xbiz world
xbiz premiere
opinion

What’s the Story With the New gTLDs?

Recently, several members have asked for an update on ICANN’s new gTLD program and the timeline for its implementation. However, there is not an easy answer, because as with all things ICANN, the gTLD program is mired in confusion and uncertainty.

Here is what we do know. On June 13, the gTLD application window closed. ICANN received 1930 applications for 1409 new gTLDs. Many of these proposed gTLDs will be of interest to the adult community: .shop, .store, .buy, .chat, .date, .dating, .blog, .forum, .group, .gay, .lgbt, .movie, .video, .film, .hot, .love, .sexy, .sex, .adult, .porn, and 66 geographic names — just to list those that jumped out at me.

Evaluation of the applications is happening currently and will continue until May 2013.

However, since that time, ICANN’s gTLD application system had to be shut down because it exposed the personal information of applicants. ICANN hired a new CEO. The New gTLD Program Director resigned. ICANN’s process for handling the applications had to be scrapped because it was vulnerable to legal challenge, and U.S. legislators “persuaded” ICANN to extend the public comment period. Obviously, ICANN’s original implementation plan is no longer applicable.

So, where does that leave us? Well, today, in an attempt to answer that question, ICANN published “Roadmap for Processing New gTLD Applications.” The Roadmap lays out a timeframe for the next phase of the program. According to the Roadmap, the public comment period is currently open and will remain open until Sept. 26.

Evaluation of the applications is happening currently and will continue until May 2013. During this time, evaluators perform the following functions: determine if the applicant meets the technical requirements, determine if the applicant meets the financial requirements, consider and evaluate any formal objections, consider GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) advice, and analyze the string for confusing similarity to existing strings. The results of the evaluations will be published in June 2013.

Between July 31 and Dec. 19, ICANN will develop a system for processing the applications. The U.S. government will not allow ICANN to add more than 1000 gTLDs to the root. If more than 1000 gTLDs pass the evaluation, ICANN must have a system for choosing the 1000 that will be added, one that can stand up to legal challenge — which they don’t currently have.

If an applicant passes the evaluation, if there are no competing applications for that string, and if the applicant is selected by ICANN’s still-to-bedefined process for selecting the 1000, then the applicant would move on to contract execution in August 2013. However, if there is more than one applicant for that particular string, then that string moves on to auction.

So, the answer to the original question is that the absolute soonest we will see any of these gTLDs go live is September 2013. However, a word of caution: based on five years of experience working with ICANN, the road ahead is not likely to be smooth.

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

opinion

Best Practices for Payment Gateway Security

Securing digital payment transactions is critical for all businesses, but especially those in high-risk industries. Payment gateways are a core component of the digital payment ecosystem, and therefore must follow best practices to keep customer data safe.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

Ready for New Visa Acquirer Changes?

Next spring, Visa will roll out the U.S. version of its new Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP), which goes into effect April 1, 2025. This follows Visa Europe, which rolled out VAMP back in June. VAMP charts a new path for acquirers to manage fraud and chargeback ratios.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

How to Halt Hackers as Fraud Attacks Rise

For hackers, it’s often a game of trial and error. Bad actors will perform enumeration and account testing, repeating the same test on a system to look for vulnerabilities — and if you are not equipped with the proper tools, your merchant account could be the next target.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

VerifyMy Seeks to Provide Frictionless Online Safety, Compliance Solutions

Before founding VerifyMy, Ryan Shaw was simply looking for an age verification solution for his previous business. The ones he found, however, were too expensive, too difficult to integrate with, or failed to take into account the needs of either the businesses implementing them or the end users who would be required to interact with them.

Alejandro Freixes ·
opinion

How Adult Website Operators Can Cash in on the 'Interchange' Class Action

The Payment Card Interchange Fee Settlement resulted from a landmark antitrust lawsuit involving Visa, Mastercard and several major banks. The case centered around the interchange fees charged to merchants for processing credit and debit card transactions. These fees are set by card networks and are paid by merchants to the banks that issue the cards.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

It's Time to Rock the Vote and Make Your Voice Heard

When I worked to defeat California’s Proposition 60 in 2016, our opposition campaign was outspent nearly 10 to 1. Nevertheless, our community came together and garnered enough support and awareness to defeat that harmful, misguided piece of proposed legislation — by more than a million votes.

Siouxsie Q ·
opinion

Staying Compliant to Avoid the Takedown Shakedown

Dealing with complaints is an everyday part of doing business — and a crucial one, since not dealing with them properly can haunt your business in multiple ways. Card brand regulations require every merchant doing business online to have in place a complaint process for reporting content that may be illegal or that violates the card brand rules.

Cathy Beardsley ·
profile

WIA Profile: Patricia Ucros

Born in Bogota, Colombia, Ucros graduated from college with a degree in education. She spent three years teaching third grade, which she enjoyed a lot, before heeding her father’s advice and moving to South Florida.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Creating Payment Redundancies to Maximize Payout Uptime

During the global CrowdStrike outage that took place toward the end of July, a flawed software update brought air travel and electronic commerce to a grinding halt worldwide. This dramatically underscores the importance of having a backup plan in place for critical infrastructure.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

The Need for Minimal Friction in Age Verification Technology

In the adult sector, robust age assurance, comprised of age verification and age estimation methods, is critical to ensuring legal compliance with ever-evolving regulations, safeguarding minors from inappropriate content and protecting the privacy of adults wishing to view adult content.

Gavin Worrall ·
Show More