the InformationWeek article. One interesting aspect, and not all that surprising, is that people and businesses who wish to own a .NYC domain name will need to have an address or presence in NYC.

There were at least three New York City based groups that also appeared to be competing for the .NYC registry. dotNYC LLC, led by industry veteran and gTLD expert Antony Van Couvering (with an endorsement from former Mayor Ed Koch), Connecting.nyc Inc., and The .NYC Domain Extension. I am not sure how far along in negotiations each group went with the City.

I will probably try and buy at least a couple .NYC domain names when they become available, depending on the registration fee of course.

Will gTLDs Change the Domain Industry?

Elliot Silver
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I don’t want to weigh in here to possibly influence the vote tally, but I am curious whether you think the new gTLDs are going to change the domain industry. I am not asking about specific changes to any particular TLDs, but I am wondering if you think they are going to change the landscape of the domain investment space.

Of course, you may feel free to post commentary about any changes you expect or why you don’t expect changes in the comment section. This may seem like a loaded question, but I am wondering if you think the industry and way we do business will change when new TLDs are released to the public for purchase.

CNBC Covers Adult Entertainment Expo and .XXX Domain Names

Elliot Silver
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I wonder how the CNBC reporter responded when he was asked to cover the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo currently being held in Las Vegas. That aside, I think there was a pretty balanced article posted on CNBC this morning discussing  .XXX domain names in the adult business.

The article primarily focused on the perception of .XXX domain names to various people within the adult entertainment business. Of course we pretty much know how Manwin, the largest company in the space, feels about .XXX domain names. They’re in the midst of litigation.

Steven Hirsch of Vivid, Scott Taylor of New Sensations, and John Stagliano of Evil Angel were all fairly outspoken about the issue. These company leaders don’t appear to have a favorable view of .XXX domain names or the need for them (Hirsch did appear pretty much neutral on the issue).

As for performers, it seems that .XXX domain names may be good for them. I’ve heard this from a variety of sources, but it seems that adult performers like being able to own their own brand, and .XXX domain names gives them that opportunity. Adult actress Stormy Daniels summed it up best with this quote in the article:

“I think, from a performer standpoint, it’s a very good thing,” she says. “So many girls can’t get their names as domain names because someone beat them to it — whether it’s some guy in a basement or an ex-boyfriend. … The cool thing about .xxx is they will only issue the address to someone who holds the copyright or if you (as a performer) can prove you are who you say.“

I am not personally opposed to .XXX domain names, although I haven’t invested in the extension. Have you bought or sold .XXX domain names?

TLDH Files First 20 gTLD Applications

Elliot Silver
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The window for submitting gTLD applications to ICANN opened last night, and there’s already considerable action taking place. I just received a press release from publicly traded Top Level Domain Holdings, and the company has announced its intent to immediately file their first 20 applications to manage new TLDs.

According to the company’s news release, “Top Level Domain Holdings will shortly be purchasing its first batch of twenty application slots for new gTLDs on behalf of itself and clients of Minds + Machines. This first tranche will include slots for client applications for geographic-based gTLDs and generic words. The Company expects to submit multiple batches for application slots during the application window.”

In addition to this news, the company also announced that its subsidiary, Minds & Machines was just selected as the registry services provider for Dot Kiwi, a New Zealand company that has publically stated it will apply for the “.kiwi” gTLD.

The next few days and weeks promise to be filled with considerable news about gTLD applications, and it will be exciting to watch as our business evolves.

Press release is posted below:

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ICANN gTLD Timeline

Elliot Silver
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A couple of people emailed me in private to ask the timeline for ICANN’s gTLD program rollout. I did a search, and I was able to find a pdf with the scheduled timeline (ICANN pdf). Keep in mind that the schedule was published at ICANN 41 in Singapore, which was held in June of 2011.

The next major date for the gTLD program is January 12, 2012. On January 12, the application window opens for interested parties who wish to apply for a gTLD. I would imagine that companies who apply for the same TLD will be encouraged to work together to form a joint entity application or work something out. I would also imagine there will be deals cut to try and reduce the number of applications for the same TLD.

Following the application period, the next important date on the gTLD calendar will be April 12, 2012 when the application window closes. The timeline suggests that applications will be published as soon as 15 days after this window has closed, although it may take longer to do so. I am not sure if the applications will be published publicly or just for the internal ICANN community.

The timeline is a bit vague after that, but it gives you an idea about the initial process.

I would not be surprised to see politicking in an effort to delay the program, but as of right now, it looks like things are set to go as planned.

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