This week we bring you news of the next gTLD to be launched, .name. This is aimed solely at individuals seeking an online web identity. .name domains are set to go live on the Internet in mid-November, with Sunrise and Landrush periods taking place before this date.

As ever, please don't hesitate to contact us on the email address below if you have any queries.

Kind regards,

Colette - N3lite@netnames.com

.name latest

The next new gTLD (generic Top Level Domain) to be launched is set to be .name, aimed at individuals seeking an online presence. Below N3Lite gives a brief outline about this gTLD and the related services. Next week we'll cover the Sunrise period for .name.

.name is aimed exclusively for people's personal names, for use as both a domain name and an email forwarding account.

A personal name in the .name context, is a person's legal name, or a name by which the person is commonly known. This includes pseudonyms and stage names.
Any individual or entity is eligible to register a personal name if it falls into one of the following categories:

Registrations can be challenged through the specially designed .name dispute resolution policy, the ERDRP (Eligibility Requirements Dispute Resolution Policy)

Domains in the .name gTLD will be registered only at the third level, in the format <first name>.<last name>.name or <last name>.<first name>.name.

Email forwarding addresses in the .name gTLD will be registered in the format <first name>@<last name>.name or <last name>@<first name>.name

Aimed at trademark holders, a premium defensive registration consists of one string. This string will be blocked on both the second and third level. A standard defensive registration follows most of the format requirements for registered domains.

2. Industry News

Domains don't get a fair hearing

A leading IP expert this week claimed that the system set up to resolve disputes over the Internet can be easily manipulated to favour trademark holders.

Professor Michael Geist released information which found that the domain name dispute resolution policy set up by ICANN allows those filing a complaint to select forums and formats that are more likely to award cases in their favour.

Set up as a way of addressing the problem of cybersquatting, complainants have won 81 percent of more than 3000 cases filed since 1999.

Professor Geist has recommended that ICANN insist that all cases be heard by a three-judge panel, with one judge chosen by each party. Currently, three-judge panels award cases to complainants 60 percent of the time, compared with 83 percent when using one-judge panels.

ICANN boss urges patience

This week the head of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), Stuart Lynn, advised registrants waiting to see whether they would be successful with the new domain names to be patient.

In the face of overwhelming public demand for names, conflicts were bound to arise, he said. He added that ICANN's primary responsibility was to ensure that the new domains do not disrupt the existing addressing system, which explained the organisation's go-slow approach.

3. NIC News

auDa won't consider new domains until 2002

The Australian NIC this week announced that it wouldn't be introducing any new second level .au domains before 2002 at the earliest. Currently personal domain names are catered for using the .id.au domain suffix. However take up has been slow because it forces people to register at the third level i.e. xx.id.au. There has also been a call for geographic domain names, e.g. Sydney.nsw.au.