Minds + Machines

Recently, Dot Eco released a comprehensive Green Paper (PDF here) detailing its principles and its mission. (Hint: Al Gore, the Alliance for Climate Protection, the Sierra Club and Surfrider think it can help save the planet.)

As the registry provider for .ECO, I decided that we need to support that mission. As I’ve already reported, Minds + Machines DNS services are carbon-neutral and do not contribute to global warming.

Now we’ve undertaken a major initiative within Minds + Machines to make sure we contribute less to global warming, and that to the extent we do, we do something else to offset it. Our goal is to ensure that none of our operations contribute to the destruction of the planet.

Here’s what we’re doing and plan to do:

• As we add or replace servers, replacing them with energy-efficient “green” machines
• Encouraging telecommuting and online communication in our company, and when we must travel, whether long-distance or for commuting, purchasing carbon offsets for each employee.
• At our offices, taking steps to reduce our energy consumption and emissions by upgrading insulation, air-conditioning systems, and (of course) our habits.
• For all of our business, purchasing carbon offsets for our activities that emit greenhouse gasses.
• Doing all of the above for our sister company CoCCA.
• Providing credits to registries and registrars using our systems for specific steps they take to make their operations greener.

The Internet is global, and it’s our view that Internet companies should do what they can to make sure their operations have minimal impact on the planet — because “global” doesn’t make much sense if there isn’t a habitable globe.

Some resources for green operations:

• Green IT: Framework for Building a “Hyper-Green” Virtual Server System
• Interview with Matthew Wheeland, author of the new book The Greening of IT: How Companies Can Make a Difference for the Environment
• Tapping into the Value of Being Virtually Green
• Purchase carbon offsets at Terra Pass
• Purchase carbon offsets at the Carbon Fund

We challenge every top-level domain registry provider to take responsibility, make a difference, and — especially for those registry operators backing ecologically-themed top-level domains — to put their money on the line.

Today, we’re very happy to announce the formation of Minds + Machines Italia, a joint venture with Massimo Ralli and the other the people behind DotRoma (English version here). Minds + Machines will act as the registry operator for Minds + Machines Italia clients, including Dot Roma, as well as ICANN application preparation services.

Minds + Machines Italia is our exclusive partner for the Italian market. In addition to .ROMA, M+M Italia will target new TLDs for Italian cities, brands, and for Italian generic words. In addition to the services contributed by Minds + Machines, both parties are investing cash in Minds + Machines Italia for sales, marketing, and branding.

Close observers will have noticed that Europe leads the way in publicly-announced new top-level domain efforts for cities and regions. Minds + Machines, with partners now in Italy as well as Germany, is well-positioned to take advantage of this trend.

Top Level Domain Holdings, Ltd., a major shareholder in Minds + Machines, today announced that it has raised 2.5M pounds (approximately US$4.1M) in a private placement.

TLDH is a publicly-traded company listed under the ticker symbol TLDH.L on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market.

TLDH is the only public company focused exclusively on new top-level domains. The London Stock Exchange’s AIM market is available to U.S. investors through major brokerage houses such as E*Trade and Schwab.

In addition to providing capital for growth for Minds + Machines, TLDH will use the new funds to invest in new top-level domains and as a reserve fund for eventual auctions at ICANN in case of contending applications.

Circle ID has published an excellent discussion, by Rebecca MacKinnon, of civil society and free speech at ICANN. It touches on a number of topics, with an emphasis on China, but overall it’s about how ICANN can help guarantee some measure of free speech — not just within ICANN (yawn), but around the world, on the Internet as a whole.

From this perspective, consider the recent folderol about the Non-Commercial Users Constituency (NCUC). If you’ve been following this — which I don’t recommend unless you have an big appetite for petty insults — you’ll know that the NCUC came up with a (bottom-up) charter for how it should run itself, which was in large part replaced by the ICANN staff with a different (top-down) charter. Shrill howls ensued, ringing down the virtual corridors of the mailing lists.

Ms. McKinnon hits the nail on the head:

[T]here appear to be concerns amongst some members of the ICANN board that the NCUC is dominated by a certain group of American lawyers and academics, who for some reason they don’t like. There are a lot of personal animosities in both directions that seem to go way back to when ICANN was founded. Who gives a flying fart about those fights beyond the people involved? Everybody involved with ICANN needs to put the past behind them and figure out how to prove to the world that it can indeed be an effective, truly multi-stakeholder organization that represents the interests of the world’s Internet users.

Until recently, the NCUC (which in my observation has in fact until now been run mainly by American and European academics and lawyers), has not had the depth of expertise and experience among its membership—and leadership—to be truly helpful on matters of greatest concern to the developing and non-English speaking world. Nor has the At-Large constituency—the other potential vehicle for individual user interests seemed to be very useful in that regard. But the NCUC has in the past few months undergone a big recruitment drive and has brought in a lot of new members from around the world. I’m optimistic that with its new bottom-up structure (if ICANN allows it) the concerns of a new, more diverse membership will be able to drive the constituency’s work at ICANN in the future. I’m also optimistic that if members of civil society groups around the world view the NCUC as an effective way to engage with ICANN, they will make greater effort to participate. It’s time for ICANN to prove that its multi-stakeholder bottom-up process, which new CEO Rod Beckstrom has been bragging about, is not a sham. [Emphases mine.]

Sometimes the best thing to do is to just get out of the way. Many people involved with ICANN — both paid and volunteer — think that ICANN wouldn’t be where it is today without them. Who knows if that’s true, but if they thought about where ICANN has ended up, they might rue the claim. It’s definitely time for new blood at ICANN, starting with the CEO, and this most recent spat does seem to have drawn in new participants. Perhaps the endless fight about the non-commercial constituency will finally have a good effect.

In any case, thank you Ms. McKinnon for a thoughtful piece from a real-world perspective.

Here’s a nugget I just unearthed — Dot Eco LLC founder and Minds + Machines president Fred Krueger talking about .ECO – from the ICANN Cairo meeting last November. Learn a lot about .ECO, why it exists and what it hopes to do, in this informative 4-minute video (Flash, 32MB).

(From domaine.info)

One of our projects has been to gather and disseminate information about new TLDs, as well as about Minds + Machines and our clients. As well as this blog, we have two Twitter feeds. There’s a bit of duplication, naturally, but they each serve a different purpose:

• nTLD Twitter Feed — Comprehensive news feed of all news about new top-level domains — good, bad, or indifferent. This is *the* place to look if you need to see everything.
• newgTLDs Twitter Feed — Information about Minds + Machines. This feed echoes our blog feed and includes other updates as well.

Please follow either or both!

ICANN is having a live consultation at the Millenium Hotel in New York City on Monday, July 13, 2009. This is one two meetings (the other in London, July 16) to let people ask questions or vent frustration about the new gTLD process.

Because the Monday meeting is in New York City, the world’s largest concentration of trademark lawyers, ICANN staffers can expect some withering criticism, albeit nothing new or compelling. But for those not paid to care that the Internet can be inconvenient for major corporations, the meeting also provides a chance to ask questions about new gTLDs.

Number One Question: When is ICANN finally going to announce the date for submitting applications?

I will be at the meeting — if anyone would like to meet for a coffee, lunch, or a drink, please drop me a line.

Our partnership with EPAG Domainservices, a leading German registrar, is bearing fruit. Our non-exclusive arrangement with EPAG, where we supply registry software and ICANN expertise, while EPAG supplies local-language sales and support, is a great model, especially with a company of the EPAG’s high caliber.

Together, we participated in the 4-city roadshow across Germany designed to acquaint German businesses with the new TLDs. The interest in new TLDs was strong and persistent, and I now believe that a substantial number of German brand holders will be applying for a new top-level domain — either their own brand, and/or a generic word that describes their industry.

Here’s today’s press release in full:

EPAG and Minds + Machines See Strong Interest in .BRAND TLDs

EPAG Domainservices GmbH and Minds + Machines LLC saw a surge of interest in .BRAND top-level domains (TLDs) from German companies during a recently-concluded four-city exposition. Strong attendance and vigorous engagement by companies demonstrated vivid interest from businesses in applying for their brands as top-level domains.

The exposition, “.BRAND – BUT HOW?” was organized by eco e.V. and Markenverband e.V. to supply information to businesses about new TLDs. EPAG and Minds + Machines were major sponsors and welcomed 250 major brandholders to events in Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin.

Businesses showed strong interest in using new TLDs to benefit their brands.

Executives in marketing, trademark and IT told EPAG that many companies are preparing to apply for new TLDs, and understand the substantial value of this global digital asset.

Alexander Schwertner, Managing Director of EPAG, noted the enthusiastic response to the joint service offering of Minds + Machines and EPAG: “This roadshow has proven the market demand for new TLDs from businesses in Germany, underlining the need for ICANN to finalize the application procedure as soon as possible.” “We are delighted with our partnership with EPAG in Germany, and gratified that our registry technology and application preparation services are getting substantial traction in the German market,” said Antony Van Couvering, CEO of Minds + Machines.

In upcoming weeks, EPAG and Minds + Machines will run workshops throughout Germany for companies considering TLDs — including information on how to prepare their ICANN application.

Minds + Machines works internationally with companies, cities, not-for-profits and entrepreneurs to secure and operate new top-level domains (TLDs). Minds + Machines provides the comprehensive application preparation services necessary to acquire a new TLD, as well as a robust, scalable registry hardware and software platform used by over 20 TLDs worldwide today. Minds + Machines is known for its customer-friendly approach that is specifically designed to make the process of acquiring and operating new TLDs more accessible, more reliable and less expensive.

EPAG has been an ICANN-accredited domain registrar since 2000 and specializes in managing domains for resellers, large companies and SMEs. EPAG’s team of experts offers a wide variety of services ranging from fully automated domain registration to personal support in the registration of country code domains.