TechCrunch blasts ICANN and the vanity extensions

[BocaVision]

Hopefully, their message echos throughout Silicon Valley and to the office of the new Secretary of Commerce (they oversee ICANN)

Here is the TechCrunch article link:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/04/global-warming-may-get-its-very-own-top-level-domain/

Here is the text:

Global Warming May Get Its Very Own Top Level Domain

Michael Arrington on March 4, 2009

I’m deadpooling this .ECO top level domain right now. Not because it’s global warming/eco related, there’s plenty of money being thrown around to support just about every crazy green idea out there. I just don’t think the world needs another top level domain, and certainly not one that is designed for “individuals to express their support for environmental causes, for companies to promote their environmental initiatives, and for environmental organizations to maintain their websites.”

People like .COM domains, or alternatively country level domains. These other ones are little more than traps to force brands to protect their trademarks during expensive pre-sale periods. The company behind the domain gets the most of the money, and ICANN, the quasi-governmental, quasi-mafia organization that oversees this mess gets their cut as well. The more domain names that get registered, the more money ICANN makes, which lets them hire more staff to stick their noses into more things. Meanwhile, they’re making a mess of the Internet.

Al Gore is partnering with the company to help secure ICANN approval and then promote the domain. Which goes without saying. Fred Kreuger, previously the founder of Tagworld (now Social Project), is one of the founders.

 

[plaggypig]

Well right now it's not even an application, and ICANN has pushed back the new process - it may not even begin for years.

I guess the point of .eco is to become the Fair Trade equivalent of domains for the green economy - would they have carbon restrictions (and impose goals) on applicants or something, and charge millions per application? At the end of the day it's purely about commercial vanity, because real people don't get anything out of it - and I wouldn't buy the argument that consumers get to know which companies are green and which are not - eventually the market will be engineered to punish the bad ones for us.

I would never back a TLD just because it sounds nice.

Hopefully the applications that come out of this will be other innovative companies like Telnic who have new ways of thinking about big problems.

 

[Jeff]

Hopefully the applications that come out of this will be other innovative companies like Telnic who have new ways of thinking about big problems.

Generally agree ... although the new, green and catchy .ECO may have a dilutive effect (as does the highly brandable .TEL presently) on some of the newer and less established extensions, I think it will be interesting to see what comes out of this proposal, IMHO. :gl:

-Jeff