[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #433: This .sucks

Wed Apr 15 10:30:16 EDT 2015

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OPLIN 4cast #433: This .sucks
April 15th, 2015

[image: sucks stamp]Beginning a little more than a year ago, the Internet
Corporation For Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) began implementing a
plan to expand the number of generic top-level domains (gTLDs) on the
Internet - domains like .com, .net, and .org - from 22 to (eventually) over
1,000. The first seven new gTLDs added in early 2014, for example, were
.bike, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles, and .ventures. One
gTLD that's about to be launched is causing concern: The .sucks gTLD is
commanding very high prices, as big companies and celebrities pay top
dollar to keep the general public from buying top-level domains like
<celebrityname>.sucks. In retrospect, it's hard to see how this gTLD could
*not* have turned out badly. Fortunately, libraries do not suck.

   - Internet naming body moves to crack down on '.sucks'
   <http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a777be07a9b74a47abbbadaf7359f5bc/internet-naming-body-moves-crack-down-sucks>
   (Associated Press) "The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and
   Numbers, or ICANN, on Thursday sent a letter to the U.S. Federal Trade
   Commission and Canada's Office of Consumer Affairs to see if the actions of
   company Vox Populi Registry Ltd. are illegal. ICANN initially approved of
   the so-called top-level domain name, among nearly 600 it has added recently
   to expand beyond common names such as '.com,' '.org' and '.us.' But it is
   backtracking after an advisory panel made up of industry groups and
   companies like Microsoft, Verizon and eBay complained last month."
   - Internet naming group asks FTC to investigate .sucks controversy
   <http://finance.yahoo.com/news/internet-naming-group-asks-ftc-to-investigate--sucks-controversey-195534421.html>
   (Yahoo! Finance | Aaron Pressman) "The Internet Corporation for Assigned
   Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit that sets policies for the global
   domain name system, said in a letter to the FTC and Canada's Office of
   Consumer Affairs that companies have complained the system is 'predatory,
   exploitive and coercive.' ICANN asked the regulatory bodies to determine
   whether any laws had been broken. 'ICANN is concerned about the contentions
   of illicit actions being expressed, but notes that ICANN has limited
   expertise or authority to determine the legality of Vox Populi's positions,
   which we believe would fall in your respective regulatory regimes,' the
   group said in the letter."
   - ".sucks" registrations begin soon-at up to $2,500 per domain
   <http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/03/sucks-tld-to-accept-sunrise-registrations-soon-but-theyll-be-pricey/>
   (Ars Technica | Lee Hutchinson) "The pricing situation
   <http://www.nic.sucks/products> around .sucks domain names is
   complicated. Companies with registered trademarks will have to pay an
   astounding $2,499 to register their trademarked names in .sucks.
   Registration of non-trademarked names during the 'sunrise' period (March 30
   until June 1) before .sucks goes live will cost at least $299 per name,
   while the standard registration fee after June 1 goes to at least $249 per
   name. Companies are typically hyper-sensitive about brand usage, and few
   will want their .sucks domains under someone else's control."
   - New .sucks domain stirs up storm over free speech
   <http://www.thestar.com.my/Tech/Tech-News/2015/04/13/New-sucks-domain-stirs-up-storm-over-free-speech/>
   (The Star Online) "John Berard, chief executive at Vox Populi, told AFP the
   new domain is something that companies can use to engage with consumers,
   and that he sees the word 'sucks' as 'edgy' but not pejorative. 'We think
   we're creating an opportunity for interaction that is meaningful,' he said.
   'If a company were to establish its own .sucks site and drive that
   discussion to a centralized location it might be quite a valuable asset.'
   Berard added that the pricing 'reflects what we believe to be the value of
   the names.'"

 *Articles from Ohio Web Library <http://ohioweblibrary.org>:*

   - Optimizing online trademark protections given the proliferation of
   generic top level domains.
   <http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=4553d06b-d932-4850-8169-d55dfb314a3d%40sessionmgr113&hid=101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=86988078>
   (*Journal of Corporation Law*, Spring 2013, p585-606 | Wei-erh Chen)
   - ICANN's boondoggle.
   <http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=1bd2073e-0289-4f96-afde-cb7145842d37%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=sch&AN=79299945>
   (*Technology Review*, Oct. 2012, p80-82 | Wade Roush)
   - What you need to know about the new gTLD system.
   <http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy.oplin.org/ehost/detail/detail?sid=baff9377-85a1-464d-bbf6-2a953ad27467%40sessionmgr198&vid=0&hid=115&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=cph&AN=79199981>
   (*Computer & Internet Lawyer*, Sept. 2012, p1-5 | Brad R. Newberg)

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