GNSO New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (Face-to-Face meeting) : 28 October 2017

This PDP Working Group is tasked with calling upon the community’s collective experiences from the 2012 round of the New gTLD Program to determine what, if any changes may need to be made to the existing oNew gTLD policy recommendations from 8 August 2007. Those who are interested in providing their input into new gTLD policy recommendations for subsequent procedures are encouraged to attend.

More here.

(previously wanted to post this to gtld.events : apologies)

Amazon looks for a gTLD Registry Counsel

Counsel will support the Amazon Registry Services business on a broad range of commercial contracting, licensing, technology, and regulatory matters relating to gTLD registries. Counsel will work directly with business teams, providing day-to-day advice, resolving issues that arise in existing commercial relationships and addressing pre-litigation legal disputes and inquiries. Counsel’s principal duties will include structuring, drafting and negotiating complicated technology, distribution, licensing, marketing, and other commercial agreements, including agreements with third parties in the domain name space. Counsel will also provide ongoing legal counseling in a wide range of areas relating to intellectual property, including contractual relationships, data protection, and regulatory compliance. Limited travel (domestic and international) may be required. The successful candidate must be inquisitive, enthusiastic about technology, have a sense of humor, be business minded and demonstrate sound judgment even in ambiguous situations.

Basic qualifications

• 5+ years of legal experience (with at least three years at a leading law firm or in house) as a transactional attorney, preferably with focused experience in specialized IT contracts and/or the domain name system
• Familiarity with trademark and copyright law
• A J.D. degree and membership in good standing in at least one state bar
• Limited travel (domestic and international) may be required

Preferred qualifications

• In house experience at a technology company
• Familiarity with cross-jurisdictional contracting issues is a plus
• Strong written and oral communication skills
• Strong analytical skills
• Excellent organizational skills, ability to manage multiple projects at once, follow through and meet deadlines
• Ability to work independently while being able to contribute successfully to cross-functional teams
• Common sense, great judgment, and a good sense of humor

Apply here.

3 new gTLDs for "game"

There are 3 new generic Top-Level Domains for the sign "game":

1. The .GAME new gTLD;
2. The .GAMES new gTLD;
3. The .游戏 (.game) new gTLD.

These 3 new gTLDs appear in the SPORT new gTLD report.

The right approach for .BRANDs

Unless I am wrong, I think that these .BRAND domain names were redirections to long URLs.
Not anymore:

• http://location.leclerc/
• https://www.mouvement.leclerc/
• http://www.photomoinscher.leclerc/
• ...

That could look like an approach for trademarks to start using their .BRAND new gTLD:

1. Use new domain names as redirections to old long URLs;
2. Host final contents differently;
3. Use new ".brand" domain names and kill redirections.

Losing auctions: the next new gTLD business model

Reading that small line, in the link below, reminds me that I never signed any NDA to participate in the Famous Four Media project: what if I had published or distributed their list of strings prior to the first round of the ICANN new gTLD program to close?

You don't understand?
Here is an explanation - and again - it focuses on the number one reason why participants in the next ICANN new gTLD program should pay attention to confidentiality.

What the text says
The link I am referring to, points to this line which says: "An additional $2.4million of cash due as a result of the private auctions for .llc and .inc in which the Company withdrew its applications".

In more simple words, it means that this participants (called a "multiple registry"), earned $2.4 million by withdrawing two of its applications in the ICANN new gTLD program: this in return of participating in an auction for a third party (the winner of the auction) to become sole operator of these two extensions.

As a reminder, it cost $185,000.00 to submit one application (in fact it cost more than this but let's focus on basic figures) and in that case, by withdrawing it because of an auction, it generated $1.2 million.

Thinking fast

Let's assume that a participant to a new gTLD project gets info prior to the next round to begin: developing competing projects for the sole purpose to participate in auctions becomes highly profitable. It is risky but much faster to reach out to profitability and much more profitable than selling domain names.

Another line below in the linked document says: "H1 2016 group losses of $1.9million reduced to $0.5million group loss H1 2017". The first new gTLD launched in 2013.

The .CHLOE gTLD

The operation of the .chloe gTLD is being transferred to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) as part of this test. Simulating an emergency registry operator transition will provide valuable insight into the effectiveness of procedures for addressing potential gTLD service interruptions.



Transition Simulation in Progress