ICANN: Applicants for Exclusive Access TLDs Respond to GAC Category 2 Safeguard Advice

In its Beijing Communiqué, the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) issued advice to the ICANN Board of Directors regarding New gTLD applications.

The Safeguards on New gTLDs: Category 2, Section 2 of the Communiqué states: “For strings representing generic terms, exclusive registry access should serve a public interest goal” and includes a list of strings that the GAC “considers to be generic terms, where the applicant [was, at the time,] proposing to provide exclusive registry access.” On 19 August 2013, ICANN inquired as to whether the applicants for the strings identified plan to operate the applied-for TLDs as exclusive access registries. For more information, view the announcement.

Advancing Canada’s Internet With New CIRA Programme

[news release] Innovative ideas and programs that make the Internet better for all Canadians could receive up to $100,000 in funding from the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, the organization that manages the .CA domain.

 

CIRA’s Community Investment Program (CIP) will provide funding to community groups, not-for-profits, and academic institutions for projects they can demonstrate will enhance the Internet for the benefit of all Canadians. In the coming year, CIRA will be investing up to $1,000,000 back into the community of which qualifying funding amounts may range in size from $25,000 to as much as $100,000. The CIP is open to a wide range of ideas, but proposals must articulate how they will benefit the Internet in Canada.

“CIRA’s top priorities include managing the .CA domain; ensuring Canada’s Internet infrastructure is safe, secure, and stable; and supporting other Internet-related activities in Canada,” said Byron Holland, CEO of CIRA. “We have always championed initiatives that help Canadians take full advantage of the Internet as one of the greatest drivers of positive social and economic change the world has seen in recent memory. With the CIP, we will take this many steps further by making strategic investments that will help other stakeholder groups make the Internet better for all Canadians.”

Starting on February 3 and until February 28, the CIP application period will open to quality proposals in need of funding. All funding decisions will be made by a committee comprised of CIRA board members and community stakeholders.

Additional inforrmation will be available on February 3 on CIRA’s website.

About CIRA
The Canadian Internet Registration Authority is the member-driven organization that manages Canada’s .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada’s Internet community, and represents the .CA registry internationally.

This CIRA news release was sourced from:
www.cira.ca/news/news-releases/advancing-the-internet-in-canada/

Above.com To Host its Second Themed Auction, the “Lead Generation Domain Auction” in March

Above.com announced recently that it will host its second Themed Auction in 2014 –  the Lead Generation Domain Auction.Bidding will start March 17,2014 and will end on April 16,2014 at 12 pm PT.

 

You can read the press release after the jump:

” Above.com announces that the “Lead Generation Domain Auction” will be its second Themed Auction in 2014. The auction inventory will be targeting organizations, which stimulate and capture online interest in a product or service for developing sales pipeline. Bidding will be open to the public commencing March 17, 2014 and ending on April 16, 2014 at 12pm PT.

“Themed auctions provide a better method of cost effectively selling domains to end-users,” says Victor Pitts, Director of Domain Services at Above.com. While not a new concept, themed auctions can be very effective in connecting the right domains to the right buyers en masse. Themed auctions are vastly more cost effective to promote and have a much greater chance reaching the intended buyer because the marketing message can be better concentrated on specific buyer groups.

Specific future Themed Auctions may be in partnership with industry representative organizations that help promote the auction to their audience. Potential partners would be trade conferences, industry forums, user groups, or any established trade organization. Partners influence domain selection, help promote the auction to their members, and receive a share of the auction commission.

The first Themed Auction of the year was launched at the “Affiliate Summit West” conference in Las Vegas. The auction, suitably named “Affiliate Domain Auction”, ends on February 14, 2014 at 12:00pm PT. Bidding is open at http://www.above.com/marketplace/affiliate.html. This auction inventory contains keyword rich domains that are matched to many common industry verticals used in affiliate programs. Above.com will showcase a list of powerful domain names that can drive organic traffic by virtue of their SEO attributes. “

Asia’s First New gTLD Premium Domain Name Auction To be Held on March 21,2014

TLD Registry Ltd announced that the first new gTLD premium domain name live auction will be held in Macau, China on March 21,2014.

 

The live auction will be held in China Rouge, at the Galaxy Macau entertainment complex.Moreover, the auction will be simoultaneously held over the Internet, through Sedo.

 “As the first new Chinese gTLDs to come to market, it’s only fitting that we celebrate our Landrush period in China. I can think of no better place for our celebration than Macau,” said Arto Isokoski, TLD Registry’s CEO.

“China Rouge is a stunning combination of Shanghai 1920s glamour and contemporary Chinese art. The ambiance of China Rouge, which is exceptionally difficult to gain entry to wtihout a member’s invitation, presents a dramatic and luxurious backdrop to the auction of our excellent premium domain names,” added Taneli Tikka, TLD Registry’s Chairman.

The live auction will be preceeded by a first-day-of-Landrush celebration, on March 20.A special site for the two day celebration is online at  internetregistry.info/auction .The agenda is also online.

Donuts Kicks Off General Availability For Its First Seven gTLDs

Donuts is kicking off the general availability period for seven of its new gTLDs, marking the beginning of a new era for the internet in which users will have unprecedented choice in how they identify and brand themselves online for the 1000 plus gTLDs expected to eventually be online.

The gTLDs –the first of hundreds Donuts will launch this year—are .BIKE, .CLOTHING, .GURU, .HOLDINGS, .PLUMBING, .SINGLES, and .VENTURES. Overall Donuts applied for 307 gTLDs but they will not get approval for this many.

Additionally, Donuts hit another major milestone when it signed its 105th new gTLD contract with ICANN. Donuts is the first new gTLD registrant to reach that mark and has executed more agreements than any other registry operator.

For more information, see the news release below:

Donuts Set to Open First New Internet Domains to the Public

Starting Wednesday (29 January), Internet users will be able to register addresses in targeted, specific new domains like .BIKE, .SINGLES, and .CLOTHING, among others; company marks more than 100 signed contracts to cement continual gTLD roll-outs this year

Tomorrow (29 January), Donuts Inc., the largest registry for new gTLDs, will kick off the general availability period for seven new Internet domain names, marking the beginning of a new era for the Internet in which users will have unprecedented choice in how they identify and brand themselves online.

The gTLDs—the first of hundreds Donuts will launch this year—are .BIKE, .CLOTHING, .GURU,
.HOLDINGS, .PLUMBING, .SINGLES, and .VENTURES. Anyone can register names in these gTLDS on a first come, first-served basis from accredited registrars worldwide.

Then weekly for most of 2014, Donuts will roll out additional gTLDs. Next Wednesday, February 5, .CAMERA, .EQUIPMENT, .ESTATE, .GALLERY, .GRAPHICS, .LIGHTING and .PHOTOGRAPHY will be open for registration by anyone interested in an online identity connected to these terms.

Donuts, the largest of the new gTLD program’s applicants, is the first to launch gTLDs in the Latin characters used in English, Spanish, French and other worldwide languages.

“Starting this week, new, relevant and specific Internet naming options will be available on a scale never before seen,” Donuts co-founder and CEO Paul Stahura said. “This is a unique opportunity for businesses, brands, organizations, and individuals to find an online identity that speaks precisely to their products, services and interests.”

Donuts Surpasses 100 Names Under Contract

In addition to this launch, Donuts hit another major milestone when it signed its 105th new gTLD contract with ICANN. Donuts is the first new gTLD registrant to reach that mark and has executed more agreements than any other registry operator.

“We have ambitious goals as part of our commitment to leading the development and innovation of the new gTLD marketplace,” said company co-founder and Executive Vice President Jonathon Nevett. “Reaching 105 gTLDs under contract is a good landmark, but we won’t be satisfied until all of our remaining contracts are completed and all our gTLDs are fully available to the public.”

About Donuts Inc.
Donuts securely operates the largest number of the Internet’s top level domain names and provides varied and relevant online identities, in multiple languages and character sets, to businesses, individuals, and organizations worldwide. Donuts is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, with offices in Southern California, Washington, D.C. and London. For more information, please visit www.donuts.co.