"Sorry, that domain name is already taken. Try another search..."
Go to your favorite place to register your catchy two word .com idea and this is what you'll see. Heck, try it with even a NOT so catchy idea and you'll probably get the same thing.
The pace at which domain names are being registered has greatly increased recently. From 1st Quarter 1996 through 2nd Quarter 2000 nearly 20,000,000 domain names have been registered. 11,000,000 of those were registered in the 1st and 2nd Quarter of 2000 alone. [Source: http://www.dotcom.com/facts/quickstats.html]
The early adopters who speculated on the .com extension won big. Now, everyone is trying to jump in and get their piece of the pie only to find crumbs.
While the .com public mindset isn't going away anytime soon, more opportunities will soon become available in early 2001 as the decision to add new top level domains (TLD's) has arrived.
Where We'Ve Been
In June 1998, because of the growing international importance of the Internet, the U.S. Government stated its willingness to transfer the technical coordination of critical Internet systems to a not-for-profit organization, rather than continue with the current management of these systems done by contractors and volunteers on an ad hoc basis. Among these important systems is the domain name system (DNS).
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), became the organization that entered into an agreement with the U.S. Department of Commerce in November 1998 to handle this task.
ICANN administers domain name registrations by entering into agreements with other parties that are technically capable of carrying it out. The most famous of these agreements is the one made with Network Solutions Inc. in November 1999 because it involved the operation of the most popular unrestricted TLD registry - .com (.net and .org were included in this as well).
ICANN sets the rules for accreditation for those that want to be registrars for these extensions. While there are many registrars (places where you can register a domain name) for the .com extension, there is only one registry. That registry is operated by Network Solutions and as such they are the ones who ultimately accept registration requests as well as wholesale domain registration to the many registrars.
Where We Are Now
April/May 2000: The Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO), an ICANN working group, submitted recommendations on establishing a policy for introducing new TLD's.
July 2000: The ICANN Board of Directors adopted this recommendation at their meeting in Japan and established a schedule for carrying it out.
August 2000: ICANN posted detailed criteria on the process for those who want to apply to sponsor or operate the new TLD's.
September 5, 2000: ICANN began accepting applications. Each one required a non-refundable $50,000 fee that only obligates ICANN to consider the application.
October 2, 2000: The application period for the new TLD's concluded. 47 applications were received. 44 have since been posted (3 were dropped) and are available for public comment at http://www.icann.org/tlds
Where We Are Heading
The 44 active applications will be available for review until November 5, 2000. ICANN then plans to release a detailed report in mid-November and will offer another opportunity for public comment.
In the following weeks, ICANN will release its selections and begin to seek agreements with those organizations that will ultimately become the new registry sponsors and operators.
Currently, ICANN has not announced which extensions will be chosen or home many will be chosen.
The Tidal Wave Approaches
You may have noticed that some of the registrars are offering "pre-registration" of new domain names on speculation. Naturally, DNSO released a statement on September 29, 2000 frowning on this and has stated that no one is authorized to do so, nor should this practice be encouraged.
This only serves to stimulate the wave of activity that is most likely coming from those who missed the boat on a memorable .com name and those that want to secure their well established names under the new extensions.
Will one of the new TLD's become favorable and eventually rise to challenge the value and public awareness of .com down the road? Or will the new TLD's gain only the modest respect that .net and .org now have? Only time will tell.
No doubt that attempts to register famous trademarks will be more heavily scrutinized after all the "cybersquatting" litigation that has taken place. But what about those that are not so famous?
Let's suppose that .biz is one of the new TLD's chosen. You can be sure that Microsoft isn't going to have any trouble getting microsoft.biz, but what about those who have enjoyed success with a generic .com name? Will they get first crack at it or is it fair game? Will registration servers be clogged with everyone trying to get every catchy one word and two word .biz name they can think of?
We'll start getting answers to these questions as the drama heats up in the coming months. The actual details of implementation and rollout of the new TLD's still remains to be seen until the technical details of the applications are reviewed and choices are made. ICANN promises that sustaining the stability of the Internet is its primary concern.
In any case, the wave is fast approaching and ready to hit shore. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out and what steps ICANN will take to administer it. Stay on top of current news with this issue by visiting http://www.icann.org to see how it may affect your business.
ICANN's target date for completion of negotiations is set for December 31, 2000. On the eve of the new year will you be reaching for a champagne glass or your laptop?
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