The .MUSIC new gTLD is a go!

Domain names ending in ".music" (instead of ".com") are coming. The news is fresh and from the 8 applicants from 2012, one remains: Constantinos Roussos, from Music.us, is the final winner of this 7 years fight between multiple applicants.

Announced yesterday in a Tweet, Constantinos pointed mad new gTLD evangelists (like me) to a link proving the change:

• Application Status: Evaluation Complete
• Contention Resolution Status: Resolved

A "community" application

The application states that .MUSIC is a community application. It means that these domain names will be restricted to being registered by members of the music community. Let's hope that restrictions to future registrants (those who will register such domain names) won't block them from registering one. It is what happened to the applications of multiple registry Dominion Registry (and a few others), who finally decided to remove restrictions from some of their extensions.

Note that this TLD is already available in the monthly new gTLD reports from Jovenet Consulting.

What the application says
Question 18A from the application "Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD" is a rather long one so I extracted what I believe is of my personal and selfish interest. I'd suggest to read the full application for those who want full details:

The .MUSIC Mission / Purpose is:

• Creating a trusted, safe online haven for music consumption & licensing
• Establishing a safe home on the Internet for Music Community (ʺCommunityʺ) members regardless of locale or size
• Protecting intellectual property & fighting piracy
• Supporting Musiciansʹ welfare, rights & fair compensation
• Promoting music and the arts, cultural diversity & music education
• Following a multi-stakeholder approach of fair representation of all types of global music constituents, including a rotating regional Advisory Committee Board working in the Community’s best interest

.MUSIC will effectively differentiate itself by addressing the key online usage issues of safety, trust, consistency, brand recognition as well as communicate site subject-matter: music-related content. The TLD will be exclusive to the Community and will incorporate enhanced safeguards and Use policies to protect creators, intellectual property and rights holders.

DotMusic will also provide non-registry services and activities which have been established through ongoing outreach efforts. Community members need to be able to distinguish themselves from illegal or unlicensed sites. Ensuring monies flow to rightful owners and the Music Community is critical to the .MUSIC Mission. Purpose-driven services and activities are:

1. Development of Music Community Social Network Premium Domain Channels (Channels) sorted by category types, e.g. genres. It will leverage Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices to improve .MUSIC website search result rankings. The objective is for .MUSIC domains to signal a badge of trust that enables search engines to provide music consumers more relevant and safer search results while reducing infringing and unlicensed rogue sites. Premium Channel development will also include a global Song Registry;
2. Promoting arts and music through sponsorships, events and Music Community activities; Enriching society with artistic and cultural diversity;
3. Advancing music education and the study of music in school curriculum by donating proceeds of domain registrations to relevant causes;
4. Re-inventing music discovery and search innovation by leading the way to establish the Industry standard for official music sites to benefit the at-large global Music Community and the Internet;
5. Enabling legal music licensing via a global Song Registry akin to the International Music Registry (IMR - www.wipo.int⁄imr) & Global Repertoire Database (GRD - www.globalrepertoiredatabase.com ⁄ International Copyright Enterprise) initiatives. 

DotMusic serves the Community without conflicts of interest and is accountable to the Community by establishing an Advisory Committee & Policy Board with representation from each constituency in the Community. The Committee will advise and provide perspective on .MUSIC issues such as broad policy matters and introductions of new services to meet Community needs.

The Premium Channels will maximize the competitive landscape and innovation in both the music and domain space.

A Global Protected Marks Lists (GPML) will reserve all major music brands and established artists, such as RIAA-certified platinum-selling bands.

Phased launches provides rights holders a first-come in the .MUSIC Sunrise, auction of multiple initial landrush domain inquiries, and eventually allows all stakeholders of the Community to register. All registrants must adhere to restricted Use, Name and Anti-Abuse policies that will be monitored to prevent bad practices harming the Music Community.

The full application can be downloaded here.

Note that what the applications says is now "dated" so anything can happen. Oh, and by the way, I can't wait for Madonna.music

4 years to delegate the .AFRICA new gTLD

On the 13th of June 2012 was published the list of new gTLD applicants who submitted an application for a new generic Top-Level Domains. Check down this page to find the list. One might be surprised to see that there was one application only on that list...but in fact, there were two. The second applicant made a mistake submitting its application and applied for the ".DOTAFRICA" new gTLD instead (see below in the list). This issue was solver later one.

Almost 5 years to launch a TLD
I stopped following the different legal procedures a long ago since it was unclear what really happened and to be honest...what a waste of time and money. What to remember:

• Official delegation: official date of the delegation: 15 February 2017 (check the ICANN publication);
• Official registry: http://nic.africa/;
• Application submitted by the applicant to the ICANN: the application;
• Date of the Sunrise Period to be published soon here. 

What you missed in our previous Newsletters:

1. HOT - The languages of new top level domains (part 5 in a series examining the geography of new domain endings (nTLDs);
2. .SPACE new gTLD is 2 years old;
3. New gTLDs: meaning of the MIIT Accreditation;
4. Thoughts About the Proposed Copyright Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy;
5. Interesting: "We Need a New Industrial Internet";
6. Amazon launches new Amazon Chime service on a .brand new gTLD;
7. New gTLD Subsequent Procedures Working Group Transcript;
8. Listen to Mert Saka at Turkey DNS Forum 2017;
9. Live new domains:
1. LIVE: https://insideretail.live/
2. UNICOM: http://www.unicom/sitemap/index.html (sitemap)
3. NATURA: https://global.natura
10. 1 more new gTLD gets the nod from China;
11. The DNA Initiative Isn't Healthy for the Internet;
12. .BRAND new gTLDs: answers from "Nomulus";
13. ICANN to begin delegation of .AFRICA domain;
14. New .BRAND gTLDs:
1. Amazon: https://chime.aws
2. AFL: http://play.afl
15. Why new gTLDs rule in usability!
16. Geo “.Com” Vs. Geo “New gTLD”;
17. .ART domain name launch shuts down over technical difficulties;
18. NewG talk #25 (the rise of .loan has been spectacular);
19. U.S. Antitrust Division investigating Verisign running .WEB new gTLD;
20. Chinese TLDs get Chinese approval;
21. .Ceo and .best to release 1 and 2 character domains;
22. Which new domains are sold?
23. The .AFRICA new gTLD:
1. ICANN Free to Proceed with Delegation of .AFRICA;
2. Third time lucky: ICANN beats off .africa ban;
3. .AFRICA to finally go live after judge denies injunction.

Update: 4 new gTLDs were delegated

Four new generic Top-Level Domains were delegated. It means that they will soon start to spread on Internet and you will see websites with domain names ending in:

1. .FUN (there were 3 applicants for this application);
2. .PHONE (there were 2 applicants for this application and a similar TLD already exists: the .TEL domain name extension which has more than 100,000 registrations);
3. .DATA (there were 3 applicants for this application);
4. .MOBILE (there were 3 applicants for this extension and a similar TLD already exists: the .MOBI new gTLD).

The dates for Sunrise Periods should be announced soon at the Trademark Clearinghouse.

What you missed in our previous Newsletters:

1. 3 new gTLDs coming? (.PHONE / .DATA / .MOBILE);
2. Are ".com" domain names dying?
3. Not-Coms See Major Growth in Web Traffic Rankings;
4. New Afnic issue paper "Brands and the new Corp TLDs";
5. Perfect Usage of a .Christmas Domain;
6. Update - In which extension(s) should companies secure their domains?
7. Will 2017 finally be the year of the new gTLD?
8. The .CHARITY Independent Review Process;
9. What is a .BRAND;
10. NewG talk #17;
11. Declaration on .AFRICA new gTLD;
12. .Com Domain Registrations Back Under 128 Million.

Domain name registration volumes: 

• New gTLDs related to COMPANIES; 
• New gTLDs related to the LAW (the .LAW is in the blue); 
• New gTLDs related to FINANCE;
• New gTLDs related to COLORS;
• New gTLDs related to SPORT;
• New gTLDs related to ALCOHOL;
• New gTLDs related to REAL ESTATE (many are in the red: end of the year?

Our reports are available here.

Since most new gTLDs have launched, reports will be updated on a monthly basis starting January 2017.

Note to our readers: starting January 2017, the content of our Newsletter will be sent by email only. It will not be made available online anymore on www.newsletter.domains.

Another new gTLD was delegated

One more new gTLD was delegated today, it is the .MONSTER Top-Level Domain and here is what the application says.

The proposed .monster gTLD is a restricted, single-registrant TLD that would help Monster continue as the global leader in online recruitment by enhancing and expanding Monster Worldwide’s ability to:

• simplify Internet user navigation to Monster Worldwide products and services; 
• deliver new and innovative products and services;
• enable marketing campaign activation; 
• facilitate secure interaction and communication with employers and job seekers; 
• improve business operations; 
• demonstrate market leadership in adopting innovative technologies; and
• meet future client expectations and competitive market demands.

New domain name registration volumes:

• New gTLDs related to RELIGION;
• Interesting - Singular VS Plural new gTLDs;
• French new gTLDs related.

Tonight's Newsletter:
To subscribe and receive the latest NEWS in your email, click here.

In our previous Newsletter:

1. Universal Acceptance (new gTLDs): Yandex.Mail provides receipt and delivery for Cyrillic, Turkish alphabets and now for any other languages;
2. New gTLD competitors of .Com is opposed to the extension of ICANN's agreement with Verisign;
3. .CLUB is elected Registry of the Year;
4. .GAMES Premium Domains: A Comparison;
5. Descriptiveness - The .CLUB Registry changed the blog section of its website to a ".blog" domain name: http://club.blog;
6. M+M Extension Losing 30% Of Registrations Over 13 new gTLDs.

Previous Campaigns can be viewed here.

Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements

More and more new gTLDs are delegated

You probably noticed that many new gTLDs are (and keep) being delegated during the holidays. According to each new delegation,we add gTLDs to the right report. The .SWIFTCOVER new gTLD was added to the CARS report and the awaited .DOCTOR was added to the HEALTH report. The .LUNBECK (a Trademark) just has its first domain name registration listed.
The Generic new gTLD report (see link below) was updated to day and we are happy to see that the .INTERNATIONAL new gTLD receives more registrations than previous weeks before.

News:

1. Registration volumes:
1. HOT - Generic new gTLDs with a potential to replace ".com" domains;
2. New gTLDs related to HEALTH;
3. New gTLDs related to CARS;
2. dotBrand - Barclays new domain name strategy and operations decrypted;
3. COOL - data on domain growth: geographic top level domains are more popular than IDNs, at least in terms of registration volume;
4. The .WEB auction goes ahead after ICANN denies new gTLD applicant's appeal;
5. Article - 8 companies saying yes to new gTLDs;
6. dotBrand - New gTLD benchmarks: how do your brands compare?
7. Nine new gTLDs were delegated:
1. the .DUCK new gTLD (nothing to do with the animal);
2. .RAID (nothing to do with the French Police élite forces);
3. .SWIFTCOVER (added to report)
4. .SCJOHNSON
5. .IEEE
6. .OFF
7. .DOCTOR (added to report)
8. .RIGHTATHOME
9. .TIAA
8. ICANN Publishes gTLD Statistics and Trends Report, Asks for Community Feedback;
9. If you missed a new gTLD newsletter,they are archived at www.newsletter.domains.

Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements

What should the role of a new gTLD Registry be?

We are preparing an article on the kind a role a new gTLD applicant should have for the community it has decided to represent. DotBrand new gTLDs are not concerned but generics are. It will be published in French first and adapted to English. There is a lot of innovation that we rarely find with new Registries. We will present what we believe is the real role of a Registry.

News:

1. HOT - The owner of multiple new gTLD applications was acquired by another company;
2. Branding - What factors did you consider before choosing data.world for your brand?
3. Registration volumes:
1. New gTLDs related to ALCOHOL;
2. New gTLDs related to REAL ESTATE;
3. COOL - New gTLDs related to SPORT.
4. Facilitating a Trusted Web Space for Financial Service Professionals;
5. Revised Report on DNS Abuse and New gTLD Program Safeguards Now Available;
6. 52 new TLD sales over $5,000;
7. Donuts and Radix still miffed over .Web applicant;
8. New gTLD Breakdown according to Verisign (Registry of ".com" domain names);
9. Release of Country and Territory Names within the .SOFTBANK, .ART and .CARAVAN TLDs;
10. gTLD Marketplace Health Index (Beta): Call for Comments;
11. Three new gTLDs were just delegated:
1. the .LPL
2. the .LPLFINANCIAL
3. the .BESTBUY
12. Getting a handle on spam emanating from generic top-level domains.

Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements

A lot of new gTLDs were "just" delegated

Many new gTLDs were delegated recently, which means that more are going to launch. Most of them are Trademarks. Some of these .BRANDs were added to the new gTLD reports.

1. "ICANN Secretly Colludes With New gTLD Registry Operators";
2. SEO expert says “.com”. Other expert says “It depends”;
3. Registration volumes:
1. HOT - New gTLDs related to CITIES;
2. New gTLDs related to CATERING;
3. New gTLDs related to PHOTOGRAPHY.
   (was added to the ".panasonic" new gTLD to the report)
4. Just noticed: there is an http://gaming.youtube listed in Google;
5. A conversation with Matt Mullenweg about .BLOG domain names;
6. A History of .SCOT: An Interview with Chris Jones;
7. Which celebrity has registered its ".club" domain name? There is a directory for Celebrities.
8. Starting soon: the .QUEST Sunrise Period;
9. Patent: system and method for modifying a domain name system template;
10. New gTLDs which were just delegated (and which shall launch soon):
1. .BBT
2. .PANASONIC
3. .BEAUTY
4. .LUNDBECK
   (was added to the HEALTH new gTLD report)
5. .TJX
6. .SMART
7. .FUJIXEROX
8. .HOMESENSE
9. .STAPLES
10. .MARSHALLS
11. .LANCOME
12. .TKMAXX
13. .HOMEGOODS
14. .PFIZER
15. .VIVO
16. .WINNERS
17. .ONYOURSIDE
18. .TJMAXX
19. .NATIONWIDE
11. To subscribe to the new gTLD' newsletter: it's here.

Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements

Today is ".RIP" Nice

For the second time recently, France is facing another terrorist attack. Today is a sad day and all my thoughts go to these families in Nice whose kids were murdered. I strongly believe that one of the reasons why France is hit so hard is because our Government is so slow at taking the right decisions: our forces are not even allowed to react when they are thrown rocks at during demonstrations. French are seriously pissed by this situation.

News:

1. Auction - ICANN: please postpone the .WEB auction;
2. Is Verisign .web applicant’s secret sugar daddy?
3. Registration volumes:
1. HOT - GENERIC new gTLDs (".com" challengers);
2. New gTLDs related to CARS;
3. New gTLDs related to HEALTH.
4. Rightside reveals premium and .live stats, date for 2-character release;
5. Just delegated:
1. the .INTUIT new gTLD;
2. the .MINT new gTLD;
   (was added to the FINANCE new gTLD report)
3. the .MACYS new gTLD;
4. the .LEFRAK new gTLD;
   (was added to the REAL ESTATE new gTLD report)
5. the .ALLSTATE new gTLD;
6. the .GOODHANDS new gTLD.
6. Article - 5 Things You Should Advise Your Client to Do with That Defensively Registered Domain;
7. The .MOI new gTLD Sunrise Period ends today.

Announcing the "GENERICs" new gTLD report

We are announcing a new weekly report based on registration volumes. I have selected, what I consider generic domain name extensions, which could replace the existing .COM Top-Level Domain. This report will show the evolution of these generic TLDs week after week. We welcome your comments if you believe that some extensions are missing in this report.
News

1. Article - Differentiate your brand online and give your website a boost!
2. Breaking - Donuts to acquire Rightside?
3. Nine domain name extensions were just delegated:
1. .POLITIE
2. .ART
3. .NFL
4. .WOODSIDE
5. .TRAVELCHANNEL
6. .HGTV
7. .FRONTDOOR (was added to the Real Estate new gTLD report);
8. .FOODNETWORK (was added to the Catering new gTLD report);
9. .COOKINGCHANNEL (was added to the Catering new gTLD report).
4. New gTLD registration volumes:
1. New - New gTLDs related to GENERICS;
2. New gTLDs related to CARS;
3. New gTLDs related to HEALTH.
5. The Dutch Police has its “.politie” new gTLD.
6. More coming.

The Nameshield Group: Registry, Corporate and Retail Registrar

Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements

The new gTLD info of Wednesday

China seems to be "the" place where to sell new domain names and many Registries are moving there. On the four new gTLDs delegated recently, 2 are Trademarks, one is controversial and the other is the name of a city.

1. Another new gTLD Registry heads to China;
2. Four (4) new strings were just delegated;
3. Icann new gTLD agenda;
4. Strange: watch the earth in .BLUE;
5. ICANN tests emergency registry with dead .BRAND;
6. New gTLD applicant Videos;
7. More in  your Newsletter.

Subscribe to the new gTLD Newsletter to receive the complete information with links to sources.

The Nameshield Group: Registry, Corporate and Retail Registrar

Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements

The new gTLD info of the day (Week-end)

New domain names underdevelopment
Below is another look at a few developed sites on the new gTLDs. Screenshots are linked to the sites if you’d like to check them out for yourself.
http://domainshane.com/new-gtld-development-clearer-link-volo-global-various-property/

After a Record Sales Month .CLUB Will Have a Lot of Domains in Our Next Weekly Report
A day after our latest weekly domain sales report came out Wednesday (December 2),.CLUB announced they had a record-breaking month in November, booking just over$1,622,000 worth of premium domain sales.
http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2015/dailyposts/20151204.htm#.VmMQe1gzIt4.twitter

New gTLDs recently delegated:

1. 3 December 2015: ".INSURANCE";
2. 3 December 2015 ".NORTON";
3. 3 December 2015 ".MED";
4. 3 December 2015 ".SYMANTEC".
   http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings

Night.club
Nine "Category Killer" .CLUB Web Addresses Including Strip.club and Fitness.club to Be Offered January 11, 2016 in Las Vegas
http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/-2079436.htm

Now Available In Chinese!
State of the Domains, the magazine that is published by the Domain Name Association, is now available in Chinese. It was translated from the original English version that was distributed at ICANN 54.
http://onlinedomain.com/2015/12/06/news/state-of-the-domains-magazine-now-available-in-chinese/

The Nameshield Group: Registry, Corporate and Retail Registrar

Most recent Trademark Clearinghouse Sunrise Period announcements