Anybody knows what happened with ".web" extension?

[atinc]

Anybody knows what happened with ".web" extension?

They announced that it will be available for public registration on 2017.

It is already the 2nd quarter of 2018 but they didn't released it yet?!

Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[JB Lions]

Last news on that:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/web-domain-release-date-and-thoughts.948421/page-4

Verisign probed by US Dept of Justice over $135m .web auction
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/10/doj_investigating_auction_of_dot_web/

I think it's this:

"So why did Verisign pay far beyond its market worth? Competitors say it's because the word "web" represents one of the only names that could serve as a real competitor to the dominant ".com" internet extension."

Maybe it never comes out.

 

[atinc]

Last news on that:

https://www.namepros.com/threads/web-domain-release-date-and-thoughts.948421/page-4

Verisign probed by US Dept of Justice over $135m .web auction
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/02/10/doj_investigating_auction_of_dot_web/

I think it's this:

"So why did Verisign pay far beyond its market worth? Competitors say it's because the word "web" represents one of the only names that could serve as a real competitor to the dominant ".com" internet extension."

Maybe it never comes out.

Wow $130m for an extension?! and Verisign? They own .com and .net right?

I didn't know that they own this new gTLD. Wow!

Do you think .web really can compete with .com ?

I think there is something else going on between Verisign and ICANN

 

[JB Lions]

Nothing can compete with .com but I think it would better than any of the new gtlds released so far and more of an option like .net. Then .net as far as development was never great, remember this old post from 2013 when I looked at Alexa Top 500 in the U.S.:

.com/org - over 92%
.net - 16 = 3% - the next best option after .com and only 3%

https://www.namepros.com/threads/in...-will-be-available.787874/page-3#post-4469332

But again, right now, I don't think it's even coming out.

 

[DomainRecap]

It's very possible that it never gets released, or takes so long to hit the market that .WEB is no longer viable.

Obviously Verisign bought .WEB as a defensive measure to protect .NET so there is really no economic value to actually releasing it to the market, or it would have been here already. I am sure someone in the government will force their hand, but that could take years.

 

[Kate]

.net is much better than .web, and it's still an extension that has been losing steam. VRSN paid a lot of money to neuter the competition imho.
And if they actually release .web to the public you can expect premium pricing nonsense à la .tv, something that fortunately they are not allowed to do in .com/.net.

 

[DomainRecap]

Yep, the next steps are:

1) Gov't watchdog forces Verisign to release .WEB
2) Verisign responds with "Premium Pricing" model on any TM domain or domain less than 10 letters.