At last week’s ICANN meeting in Cairo, ICANN’s provisional proposals were discussed, though all are subject to consultation over the next few months.
The likely application fee at this stage is $185,000, which must be paid when the application is submitted. Successful applicants will also have to pay an annual fee to ICANN and bear the costs of maintaining the registry.
All applications can be opposed on the basis of morality or public order grounds, infringement of the rights of a community or infringement of IP rights. They can also be rejected on the basis of string confusion (similarity to other TLDs).
ICANN has also listed the bodies that would handle third-party objections to TLD applications. The WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center is listed as the authority to handle objections based on IP rights.
An objection is likely to require payment of a non-refundable fee of $1,000, plus a fee of at least $2,000, which would be refunded if the objection is successful.
The details are set out more fully in a
document
available on ICANN’s website.
Applications for new TLDs can be either open or community-based. There has already been interest from a number of cities in having a community TLD.
Interest from brand owners is harder to gauge, though it is likely that big global brands, especially those active in the internet industry, will be considering it.
The consultation period lasts until early next year, meaning that the first applications could be made in the middle of next year. The application process will be open for 45 days.
After that, all the applications will be published and third parties will be able to object. The first new TLDs are likely to be active, therefore, in early 2010 at the earliest.
Managing IP
hosted a free webcast, in which domain name specialists Nick Wood, managing director of Com Laude, and Bruce Tonkin, chief technology officer of Melbourne IT, answer questions about the practical aspects of the new TLD launch and its implications for brand owners. Click on the screen below to view the webcast.
