Why you should NOT apply for a .BRAND new gTLD

I read LOTS of publications about how fantastic .BRAND new domain name extensions are, and I fully agree that they are a wonderful tool.

I noticed that none covers why one applicant should NOT apply: no new gTLD specialist explains what can the disadvantages be to submit a .BRAND type new gTLD application so here is my personal cover published on CircleID:

There are two kinds of new domain name extensions: those dedicated to selling domain names through the network of accredited Registrars and those dedicated to a personnel use. I call these "dotBRANDs" or ".brand" new gTLDs since they are used — most of the time — by Trademarks for their own benefit. This article focuses on .BRAND new generic Top-Level Domains. In the ICANN vocabulary, these are "Registry Agreements with Specification 13”...

Read the full article here.

Gartner kills .CEB new gTLD after acquisition

Gartner Inc. terminated the Registry Agreement for .CEB after acquisition. This is what the content of the letter to the ICANN says:

Gartner, Inc. is the successor-in-interest to the Corporate Executive Board Company “CEB”), having completed an acquisition of CEB in 2017. This letter is to notify you that pursuant to Section 4.4 (b) of the Registry Agreement (RA) between ICANN and The Corporate Executive Board Company of April 9, 2015 Gartner, Inc. hereby terminates the RA for CEB. The Corporate Executive Board Company kindly asks if ICANN can initiate the termination process as soon as possible. Please do let us know if any further information is required.

Termination letter is available here (PDF download)

The ICANN Preliminary Determination letter is available here.

Termination of Registry Agreement for .JCP

On 23 April 2015, ICANN and JCP Media, Inc., entered into a Registry Agreement under which JCP Media, Inc., operated the .jcp top-level domain.

J. C. Penney Corporation, Inc. jut terminated the .JCP new gTLD on June the 23rd, 2020. Read the letter here (PDF download).

The ICANN acknowledged:

"In conformance with Section 4.5 of the Registry Agreement (as modified for a .Brand TLD), ICANN org may not delegate the TLD to a successor registry operator for a period of two years without the Registry Operator's consent, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed."

Read the answer here (PDF download)

Unfortunately, I can't point to JCP.com since the front page says: "We Are Currently Unable to Provide a Shopping Experience for This Country" (France).

ICANN to ACTO on .AMAZON : now talk to AMAZON

ALEXANDRA MOREIRA, Secretary General of the ACTO* wrote to the ICANN again with the intention to "to resume negotiations on the TLD’s governance with the Amazon Corporation., from the point where their side interrupted it, with a view to arriving at a satisfactory agreement." The letter can be downloaded here (PDF download).

Göran Marby, President and Chief Executive Officer Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) kindly answered some sort of a "no" with the option to talk directly to AMAZON:

"ICANN no longer can serve in a role of facilitating negotiation of the means..." and "I kindly encourage the ACTO Member States to resume negotiations with the Amazon Corporation ..."

"The process to complete the delegation of the .amazon top-level domain spanned over many years and took into account the interests of the applicant for the strings, the interests as expressed by ACTO and its member states, , and the relevant ICANN’s multistakeholder processes as limited through the ICANN Bylaws." 

The full ICANN answer can be downloaded here.

*The Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) is an Intergovernmental Organization formed by eight Member Countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, encouraging sustainable development and social inclusion in the region.

The COVID ended the .SHRIRAM new gTLD

This is the Notice of Registry Operator Request for Termination of Registry Agreement. The .SHRIRAM Top-Level Domain was terminated.

The notice was sent in May by SHRIRAM and it is due to the COVID situation:

We refer the registry agreement dt.23.01.2014 entered by Shriram Capital Ltd with you. Due to unprecedented Covid-19 effect on the business, we have no other option but to terminate the registry agrcement with effect from 3l't March 2020. We request you not to transit the domain name .SHRIRAM to any third party as we are the registered trademark owner of the name SHRIRAM. We requcst you to kindly do the needful at the earliest.

Download the notice of termination by the ICANN (PDF download)

Just updated: the .GAY new gTLD

The TLD Startup information page from the ICANN website was just updated with detailed information for the .GAY new gTLD. Important Dates:

• Sunrise Period: 10 February 2020 to 31 March 2020;
• Trademark Claims Period: 11 May 2020 to 07 December 2020;
• Limited Registration Period: ''Sunrise II'' - 6 Apr 2020 to 6 May 2020.

Check the official page.

Want to learn more about "the next Round"?

I keep having that question: "when is the next round?" and "what's your estimation?". Well, I like to give my opinion but ICANN history has clearly demonstrated that no date should ever be given unless it was published by the ICANN itself on its website somewhere. So no, I don't think it will be in 2022.

The next Applicant Guidebook

The applicant guidebook (also called the "AGB") is your next Bible and believe me, reading it is a total nightmare when you have no knowledge of the new gTLD application procedure: don't let this 338 pages PDF block you from submitting your application. By the way, the document I am referring to is dated 2012: it is the official documentation from the previous round of new gTLDs, the existing one is still being discussed and written.

I want to learn more

So you want to learn more? There is a way. Again, don't think that you will understand all of it but the positive thing about this is that there is documentation at the moment, a lot of it. The next official guidebook is being drafted and you can even contribute. Note that you will need to select the right group(s) to follow and learn to work in the distance doing meetings in the middle of the night and receive documentation that only the person who wrote it understands it. That is how it works but if you succeed in following the work group (which is a very big deal for me), you will start to understand what's coming upfront for the next round of new gTLDs. You will also understand how tortured are the participants ;-)

Where do I go?

I am only interested about "new gTLDs" so the path that I would suggest to follow is this one:

1. Visit the "New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP Home" (see here);
   
2. In the left column, there is blabla but point 2 tells you when the next meetings are (you will have to scroll down the list for the latest meetings). Note that these pages are then updated with the content of the meeting and an agenda is proposed prior to each meeting. It is this content you want to follow-up with to have an idea of what the actual discussions are for the next round of new gTLDs, and this is what you will probably read in the next Applicant Guidebook.
3. To receive plenty of email with updates about ICANN new gTLDs, you can subscribe here: all reminders and publications related to active projects are emailed there (if you would like to join an active working group, you will need to email your request).
4. Point 3 is king of disorganized and some subjects are outdated, I stick to point 2 personally.

My opinion on this process

I think it is a long one but I am the only one to think that, or am I? Also, you have to perfectly read English...but everyone speaks English right? I would love to be able to contribute more but the ICANN vocabulary is dictated by those exact same service providers you will have to talk to, to submit your new gTLD application so it is hardly understandable for new comers. For this exact same reason some will select the wrong service provider and pay an haw-full price for the submission of their application and its maintenance.

When it is time

At some point, the ICANN will give us a date. At that moment, you will have decided to apply because your project will also have been prepared upfront: this is important, don't get there with your first questions. A few things to consider:

1. Talk to more than one service provider AND DON'T LISTEN TO THE ONE THAT TELLS YOU ABOUT HIS FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE BECAUSE EXISTING FIGURES CLEARLY SHOW THAT MANY PROJECTS HAVE FAILED ;-) Remember that there has been one ICANN new gTLD round only in the history of Internet. 
2. Don't tell about your string but at the last moment and be very careful about NDAs: meeting with more than one service provider in competition in the same room is the number one mistake.
3. Don't sign a stupid contract with an exit fee or a minimum number of domains to create: try to get a price per domain created below the $1.
4. Don't forget about the annual 10,000 ICANN tax: if your plan is to create a .BRAND new gTLD, it WILL cost you a lot to use you personalized domain names.
5. Consider innovation and not just selling domain names.

The .ZUERICH new gTLD is here

The ICANN just made a modification to the official TLD Startup Information page related to the .ZUERICH new gTLD which was delegated in...December 2014.

Sunrise Period

• 01 December 2020 to 04 February 2021

Trademark Claims Period

• 24 February 2021 to 26 May 2021

Additional Periods

1. Limited Registration Period (LRP #1): 1 Apr 2020 to 31 Aug 2020
2. Qualified Launch Program (QLP): 21 Nov 2017 to 23 Sep 2019
3. Limited Registration Period (LRP #2): 4 Jan 2021 to 4 Feb 2021

Mission/purpose of the .ZUERICH new gTLD:

The content below was extracted from the official application submitted to the ICANN (and I got rid of the boring part):

The Canton of Zurich is one of the largest of Switzerland’s 26 Cantons, or national districts, and is home to the city of Zurich, which is the largest city in the country. The city has throughout its long history played an important role in the cultural and historical development of the Swiss Confederation and the country’s national identity.

The TLD “.ZUERICH” will be an expression of self-understanding and autonomy for the local state of Zurich and is anticipated to promote local industry, scientific interests, tourism and marketing, and to highlight the high standard of living in the Zurich region in a globally-visible and easily recognized format.

Long term, effective marketing of the “.ZUERICH” TLD is an important part of this plan, which will be effectuated through the careful and well-orchestrated cooperation of the city of Zurich, the Zurich Tourism office and the Canton itself. The key elements of the ISDM strategy include: i) unique and permanent positioning of the new “.ZUERICH” TLD, ii) preserving and enhancing the reputation of the space, iii) maintaining the well-regarded reputation of the Zurich brand, and iv) development of a common entry site for the name space (see Attachment 1 to our response to Question 48).

The applied-for TLD string, “ZUERICH,” represents the phonetic pronunciation of the German-speaking Canton. In German, the spelling of the Canton is “Zürich”. The Umlaut over the “u” in the word produces a “ue” sound, leading to the pronunciation of “Zuerich”, corresponding to the proposed TLD text. Thus, it has become standard amongst Swiss Internet users, when typing, to replace “ü” with “ue.” The logical TLD for the Canton is therefore “.ZUERICH.”

The Mission and Purpose of the “.ZUERICH” space

The new gTLD “.ZUERICH,” is intended to support the new branding project of Zürich on the Internet.

The “.ZUERICH” TLD shall provide a comprehensive vehicle through which the Canton may communicate not only with citizens, companies, and organization within its region, but even with individuals and companies worldwide who, in one way or another, interact with the Canton of Zurich.

Initially, the Canton will reserve all domain names under “.ZUERICH” to itself, and may later elect to license domain name registrations under “.ZUERICH” to its affiliates such as, but not limited to i.e., Cantonal and city governmental departments and municipalities, cultural and artistic organizations, or transportation authorities. The Canton may further decide to license the use of second level domain names to other affiliates.

The Canton of Zurich will oversee all registrations for the space, and will be the only authorized registrant of domains. This provision will be made clear in, and enforced via, the applicable Registry-Registrar agreement. All registrars offering “.ZUERICH” domain names for registration will be aware of this requirement, and will be provided with sufficient information to enable them to verify whether a potential applicant for a domain name is in fact the properly authorized entity. The single-registrant nature of the space will provide the Canton with necessary monitoring opportunities, to ensure that the TLD is used only for appropriate purposes and to display relevant content.

The Canton anticipates benefiting from this new space by providing a single comprehensive and helpful location where interested parties can learn more about the opportunities available in Zurich. Visitors and long-time residents alike will come to view gTLD “.ZUERICH” as the natural “go-to” for information about the area. Used in this way, the Canton expects the gTLD “.ZUERICH” to play an important role in its new branding project for Zürich.