Blog: dot sco

This month I had the distinct privilege of participating in a fantastic session at DePaul University in Chicago, where Paul McGrady (many in the intellectual property world know him as the author on the Lexis-Nexis guide “McGrady on Domains”) hosted and moderated a very well attended session on New TLDs.

The session was well attended, and had applicants, in-house counsel for large well known brands, students, registrars, brand management companies, very sharp attorneys, and many very impressive representatives from the intellectual property profession.

The panel consisted of J. Scott Evans from Yahoo!, Marc Trachtenberg from Winston & Strawn LLP, David Wheeler from Greenberg Traurig, LLP, and myself.

I have posted the presentations and some more information on the session HERE.

It was a distinct honor to sit amongst this group of peers, and there were great questions from the audience.

-Jothan

We’ve launched a new website at www.supportnewtlds.com listing some of the more visible new TLD efforts, with a focus on the consumer benefits and the entities supporting the various efforts. This is intended to be a general resource for the ICANN community at large, and for people wanting to have a better understanding of what to expect when the new TLD round happens.

If you have a TLD that you would like added, or a comment, please contact us.

Governments seem to be coming around to the idea of new TLDs. A committee in the Scottish Parliament approved the .sco application after receiving assurances from the government it was pushing for an application to be submitted to ICANN this year. The parliament’s Public Petitions Committee vote was unanimous.

Scotland joins New York, Paris, and Barcelona as places where the relevant government has announced support for their own top-level domain. (There may be others, please leave a comment if so. )

I know of some TLDs I can’t talk about, but here’s a list of those who have announced to the world that they are planning to go through the ICANN process. These are either people who have let me know it’s ok to talk about them, or are otherwise publicly announced. With thanks to Dirk Krischenowski at .berlin for his list and to Michele Neylon for his help.

City gTLDs

• .bcn (Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain)
• .berlin
• .hamburg
• UPDATED: .london or .london (One initiative, 2 web sites)
• .köln (Köln/Cologne, Germany)
• .munich (no web site yet)
• .nyc
• .paris
• .pdx (Portland, Oregon, USA)

Regional TLDs

• .africa and .africa
• .bayern (Bayern/Bavaria, a region in Germany)
• .bzh (Brittany, a region in France)
• .cym (Wales, a principality in the U.K.)
• .eng (England, a kingdom in the U.K.)
• .gal (Galicia, a region in Spain)
• .ker (Cornwall, a region in the U.K.)
• .lli (Leon, a region in Spain)
• .lat (Latin America)
• .med (Mediterranean) — no web site yet
• .que (Quebec, a province in Canada)
• .sco (Scotland, a kingdom in the U.K.)
• .vla (Flanders, a region in Belgium) — no web site yet
• (UPDATED) .yks (Yorkshire — thanks to AB)

Ethnic/Language gTLDs

These may be similar to geographical TLDs, but these strings are not official territorial names, so they likely fall outside the ICANN rules for geographical names.

• .arab – web site not operational
• .eus (Basque)
• .indigi (for indigenous peoples)

Industry/activity-specific gTLDs

• NEW: .health (thanks to AB)
• .movie
• .music (there are several other .music initiatives)
• .sport (initiative #1)
• .sport (initiative #2)
• .xxx (adult)
• .web (there are many other unannounced .web initiatives)

Charitable gTLDs

• .eco (Ecological)
• .green (Ecological)
• (UPDATED) .fam (Family — Initiative #1) (thanks to Chad)
• (UPDATED) .fam (Family — Initiative #2)

Brand gTLDs

Brands have been very hesitant to announce, but there are many waiting in the wings. Some are just thinking of defensive registrations, others have innovative marketing and branding plans.

• .deloitte

Know of any others? Please leave a comment. This list will soon find its way to our resources page.