A New Blog About "New gTLDs"

I am partial to those from Law Firms which develop and offer their own gTLD products, with more often than not, many flaws in their offers. In the end, as you will doubtless find out, it is actually their ICANN Accredited Registrar that solves problems for their client for which the law firm bills at three times the price of the registrar.

Read my article on CircleId.

Today is a Historical moment for "the ICANN ROOT"

Below are the first 4 new gTLDs (these are IDNs) to be given get a green light by for delegation in the ICANN root. The delegation is one of the last ICANN processes to almost guarantee an applicant he will make it to the finish line and operate his TLD.

1. شبكة (xn--ngbc5azd) – Arabic word for “Web” or “Network”;
2. онлайн (xn--80asehdb) – Russian for “Online”;
3. сайт (xn--80aswg) – Russian for “Web site”;
4. 游戏 (xn--unup4y) – Chinese for “Game”.

In the ICANN announcement, a paragraph attracted my attention, it says: "Only applicants that can meet the requirements outlined in the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook will be given an opportunity to operate a gTLD."

Actually, this is not true. There are other roots which do not need the ICANN to operate. They don't work the same way but they do exist. You can even buy .GUN domain names on these Alternative Roots and request the creation of a city name, just for yourself.

An example here: http://gun.shofardomain.com/

Read the official announcement on the ICANN blog.

Radix Registry Passes 4 New gTLD Initial Evaluations

AUSTIN, Texas and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 07, 2013 – Radix Registry, the new TLD Company of Directi, has passed the initial evaluation stage on 4 of its TLD applications, .blog, .hotel, .online and .insurance.

Directi, a global leader in Internet products and Web services, under its new brand Radix had applied for 31 strings comprising several generic and mass market names. A month back, it was announced that Directi, Tucows and Namecheap will join forces to manage the .online registry, the string which successfully cleared the initial evaluation as mentioned earlier.

”All the hard work went into exploring every minute detail in building the application has paid off. Each application was custom made as per the TLD and we didn’t follow the cookie cutter approach like others”, said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of RadixRegistry.

The applications which are next in line are .hosting, .music and .city. “Apart from customizing the applications, meeting all the ICANN prescribed standards also helped us to successfully clear the Initial Evaluations”, added Mr. Turakhia.

Radix, the largest applicant from the Asia-Pacific Region, is the sole ICANN gTLD applicant for the .space, .press and .host strings. Radix previously announced that it has invested $30 million in to the application process. To know more about the strings they have applied for, please check http://radixregistry.com/.

About Radix

Radix FZC is a Directi Business whose mission is to become the registry operator of a variety of top level domains. Radix will be an active participant in ICANN's process to expand the Internet naming system, and will aim to obtain rights to operate several new generic domains. Radix will leverage Directi's rich domain expertise, and will be led by an able team that has helped flourish some of Directi's existing registrar and web hosting businesses.

About Directi Group

Directi (http://www.directi.com) is a $300+ million group of Businesses that develops innovative mass-market Web Products serving millions of Customers worldwide. Directi businesses include ResellerClub.com, BigRock.com, LogicBoxes, Media.net, Skenzo and rank amongst the fastest growing businesses worldwide in their corresponding industry segments. The combined Product Portfolio of various Directi businesses includes - Communication and Collaboration apps, Social Networking software, Instant messaging, Context Analysis Engines, Antispam and Antivirus Solutions, Large scale Billing and Provisioning platforms, Traffic Monetization Solutions, Online Advertising Solutions, DNS Management Products, Linux and Windows Server Management Software, Web Hosting Control Panels and much more. Directi is headquartered in Dubai, UAE and has more than 800 employees world-wide across five offices in the UAE, India, United States, and China.

"Top Level Design" applies for 10 new gTLDs

Top Level Design LLC is a new venture created by founders of AboutUs, SnapNames and ICANNWiki.

The company will be applying for 10 generic Top-Level Domains:

1. .blog (4 known applicants already);
2. .design (4 known applicants);
3. .style (3 known applicants);
4. .art (3 known applicants);
5. .ink;
6. .wiki;
7. .gay (4 known applicants);
8. .llc (3 known applicants);
9. .group;
10. .photography.

Find the list of other applicants on Registries.tel and read more here.

.BLOG Top-Level Domain

MY.CO is an ICANN accredited registrar also providing registry gateway services for the .CO country code Top-Level Domain.

According to its announcement, PRIMER NIVEL S.A. plans to apply for the .BLOG Top-Level Domain.