VeriSign, the company which oversees the .com, .org and .net domain
names and will do the same for a number of soon-to-be-added
domains, said Tuesday that it would begin taking applications for
the upcoming .biz Top Level Domain (TLD) immediately.
The window for applying for names runs from 19 June to 25
September. After 1 October, .biz names will be open for immediate
registration, like .com or .org domains are now, VeriSign said.
Businesses and individuals are currently able to file applications
for the .biz name of their choice, though for now, these are only
applications and are no guarantee of securing a name, the company
said. Instead, the company will take as many applications as are
submitted for each name, at a non-refundable $5 (£3.54) per
application (with volume discounts resulting in a $3 per
application fee after 100 applications), and will then parcel them
out between 25 September and 1 October, after which the fees will
be eliminated.
After 1 October, the company that will control registration of .biz
names, NeuLevel, will award the names. If multiple applications are
received for a particular name, the name will be awarded to an
applicant at random, VeriSign said. Each applicant is permitted as
many applications for a single domain as s/he wishes, and
submitting multiple claims will increase the odds of winning the
domain in a random drawing, VeriSign said.
It's necessary to use an application process to help control the
speed of the new TLD launch, said Marcello Hunter, director of
retail at VeriSign. Registries for other top level domains (TLDs)
have had a lot longer to deal with administrative issues and don't
have the kind of pent-up demand the new TLDs do, he said. Using an
applications process will keep the registries from being
overwhelmed, he added.
But the applications are not just a safety valve. First, they are
the result of NeuLevel's negotiations with ICANN (Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the body that oversees
the Internet, for the right to be the .biz registrar Hunter said.
Secondly, they will provide a source of income that will help
NeuLevel operate. The applications also help set the stage, and the
resolution process, for any disputes that may arise.
Filing applications for domain names is the second of three steps
to actually instituting the .biz TLD as a real address on the Web,
VeriSign said. The first step came in May when VeriSign began to
take trademark claims from companies that wished to pre-emptively
protect a trademarked term in the .biz domain. Such an application
costs $89 per term submitted, with applications taken from May
until 6 August. Trademark filings only guarantee the right to a
speedy, 30-day arbitration if need be, according to the terms of
the filing posted on the Network Solutions (a VeriSign subsidiary)
Web site. Applicants will be notified if they have chosen a name
already claimed in this process, though they will be able to
proceed with trying to register it, Hunter said.
The applications help "balance the rights of trademark holders and
the general public," Hunter said, but they also help resolve
disputes between equal parties.
"Two genuinely legitimate interests could have interest in the same
word. Simply claiming a trademarked term doesn't mean you're
automatically entitled to the .biz name," he said, offering the
conundrum posed by whether Delta Airlines or Delta Faucets ought to
receive the www.delta.biz address.
While VeriSign is offering applications for .biz domain names,
ICANN issued a warning against the same practice in late March,
cautioning potential applicants that there was no guarantee they'd
receive the names they paid for. An ICANN spokeswoman said
Wednesday that the organization had no comment on VeriSign's
plans.
Even though an application may not lead to a .biz domain, there are
some good reasons to apply, said Diane Cabell, the director of the
clinical programme in cyber law at Harvard University's Berkman
Center for the Internet and Society.
"If you've got the money and want to leverage the odds, most people
would be crazy not to (apply)," she said.
Applying may not make as much sense for companies however, as they
are likely to already have a .com domain and wouldn't need a .biz,
she said. Whether to apply or not depends on factors such as how
common your company's name is and how aggressive it is in
protecting its trademarks, she said, though Cabell "wouldn't
recommend it for most clients."
This sort of process is likely to appeal to people who think that
getting short, easy-to-remember domain names will translate to
financial success, in the same way it did for some .com address
holders, Cabell said. Of course, this is not necessarily true, she
added.
"The world doesn't need another Yahoo," she said.
Despite all the questions surrounding the roll-out of the new TLDs,
the opportunity to add new addresses is an exciting one for
VeriSign's Hunter.
"We're eagerly anticipating the availability of these names," he
said. "For us, it's just an opening up of the market."