By Justin Lee, theWHIR.com
October 29, 2008 — (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — International Internet regulation body ICANN (www.icann.org) announced on Monday it has released the “Applicant Guidebook” for new generic top-level domains, which the organization hopes will help reinforce its anti-domain tasting position.
The Applicant Guidebook, which is open for review and comment on ICANN’s site, is a resource for those individuals interested in acquiring a new TLD.
The organization has released information on the new gTLD process, which includes dispute resolution, rights of trademark and intellectual property holders, and geographic TLD considerations.
ICANN has also set the estimated application fee for gTLDs at $185,000 for the first application round, which it says will recoup their investment in the implementation program as well as to cover the application process expenses.
According to ICAAN, “applicants may face other fees (paid directly to providers) in case of technical issues or disputes,” adding that “newly delegated registries will also pay ICANN fees.”
“While the estimated application fee is higher than we initially expected, we do not view this as a hindrance to parties likely to secure a new gTLD,” says Matthew Durgin, COO of TLD managers at ICANN. “ICANN has reinforced their position on protecting trademark holders and geographic entities. We assume that organizations such as these will have a relatively clear path to their new gTLD, and with this investment can protect brands, raise awareness and strengthen communities online.”
With the upcoming availability of the new gTLDs, which expands on the typical .com and .org domains to include any combination of letters, ICANN has started a consultation process on a policy intended to combat domain tasting while allowing legitimate domain name registration to continue.
Domain tasting is the practice of dishonest operators “testing” out domains to see if they generate more in advertising profits than the cost of their registration for a year, as anyone can register a domain and keep it for up to five days, only to return it for a full refund.
The practice has been greatly criticized for withholding millions of domains at a time from the market, as well as forcing advertisers to pay for adverts displayed on empty Web pages that people accidentally visit.
In March, ICANN proposed a new policy that would potentially hinder domain name tasting by preventing domain registrars from allowing refunds on either up to 50 domains or 10 percent of their new registrations in a given month, whichever is greater.
ICANN has now officially adopted this as policy and is open for consultation through November 20. The policy will affect gTLD operators and ICANN-accredited registrars, said ICANN.
