The New gTLD Programme

There are many different types of domain name. The main distinction is the kind of suffix used. In broad terms, domain names can be grouped as follows:

• Generic top level domains (gTLDs), such as ‘.com’, ‘.net’ and ‘.org’
• Country code top level domains (ccTLDs), such as ‘.de’ for Germany and ‘.fr’ for France
• Sponsored top level domains (sTLDs), such as ‘.mobi’, ‘.shoe’ and ‘.asia’

At present, there are only 22 gTLDs, however in the new gTLD scheme proposed by ICANN, there could be thousands as people will also be able to register a whole host of suffixes related to their brand, their community, and their location etc. For example:

• Brand owners could turn their brands into website suffixes – e.g. ‘netnames.netnames’, or ‘weetabix.weetabix’
• Individuals could use their names as suffixes – e.g. ‘bill.gates’
• Communities could create suffixes such as ‘.lawyers’ or ‘.paris'
• Industries will be able to register suffixes that directly benefit their brands – e.g. ‘.bank’, ‘.shoe, or ‘.game’

How will the new gTLDs affect brand owners?

As the new gTLDs will revolutionise the domain name industry, there are threats, opportunities and challenges that your organisation needs to consider.

Threats

Your organisation will need to think about protecting your brands (defensive registrations) within any of the potential myriad new TLDs, primarily at the second level but occasionally this may be relevant at the top level, e.g. apple, orange etc.

Opportunities

Some industry experts see the new gTLD process as creating opportunities for company specific or sector specific gTLDs and in creating these, as a way to increase brand profile, allow more control or security over the use of the brand online or perhaps even an opportunity to rebrand.

Challenges and considerations

NetNames believes that keeping well-informed and undertaking careful forward planning will be vital. As a brand owner or business you should plan ahead by:

• Ensuring you are familiar with ICANN’s new gTLD developments and understanding how the gTLDs will affect you
• Thinking carefully about whether or not your organisation will apply at the top level for a new gTLD
• Deciding if your existing domain name policy remains relevant in the context of brand protection within the new gTLDs, or if your domain name policy needs to be modified in light of these
• Costs - the gTLDs are expensive (think $0.3m at least as a budget). This should force your organisation to think carefully about your marketing budgets for 2011/12 and whether or not you require any provision to deal with the new gTLDs
• What happens to brand owners’ existing domain names? A brand owner who is considering deleting their domain name portfolio and expecting to function under a single gTLD (e.g. .brand) should understand the implications of doing this, especially in the short term

To help keep you abreast of further developments and to assist you in determining whether or not you should apply for a proprietary gTLD, NetNames has a number of options for you:

• The NetNames’ .Brand service can assist you in (i) exploring whether or not your organisation should apply for a proprietary gTLD, (ii) completing the application process, and (iii) running the registry and registering domain names under your new dotBrand TLD
• Stay up-to-date with the latest gTLD news by reading our NetNames newsletter
• Visit the ICANN website and read their gTLD page

Please contact us today to discuss the new gTLDs. Please also visit our new website dedicated to the new gTLDS at www.gtld.com.