https://www.templetons.com/brad/dns/vanity-tld.html [cbface2] ---------- DNS The problem with Vanity TLDs articles ---------- Part of the new ICANN plan for gTLDs -- which I outline Brad here -- includes plans for "community domains" where the Templeton operator can prove they are the exclusive agent for a Home particular community. ---------- # Brad The name sounds nice but it is expected that most of these Ideas will actually be vanity TLDs, where a company seeks to (My Blog) have a TLD for their name, with a web site like ---------- www.theirname when they used to just have or want ClariNet theirname.com. Interviews It's supposed that we might see domains like .ibm or .microsoft and the like. Domains for big companies with EFF world-famous trademarks. They need to be big and world famous because if somebody disputes the name it can Jokes / interfere with the application. RHF The result of this, I believe will be to create a new, Photo expensive domain space for very rich companies. It is Pages likely that having a TLD will be considered a prestige thing. If several major companies do it, it will create an Panoramic impression that to be a serious player on the web, you had Photos better have the .yourname TLD. This will be similar to the desire all companies have to have theirname.com, with the SF addition that it will demonstrate that you are rich and Publishing your brand is famous or unique. Companies want to present that image, and more to the point don't want to present Software the image of being 2nd rate. Articles The cost of a TLD application is large -- $185,000. And you have to run a TLD name server, though that's not too Spam hard if you are not selling domains within it. A large number of companies have paid sums in this range to get DNS the right .com domain, or in particular to buy such names from people who had them legitimately (ie. were not Dot! cybersquatters who could be unseated by other legal or extra-legal means.) Packages The cachet of a TLD will have a strong pull for startups Interests with lots of funding, though no bootstrap-funded startup is likely to pay this high price. ---------- Some of the corporate TLDs will truly be community TLDs. RHF Home For example, a number of companies have already offered their users addresses within existing premium .com Copyright domains. Apple gave out mac.com addresses to users. Yahoo, Myths Hotmail and many other e-mail providers give out short E-mail addresses to users, often for free. I expect some Emily companies might hand out web sites to users or customers, Postnews particularly in areas like blogging. Africa Unlike the generic TLDs, this does not offer the selling of generic phrases to the highest bidder. (Presuming that Burning companies like Apple Computer are forbidden from getting Man .apple because of its generic meaning.) So why is it a bad idea? Alice Pascal * It just punts many of the problems and battles we had in .com to the higher level of the root. There is The Rules nowhere higher to punt the problems when they happen for Guys again. (To be fair, the application procedure tries to deal with many of the problems we've seen before, but Bill Gates not ones we have yet to see.) * It will mean a big explosion of TLDs. This breaks the common trick at many sites of letting users access local subdomains without typing the local master domain. At many companies, if you enter "mail" they give you "mail.yourcompany.com" which is nice. With thousands of TLDs, collision is assured, causing all sorts of problems. If TLDs had to end with dots it would help, but they don't. * It creates a three-tier world. The big boys who have TLDs, the cheaper boys who have .com names and the losers who have .net or other new TLDs. At the same time it adds very little value.