ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom speaks at an event in Dakar, in July of this year
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Speaking Thursday at a Beijing event aimed at informing and engaging Chinese businesses around the Internet community, outgoing ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom encouraged companies and organizations around the world (including, but not limited to, China) to prepare themselves for the upcoming application period for new generic Top Level Domains, now just over a month away.
The presentation was part of a series of ICANN events focused on spreading understanding of the new TLD process, said an announcement from the organization, through its “global gTLD communication program.”
“Time is short,” said Rod Beckstrom, during the session. “If you have not done so, now is the time to get expert advice and get your marketing people engaged to take advantage of new opportunities. If you need help there are many companies around the world that offer this service.”
Beckstrom reportedly added that companies that don’t plan to apply for .brand type domains “need to be vigilant,” to pay attention to which companies do apply, and to take advantage of the protections built into the programs for brands or communities.
Brand protection has been an important topic in the domain space in recent months, and one of the key functions during the launch of the .xxx domain earlier this week.
According to the ICANN announcement, China has had a significant role in building a strong global Internet, and helping with the push for internationalized domain names, which enable the use of non-Latin characters in domains.
The application process for new generic TLDs is expected to see a flood of activity from companies and organizations from around the world and around the Internet (some estimate as many as 4,000 applications). Last week, Afilias, the operator of the .info registry, among others, as well as one of those organizations working to support companies filing applications for branded gTLDs, made an announcement promoting its own education program around the process.
In September, ICANN launched a micro-site providing information on, and application guidelines for, the new TLD application process.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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