.mobi The mTLD publicly responds to the MOBI RFP & Premium Name firestorm...

BocaVision · May 18, 2007

It's good to see a swift response IMHO....
_____________________________________________________________

Many thanks for all the comments received over the last few days, particularly in relation to Premium Names and the Request For Proposals (RFP) process. It is great to see such interest from the market.

First and foremost, let me clarify that there is no big mystery surrounding the delay in announcing the RFP winners and we expect to have some news on that front within the next couple of weeks.

It is important to remember that the RFP process is a completely new and unique programme. We are the first Registry to attempt to allocate domains / premium names in this manner and inevitably it is going to take us a little time to finesse and fine-tune the process.

We launched four Premium Names under RFP last November and we received the applications in February of this year. Since that time, we have been in negotiations with the applicants regarding their proposed business models and plans and have been engaged in contract discussions. The contract is a very important element of the RFP process as this is how we bind applicants to their content obligations. Unfortunately, talks have taken a little longer than expected, hence the delay in announcing the results.

dotMobi has been up and running as a company for approximately 18 months and we have achieved a great amount in that short space of time. Premium Names are an integral part of our overall product plan and despite demands from the market that we release them without delay, we want to get it right. There are a lot of different components to put in place and we will, no doubt, be refining the RFP process a little as we move forward based on what we have learnt from the first round RFP. The same applies for our Premium Name auction model.

Again, thank you all for your interest and expect to hear from us in the next couple of weeks.

Posted by: Caroline Greer | May 18, 2007 at 12:41

-REECE- · May 18, 2007

labrocca said:
This doesn't in any way fix the RFP process. If anything it now appears broken. If they are going to take months to releases a handful of names then they will NEVER get those 5000 names into the hands of anyone. The RFP is a good idea but I feel they kept way too many names for them to handle. Maybe 100 would have been a better number. They should possibly go back to the list...find 1000 names that they can release in another method and get them out there. Maybe just a simple mass-auction...let them make their money...get the names out though so they can be developed.

How are mobile internet users going to feel when probably the top 5000 names most likely to be entered pull up NO PAGE...that's exactly what the premium names do now. How does this help promote mobi to general public?

imho that's where mTLD has seriously faltered...they have done nothing to promote mobi to general public. I normally get the response that there aren't enough mobi sites...well that's a chicken/egg deal. Do you think you will attract developers and companies when no person is going to view the site? They need to go forward on multiple fronts. Currently they are looking like money grabbers...pushing mobi to domainers at the highest prices possible.

I am sure the RFP contracts have monetary compensation involved...anyone here disagree? They aren't gonna give out news.mobi of $10 a year.

I agree. I can understand putting some names aside such as sex.mobi, porn.mobi, xxx.mobi, sports.mobi, weather.mobi, ringtones.mobi, music.mobi, etc. But the fact remains that they bit off more than they -- or anyone for that matter, could possibly chew.

There are not 5,000 generics even in the Alexa Top 100,000. Actually, I'd be very surprised if there was even 500...

Some generics should have been reserved -- like the ones I said above. But when you start reserving things like 4x4trucks.mobi, I start to doubt the necessity for this action and have difficulty seeing beyond the financial windfall expected to be reaped.

dag · May 18, 2007

jagusa said:
I'll disagree with labrocca, but will manage to be a grinch too. If I were mtld, I wouldn't care less what the domainer community thought about the RFP business schedule or practices. Having speculators boycotting an extension at an auction is a blessing, not blackmail. It would mean actual users would be more likely to directly obtain the better domains.

I'm sure the whole boycott thing is just an idle threat -- if it was brought up anywhere, it would have certainly been here...

scandiman · May 18, 2007

jagusa said:
I'll disagree with labrocca, but will manage to be a grinch too. If I were mtld, I wouldn't care less what the domainer community thought about the RFP business schedule or practices. Having speculators boycotting an extension at an auction is a blessing, not blackmail. It would mean actual users would be more likely to directly obtain the better domains.

Are you implying that .mobi wasn't created for domainers? Shocking! :hehe:

-REECE- · May 18, 2007

scandiman said:
Are you implying that .mobi wasn't created for domainers? Shocking! :hehe:

I think it should be obvious by now, that .mobi was a ploy to make mtld rich -- nobody else. Even their "contract negotiations", which they claim to be working on, sound like they're leasing out the names and there are vast sums of money involved... This is not good for the extension. As someone said earlier, we need the Weather Channel having weather.mobi, get TSN/FOX interested in sports.mobi, perhaps Much Music (CHUM) in ringtones.mobi, etc.

Mtld seems to be attempting to pull a .TV on this thing... I don't recall a bigger flop in history than the original .TV... Sadly, it doesn't seem Demand Media learned all that much from that flop either...

Jasdon · May 18, 2007

labrocca said:
If they are going to take months to releases a handful of names then they will NEVER get those 5000 names into the hands of anyone. The RFP is a good idea but I feel they kept way too many names for them to handle. Maybe 100 would have been a better number. They should possibly go back to the list...find 1000 names that they can release in another method and get them out there. Maybe just a simple mass-auction...let them make their money...get the names out though so they can be developed.

Or develop them themselves - makes no difference to me...

How are mobile internet users going to feel when probably the top 5000 names most likely to be entered pull up NO PAGE...that's exactly what the premium names do now. How does this help promote mobi to general public?

Labrocca, I couldn't have put it better myself!

mobidick · May 18, 2007

It is important to remember that the RFP process is a completely new and unique programme. We are the first Registry to attempt to allocate domains / premium names in this manner and inevitably it is going to take us a little time to finesse and fine-tune the process.

We launched four Premium Names under RFP last November and we received the applications in February of this year. Since that time, we have been in negotiations with the applicants regarding their proposed business models and plans and have been engaged in contract discussions. The contract is a very important element of the RFP process as this is how we bind applicants to their content obligations. Unfortunately, talks have taken a little longer than expected, hence the delay in announcing the results.

Nothing is ever as simple as you had first imagined - whether it be creating a website or an RFP contract. I'm sure that when they got down to negotiating details of a binding contract regarding content obligations, a ton of issues came up.

Going forward, a lot of these issues will apply to all future RFPs and once they got it right, the rest should follow more smoothly. She is right, afterall. mTLD is breaking new ground here. And I hope for the long-term health of .mobi and my own investment, that they do get it right.

mykel241 · May 18, 2007

In my humble opinion Ringtones.mobi is the most natural valuable mobi to be had. Ringtones are a huge growing market that shows no end in site. Being in the music business everyday we see artist going platinum on ringtone sales. These sales are eclipsing both the amount of albums sold and the revenue earned on albums sold. Over the next 2-5 years you will find more labels folding and artist and producers concentrating on catchy hit singles to be distributed via mobile devices.

Other then ringtones fantasy sports is the next big opportunity via a mobile device. Imagine being at a game and making trades, etc, on your fantasy team. Talk about fan fun. The best of both worlds. I am almost complete my new spin on fantasy sports which I am launching at the MMA convention in June in New York.

Michael

jeremyp · May 18, 2007

BocaVision said:
It's good to see a swift response IMHO....
_____________________________________________________________

Many thanks for all the comments received over the last few days, particularly in relation to Premium Names and the Request For Proposals (RFP) process. It is great to see such interest from the market.

First and foremost, let me clarify that there is no big mystery surrounding the delay in announcing the RFP winners and we expect to have some news on that front within the next couple of weeks.

It is important to remember that the RFP process is a completely new and unique programme. We are the first Registry to attempt to allocate domains / premium names in this manner and inevitably it is going to take us a little time to finesse and fine-tune the process.

We launched four Premium Names under RFP last November and we received the applications in February of this year. Since that time, we have been in negotiations with the applicants regarding their proposed business models and plans and have been engaged in contract discussions. The contract is a very important element of the RFP process as this is how we bind applicants to their content obligations. Unfortunately, talks have taken a little longer than expected, hence the delay in announcing the results.

dotMobi has been up and running as a company for approximately 18 months and we have achieved a great amount in that short space of time. Premium Names are an integral part of our overall product plan and despite demands from the market that we release them without delay, we want to get it right. There are a lot of different components to put in place and we will, no doubt, be refining the RFP process a little as we move forward based on what we have learnt from the first round RFP. The same applies for our Premium Name auction model.

Again, thank you all for your interest and expect to hear from us in the next couple of weeks.

Posted by: Caroline Greer | May 18, 2007 at 12:41

Good response.

I believe that they are being sincere. It makes sense that contractual agreements take time, especially when there is so much to protect.

It's the tortoise, not the hair, who won that race.

Jeremy

hawkeye · May 18, 2007

jeremyp said:
It's the tortoise, not the hair, who won that race.

Jeremy

I think that analogy is not comprehended by some here imo. Too much I want it now, now, now!!! Maybe if more ran a company at one time, they'd understand. Maybe.

(for those that need to know, it was a fable)

mjnels · May 18, 2007

labrocca said:
This doesn't in any way fix the RFP process. If anything it now appears broken. If they are going to take months to releases a handful of names then they will NEVER get those 5000 names into the hands of anyone. The RFP is a good idea but I feel they kept way too many names for them to handle. Maybe 100 would have been a better number. They should possibly go back to the list...find 1000 names that they can release in another method and get them out there. Maybe just a simple mass-auction...let them make their money...get the names out though so they can be developed.

How are mobile internet users going to feel when probably the top 5000 names most likely to be entered pull up NO PAGE...that's exactly what the premium names do now. How does this help promote mobi to general public?

imho that's where mTLD has seriously faltered...they have done nothing to promote mobi to general public. I normally get the response that there aren't enough mobi sites...well that's a chicken/egg deal. Do you think you will attract developers and companies when no person is going to view the site? They need to go forward on multiple fronts. Currently they are looking like money grabbers...pushing mobi to domainers at the highest prices possible.

I am sure the RFP contracts have monetary compensation involved...anyone here disagree? They aren't gonna give out news.mobi of $10 a year.

oh geezus h. christ... were still on about promoting mobi to the general public and now releasing 1000 names at one time in a mass auction... what is this.. a race synchronized with failed/retarded marketing tactics ?

Jeff · May 18, 2007

They dropped the ball on this RFP process ... and as I've been saying since Day One, mTLD is seriously up against the clock to the "M Dots" and other technological and branding / marketing advances that are surely coming for the burgeoning Mobile Web, IMHO. :yell:

I hope additional insight and clarification is forthcoming from mTLD ... and specifically - where is is MOST DESERVED - here in the .MOBI Forum by June 1st! :gl: :talk:

Thanks much.
-Jeff

scandiman · May 18, 2007

mjnels said:
oh geezus h. christ... were still on about promoting mobi to the general public and now releasing 1000 names at one time in a mass auction... what is this.. a race synchronized with failed/retarded marketing tactics ?

:lol: add in a double dose of jealousy and I think you are getting close.

-REECE- · May 18, 2007

hawkeye said:
I think that analogy is not comprehended by some here imo. Too much I want it now, now, now!!! Maybe if more ran a company at one time, they'd understand. Maybe.

(for those that need to know, it was a fable)

It's not that the analogy isn't comprehended, rather that, imagine that there were 3 people in this race... The tortoise, the hare, and time. Sure, things that take their time and do things right generally have more success than things that move too hastily.

HOWEVER, we're in a race against time itself here. The day will come when all phones will be running IE 7 or full blown Firefox... The day will come when phones have FOLED screens that are 10+ inches in devices 3 inches in size... The day will come where .mobi will cease to matter and it's success will depend on how successfully it has been branded up to that point...

mjnels · May 18, 2007

Jeff said:
They dropped the ball on this RFP process ... and as I've been saying since Day One, mTLD is seriously up against the clock to the "M Dots" and other technological and branding / marketing advances that are surely coming for the burgeoning Mobile Web, IMHO. :yell:

I hope additional insight and clarification is forthcoming from mTLD ... and specifically - where is is MOST DESERVED - here in the .MOBI Forum by June 1st! :gl: :talk:

Thanks much.
-Jeff

which company is running the "m dots" ?

maybe i want my site at www.domain.com/m... who's going to tell me to do it the other way? oohhhh the make-believe "m dot" company... right right

hawkeye · May 18, 2007

Reece said:
It's not that the analogy isn't comprehended, rather that, imagine that there were 3 people in this race... The tortoise, the hare, and time. Sure, things that take their time and do things right generally have more success than things that move too hastily.

HOWEVER, we're in a race against time itself here. The day will come when all phones will be running IE 7 or full blown Firefox... The day will come when phones have FOLED screens that are 10+ inches in devices 3 inches in size... The day will come where .mobi will cease to matter and it's success will depend on how successfully it has been branded up to that point...

There's time involved in every race. And if people here think that only domainers are clued into the clamoring types of alternatives, I'd suggest they sell their names quick! They know what is transpiring out there in technology etc., but to be successful in launching any project, product, etc., some times a couple of unforseen steps backwards are needed to get things in perspective! It's only 8 months!! If we are here in 7 more, than maybe.... But be realistic all.

Jeff · May 18, 2007

Reece said:
HOWEVER, we're in a race against time itself here. The day will come when all phones will be running IE 7 or full blown Firefox... The day will come when phones have FOLED screens that are 10+ inches in devices 3 inches in size... The day will come where .mobi will cease to matter and it's success will depend on how successfully it has been branded up to that point...

Hammer. Head. Nail. :yell:

I find it very astonishing that this point seems to not be easily comprehended IMHO. :gl:
Perhaps it's simply not accepted or being denied ... by those most loyal to .MOBI and mTLD. I don't know ...

-Jeff

-REECE- · May 18, 2007

Jeff said:
Hammer. Head. Nail. :yell:

I find it very astonishing that this point seems to not be easily comprehended IMHO. :gl:
Perhaps it's simply not accepted or being denied ... by those most loyal to .MOBI and mTLD. I don't know ...
-Jeff

Exactly. And mtld doesn't seem to realize how fast technology is changing. Who here remembers Intel's 80 core CPU? Here's the link -- I'm not joking about this stuff: http://news.com.com/Intel+pledges+80+cores+in+five+years/2100-1006_3-6119618.html

Now, if we can go from 1 core chips to 80 core chips in less than a decade, what makes mtld think they have much time to spare?

hawkeye · May 18, 2007

Reece said:
And mtld doesn't seem to realize how fast technology is changing.

and you know this to be true.. because you talk to them often?? Or because they don't include the world in their company strategy meetings, and/or share these with those that 'demand' to know answers now, so they must be out of touch with what is happening out there??

-REECE- · May 18, 2007

hawkeye said:
and you know this to be true.. because you talk to them often?? Or because they don't include the world in their company strategy meetings, and/or share these with those that 'demand' to know answers now, so they must be out of touch with what is happening out there??

Because if they fully understood how fast an 80 core desktop chip will turn into a multicore cell phone chip running these full blown applications, I don't think they'd be taking their sweet time. These guys are mid-level marketers --not IT techies, not big time businessmen... This is new to them, and they should seriously look into hiring people with knowledge in fields where they're clueless.

nombre · May 18, 2007

HOWEVER, we're in a race against time itself here. The day will come when all phones will be running IE 7 or full blown Firefox... The day will come when phones have FOLED screens that are 10+ inches in devices 3 inches in size... The day will come where .mobi will cease to matter and it's success will depend on how successfully it has been branded up to that point...

reece, this is more than a little bit of hyperbole

the iphone _will_ have safari on it which is a "full blown" web browser

the issue of screen size (i.e. small phones cannot display full sized web pages) will not go away, the mythical foldout screen is _years_ (read 10-15) if it _ever_ becomes practical

if anything advances in phones are going to make them _smaller_

the mobile web will be built from the ground up on it's own terms

it won't be "ported" over from the full-sized, that is an enterprise that has failed spectacularly a few dozen times allready :imho:

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