The CircleId Newsletter

I sometimes write articles on CircleId and noticed that a newsletter's field now appears on top of articles.

CircleId is an excellent source of information to follow what's going on in the new gTLD world and, since round one of the ICANN new gTLd program, it has become THE place where to announce.

For those to write there, I strongly recommend to add the "Top-Level Domains" tags to your article.

I am now a subscriber.

The .IDN new gTLD (or .INTERNET)

IDN has a lot of meanings and one of them is "Internationalized Domain Names". It is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code for the country of Indonesia too.

The "AGB"
For anybody who went through the process of applying to a new gTLD in the first rounfd of the ICANN new gTLD program, page 67 of the new gTLD applicant guidebook (AGB) says:

"2.2.1.4.1 Treatment of Country or Territory Names: applications for strings that are country or territory names will not be approved, as they are not available under the New gTLD Program in this application round. A string shall be considered to be a country or territory name if: it is an alpha-3 code listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard".

So, someone paid $185,000 + all extra costs to apply for the .IDN new gTLD. The same happened for the .AND new gTLD and a few others I think.

Just for the note, the .IDN applications says:

"The purpose of the proposed gTLD is to offer a bridge for the Internationalized Domain Name Registrant to connect to users beyond their own language communities. This gTLD would be of help in furthering the Internet Communityʹs efforts to preserve the Internet as a unified, Global space. The proposed gTLD .IDN supports multiple cultural, linguistic and ethnic communities across the world by helping communities connect to the rest of the world across the barrier of language".

.IDN or .INTERNET ?
In a letter sent to ICANN in March 05, 2013, the applicant reported his mistake and offered to change it to .INTERNET. Probably a lot happened since 2013 but an answer to the applicant was published by the ICANN on the 24 April 2017 in regard to this change request. It says two things:

1. "We note your commitment";
2. "We encourage you to participate in the Policy Development Process".

After 4 years of procedure, there's still no answer.

What to think about all this?
Applying for a new domain name extension cost a lot of money and if the entry fee should be lowered in future rounds of the ICANN new gTLD program (not that nobody can tell about this today), it will still cost a lot so:

• Do not apply  for a new gTLD if you have not read the applicant guidebook: this should be your bible when it has been updated and finalized for the next round (s);
• Do not apply for a new gTLD "on your own" because you will forget something: in round one, I personally faced a geek who confirmed his boss that he would take care of the back-end registry process in his office to lower the costs. Talk to a pro with knowledge about new gTLDs.
• Don't make a mistake with your application because it can then takes YEARS to be solved.
• And again (even if this has nothing to do with this post) don't talk to backend registry providers about your project because if they don't sign you as their client, chance are high that there could be another applicant for your extension: talk to one new gTLD specialist, not all of them.

IDN homograph attacks and Branding

Which trademark/branding service provider is going to invent a product which includes to:

1. Find a memorable name;
2. Find the same domain name including:
1. The ".com" domain name;
2. The "industry related" corresponding new domain name (ie: ".forex" for Forex related businesses);
3. Which includes characters free from IDN homograph attacks;
4. SSL certificate.

The article with link above says that the problem is solved thank to browsers and SSL certificates but, will end-users double check if a domain name is true or not? I doubt it.

New generic Top-Level Domains: recent News

There were interesting news about new gTLDs in the online press these weeks. I strongly recommend the reading of the article about LEGO and the one on how to present a .BRAND domain name in advertising. The news:

1. China’s Online Dominance Worry Brand Owners;
2. New - The Mark Validation System;
3. Events:
1. Webinar on the Geographic Names;
2. GDD Industry Summit;
3. ICANN DNS Symposium;
4. DNS-OARC.
4. Multiple Registry pleased to report orders for approximately 90,000 standard name registrations across certain of its US and European facing top-level domains valued at approximately US$500,000;
5. HOT - LEGO vs Cybersquatters: The burden of new gTLDs;
6. HOT - Boston Ivy to drop premium renewals;
7. Did New-GTLDs Start off on the Wrong Foot?
8. DPML Upgrade for Enhanced Brand Protection;
9. How selling cheap domains ruins your TLD for all users;
10. .BRAND Trends and Recent Launches;
11. HOT - How should I present .BRAND domains in advertising?
12. Software Updates for Net Domains Could Spur $9.8B in Revenue;
13. Are New G's INNOVATIVE?
14. Geographic Names Webinar and ICANN59 Session;
15. How to Get a Domain Name Transferred under the URS;
16. This $20 billion company uses a new TLD for its website;
17. How Brands Should Market Their .BRAND Domain Names;
18. China’s April batch of approved TLDs has been released;
19. WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.

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UPDATE: Orange is launching a Bank

Orange is the name of a fruit, but it is also a major French Trademark in telecommunication: the largest telephone operator in France and probably in many other countries in the world.

Orange is a ".BRAND" applicant
Orange is also a .BRAND new gTLD applicant who applied for the .ORANGE new gTLD. At the moment, the Trademark has two domain names indexed in Google and they are redirections:

1. entrepreneurclub.orange
2. startup.orange

The traditional "nic.orange" redirects to a ".com". The Whois seems to redirect to a ".orange" domain name.

Welcome to "Orange Bank"

Orange is the majority shareholder of Groupama Banque which is rebranding to "Orange Bank". The explanation is available here. One will wonder why a French company rebrands to an English name, in particular when Groupama has probably more French clients than English ones. I have a few doubts:

• Could this change of name to an English one have something to do with the withdrawal of the ".BANQUE" new gTLD*, in which case "Orange Banque" could also have been a good name and orange.banque a fantastic domain name to use? I doubt it.
• Could another reason be that the Orange Trademark is also managed by the UK? The .ORANGE new gTLD application was submitted by Orange Brand Services Limited, a company based in the United Kingdom, not in France. Come on...
• Orange is the Registry for its own domain name extension: will it consider a www.banque.orange for the French version of its website and a www.bank.orange for the English one? And...has someone noticed what"s behind www.orange.bank? "Good Lord"...

Orange.bank

I had a look at the Whois to check about the owner of the "orange.bank" domain name and the Registrant is the Orange County Trust Company. The Registrant has an email ending with the orangebanktrust.com domain name and this does not look like it belongs to the telecom company that I use for my mobile. In one word: one of the most important telecom company is launching a new product named "Orange Bank" and the exact same domain name belongs to...some sort of competitor.

Considering the .ORANGE new gTLD?

I am confident that this long time project already has a person in charge of thinking about securing the right domain names upfront and just "naming" in general, but isn't this the perfect moment to demonstrate innovation and start using domain names ending in ".orange"?

UPDATE
It seems that Orange, a French Bank, will be using an english word in its second level domain...with a ".fr" extension: http://www.orangebank.fr. I will keep crying during the next two weeks.

Announcing a new gTLD Event?

I just launched www.gtld.events.

Please send your next event announcements to me. It can be a podcast, a webinar, a conference, a launching, a Sunrise Period, a special program; etc...

Events should be related to new gTLDs. Note that:

• your event will be posted and announced on www.gtld.events;
• your event will also be announced in the gTLD.club Newsletter (sent every day).

Don't know where to send your event announcement? Send your email here.

Strange article...

This is a recent publication about new gTLDs. It could look like it is written by a new gTLD hater but it isn't. I recommend the reading of this strange article doing the promotion of ... sub-domains.

Oh, and I love the ending: "new-GTLDs no longer have to be second best to dot COM".

:-)

Latest new gTLD NEWS

A lot is said about new gTLDs every day and "reading it all" can be challenging and time consuming. We take care of this for you - everyday - in our Newsletter. Subscribe, it's free.

What was said recently:

1. New gTLDs: Holding ICANN Accountable;
2. Farewell to new gTLDs;
3. Combating Five Myths About new gTLDs;
4. French - Les new gTLD ont-ils de la valeur?
5. Question: Does Google index the new domain names as “keyword”?
6. Job: Director, Registry Services;
7. HOT - Notes for a new TLD round;
8. Chinese to invade .AFRICA? CEO thinks so;
9. Major SEO contest won with a new domain name;
10. Companies losing $10 BILLION by ignoring new gTLDs;
11. Two new gTLDs were just delegated:
1. .RUGBY
2. .HOTELS
12. The .WALMART new gTLD;
13. After long wait, .ECO domains roll out this month;
14. Top 10 Own Over 10% Of All New gTLD’s;
15. Lack of safeguarding checks leaves children vulnerable to online abuse (.KIDS);
16. New gTLDs = Amateur Hour;
17. Cool - "New gTLD" source of info in Japanese;
18. .CLUB Delivers Huge Sales of over $500,000;
19. French - Le .AFRICA est ouvert. Titulaires de marques, ne trainez pas!
20. Should You Use a New Domain For Your Website?
21. HOT (French) - Les extension Internet identitaires;
22. IWF calls on more in the domain industry to do the right thing;
23. .FFEDBACK fires salvo over PICDRP complaint;
24. New gTLDs are scapegoated for child abuse material;
25. Have you got the best domain name?
26. Self Driving Car Company Launches on a .AUTO Domain;
27. HOT - New gTLDs for Companies;
28. Major Startup launched with Pocket.Watch;
29. Coming Sunrise Periods:
1. .HEALTH
2. .CREDITUNION
30. Making new internet domains work for everyone;
31. How Local are They? (GEO TLDs like .LONDON in the UK, .BERLIN in Germany);
32. .FUN enters general availability today.