Category: TLDs/New gTLDs

Referendum in Catalonia

Referendum in Catalonia

Context:

Spain, divided in 17 autonomous communities can’t be compared to the administrative division of the regions. Indeed, these Spanish communities don’t have the same autonomy and Catalonia, located in the North East, benefits from an autonomous status, in effect since 2006.

Issue of October 1st

Last Sunday, the Catalan independent regional government organized a referendum concerning Catalonia independence among 7.5 million residents. This initiative has been quite badly perceived by the Spanish conservative government, which searches by any means to slow down if not stop the movement. For many media, this is one of the worst political crisis of the last 40 years.

Like many territories or regions, Catalonia benefits from its own TLD: .CAT.

In France, Brittany, Corsica, Alsace and Paris also benefit from a dedicated extension, i.e. respectively .BZH, .CORSICA, .ALSACE and .PARIS.

Beside France, we can find .SCOT for Scotland, .EUS for Basque culture, .FRL for Friesland, etc.

June, 9th 2017

The referendum on Catalonia’s independence is announced. It will take place on October 1st. The question that the voters will have to respond to is the following: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent state in the form of a Republic?”

September 13th 2017

Spanish law enforcement officers seize the electoral equipment.

September 15th 2017

Madrid, judging Catalan referendum illegal, raided the registry managing .CAT, PunCat in order to make unavailable the access to websites in favor of independence, the hosting of these latter being abroad. The registries of the other countries expressed dissatisfaction for this situation: .EUS and .SCOT have thus communicated on this subject. To this day, if we can note the reactions of EFF and ISOC, neither the GeoTLD Group nor ICANN have communicated yet on this matter. The issue having been covered beyond borders, we can note an article of NYT on this subject, it would seem natural that a first release from ICANN would soon be published.

PuntCat, .CAT registry, communicated with words on this incident and asked help from ICANN: « The show that we have experienced in our offices this morning has been shameful and degrading, unworthy of a civilized country. We feel helpless in the face of these immensely disproportionate facts».

September 20th, 2017

“Anubis operation” launch, aiming to prevent the referendum.

September 24th, 2017

Catalonia’s secretariat of telecommunications complains to the European Commission about the blocking of some websites in .CAT and the raid of the Catalan registry.

September 25th, 2017

With the impossibility to cut pro-independence websites, Spanish government blocks them.

October 1st, 2017

The vote takes place. 90% of YES for independence, 42% of participation rate.

October 4th, 2017

Day of this article’s publication, Catalan government should announce the Catalonia independence.

 

 

Acquisition of Rightside by Donuts: What are the consequences on DPML Programs?

Acquisition of Rightside by Donuts: What are the consequences on DPML Programs?

At the Internet new extensions launch, Donuts operator, the biggest extensions applicant (.services, .legal, .photos, .vin etc.) has launched a specific protection program in addition to the TMCH.

The Donuts Protected Mark List (DPML) allows to block the registration by a third party of a domain name similar to the brand under all the extensions managed by the registry.

For example, if the brand “iPhone” is registered in the TMCH (prerequisite) then in the DPML, no one can register <iphone.photos> or <iphone.services>, as well as the other hundred Donuts extensions.

Other registries have also created protection programs, in common with Donuts’ DPML, on more restricted perimeters. It was the case of Rightside which managed the following 40 extensions:

.ACTOR

.AIRFORCE

.ARMY

.ATTORNEY

.AUCTION

.BAND

.CONSULTING

.DANCE

.DEGREE

.DEMOCRAT

.DENTIST

.ENGINEER

.FAMILY

.FORSALE

.FUTBOL

.GAMES

.GIVES

.HAUS

.IMMOBILIEN

.KAUFEN

.LAWYER

.LIVE

.MARKET

.MODA

.MORTGAGE

.NAVY

.NEWS

.NINJA

.PUB

.REHAB

.REPUBLICAN

.REVIEWS

.RIP

.ROCKS

.SALE

.SOCIAL

.SOFTWARE

.STUDIO

.VET

.VIDEO

At the end of July, Donuts announced the acquisition of Rightside.

What are the impacts of this acquisition on the holders of these two protection programs?

  • The DPML now integrates the extensions of Rightside, without supplementary cost.
  • It’s not possible to only subscribe to Rightside’s program anymore, you will have to necessarily turn to Donuts’ DPML.
  • It will not protect the names previously registered by third parties.
  • It excludes premium domain names.

If you want to register your brand in the TMCH and/or in the DPML, don’t hesitate to contact your interlocutor at Nameshield.

 

Irma storm and its unexpected consequences on the domain names industry

Irma storm and its unexpected consequences on the domain names industry

.TV means television, .FM, FM radio, .IO tech companies…

Actually no. In fact, yes but no. These codes do not designate sectors of activity but territories according to ISO 3166-1 alpha 2:

  • TV is for Tuvalu, a Polynesian state;
  • FM is for Federated States of Micronesia ;
  • IO for British Indian Ocean Territory.

Why such a mix of genres? In fact, domain names and geopolitics make a whole.

When you communicate with a .COM domain name, you trust Verisign, an American company. With a .FR, it’s the AFNIC! For the .TV, nothing to fear, this extension is technically delegated to Verisign. And for the .IO, it will be said that the infrastructure is fairly resilient. Why mention this reality?

Simply because geopolitics are moving, political events have frequently cut off domain name extensions. This is the case of .LY, which corresponds to Libya. For example, South-West professionals communicating in .SO met some technical problems when Somalia has cut its DNS infrastructure for some time.

Precisely, that’s what happens with the .AI. AI for Artificial Intelligence? Not at all, it is the country code of Anguilla, a territory heavily affected by Irma Hurricane. Thus, many companies using .AI domain names have encountered difficulties in registering, managing or renewing their domain names.

But then, how do we do? This is precisely what is exciting in this intangible industry: if no guide is available to track real-time geopolitical movements and the consequences on registries’ DNS availability, Nameshield informs you in real time.

Do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer
Photo : CC BY-SA 3.0 Nick Youngson – source : http://nyphotographic.com/

Act 4: Reconstruction

While a myriad of new extensions were open for recording, the time was to select .COM, .CM, .OM, .CO or .CAM records? .FR or .FRL?

The decision to make registrations in all new extensions of course has a high cost and is no longer necessarily wise.

This is also why, some brands have chosen a .BRAND: its own TLD, its own sovereignty, its own management rules! Many brands have opted for this configuration and we can see now the blooming of .BNPPARIBAS, .ALSTOM, .SNCF, .LECLERC, .GOOGLE …

This reflection on .BRAND has sometimes been badly conducted: some brands have now abandoned their own TLDs, such as McDonald’s. ICANN has a list of these TLDs, along with the very formal letters from the companies asking to remove the area of ​​confidence, historically so costly. It reminds me of The Fallen Astronaut. We can say that the abandonment of these TLDs will be used for others to build themselves up. A good general uses the strength of the enemy as Sun Tzu said!

These discontinuations show that the companies concerned have not seen today the benefits they could make from the costs associated with the creation and management of a .BRAND. Others, more daring, have discovered the interest and / or imagine discovering new service opportunities allowing them to have an increased or even total control over their infrastructure to come with high stakes, Internet of Things, Industry 4.0 …

Let’s wait for the first connected objects and the deployment of a real infrastructure around a resilient .BRAND and we’ll see!

Read act 1: Denial (and Anger)

Read act 2: Expression

Read act 3: Depression

 

.BRAND: The importance of the digital strategy, or the McDonald’s case

McDonald’s! The symbol of globalization: from the invention of the express service by the eponymous brothers to its successful franchise by Ray Kroc (I recommend the film ‘The Funder’), McDonald’s is an example of post-war entrepreneurial success. The BigMac, the Filet o’Fish? These are the inventions of franchisees that headquarters have agreed to develop throughout the world. A model of innovation.

What about their digital strategy? When Internet arrives and everyone talks about it, a Wired reporter contacted McDonald’s to explain that Burger King could record mcdonalds.com. McDonald’s will not register it. Then the reporter does, the US firm tries to recover it and will donate 3500USD to a school in order to buy computer equipment.

Once bitten, twice shy. As a result, McDonald’s is creating a preventive policy of registration of domain names: goldenarches.com, mcd.com, bigmac.com, …

If RayKroc.com and mcdo.com are already cybersquatted, the implementation of a defensive registration policy has begun.

Thus, when the new gTLD program is launched in 2012, McDonald’s is a candidate and wins the .MCD and the .MCDONALDS (MCD is used internally for e-mail).

 

McDonald's Illustration: Home page of NIC.MCD
Illustration 1: Home page of NIC.MCD

We note the weak development on the home page of the .MCD, which is limited to ICANN’s obligations regarding the presentation of the TLD.

 

McDonald's Illustration : WHOIS of .MCDONALDS
Illustration 2: WHOIS of .MCDONALDS

 

The Whois service of the .MCDONALDS allows the identification of the owner, although, as presented in the file for ICANN, the .MCDONALDS is not intended to be an open extension.

What is interesting in the Whois is the joint management of different departments:

  • First contact: IP Division, Eric William Gallender, Senior Intellectual Property Counsel
  • Second Contact: Marketing Division, Anja Morrison Carroll, ‘Senior Director, Marketing’

In the motivations of the company to benefit from a .MCD and a .MCDONALDS coming from a public document, we can find the will to recreate confidence. McDonald’s highlights its gTLD, ccTLD and preventive registrations (.XXX, among others).

McDonald’s has many commitments:

  • provide an easy and intuitive reference and access point for internet users;
  • represent authenticity thus promoting user confidence;
  • direct internet users to locally relevant information and products;
  • use appropriate geographic names to connect with internet users in the relevant regions ;
  • potentially use IDNs to enable customers to interact in their native language;
  • enhance security and minimise security risks by implementing necessary technical and policy measures;
  • strengthen brand reputation and user confidence by eliminating user confusion; and
  • prevent potential abuses in the registration process reducing overall costs to businesses and users.

However, on May 2nd, 2017, a signed letter from VP Global Brand Marketing, Colin Mitchell announces the end for both TLDs.

There is no reason mentioned to justify this request and McDonald’s IP has not responded to the requests for communication.

McDonald's illustration: The letter of McDonald’s
Illustration 3: The letter of McDonald’s

McDonalds has failed to do with these two TLDs more than a trusted place for the websites: a .BRAND, yes, but it’s necessary to have a real strategy of deployment and use.

Creating a .BRAND with the only purpose of defending the intellectual property doesn’t seem, in that light, to be a successful tactic. The success of a .BRAND is mainly conditioned by an effective strategy, and its development has to anticipate far ahead, its use, as well as its implications regarding the digital and commercial communication.

 

 

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer
Photo : CC BY-SA 3.0 Nick Youngson – source : http://nyphotographic.com/

Act 3: Depression

 

Five years ago, the number of domain name extensions was alright: less than 500. It was still possible to register its trademark and its company’s name in the extension of its choice and to act against fraudulent deposits. Attacks were unusual and you defended yourselves when smart little ones made contentious deposits. Some extensions only accepted subdomains registrations, such as Australia and the United Kingdom. Impossible to save at the root and impossible to register without having any rights: .CO.UK for companies, .AC.UK for the academic world,…

But that was before.

 

Domain names - Number of delegated TLDs

 

Then arrived several generic extensions and if the rare extensions created, caused only few problems (.MUSEUM, .MOBI, .AERO,…), this was not the case for the thousand new delegated extensions following the new gTLD program, opened on January 12, 2012. Although brands have filed .BRAND or .COMPANY to protect their territories, many extensions were open and the registration race allowed smart little ones to create big damage. The registration of BLOOMBERG.MARKET and VINCI.GROUP are two particularly well-known examples.

Today, the management of domain names is managed by people dedicated to this activity, mostly within marketing, legal and IT departments.

But what do you have to do? Register your brand in all TLDs? Spend an important amount in domain name retrieval procedures? An in-between?

Interesting alternatives are born from the opening of the new gTLDs:

  • Create a closed extension with subdomains to find the identification-trust link, such as the .FX project I presented a few days ago to NetWare2017 ;
  • Create your own extension: some already do this well, like .BNPPARIBAS or .LECLERC ;
  • Help the end user and this is the project of the Nameshield’s CEO, through Brandsays, a browser extension.

If the brands continue to rightfully submit domain names, they will also develop other means of access, such as SEO or social networks.

While INTA, in its recent study, highlighted impressive figures regarding defensive actions, to get the right answer, you have to ask the right question. We will see in the fourth and last episode of this summer saga, how to understand the .BRAND strategy.

 

Read act 1: Denial (and Anger)

Read act 2: Expression

Read act 4: Reconstruction

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer
Photo : CC BY-SA 3.0 Nick Youngson – source : http://nyphotographic.com/

Act 2: Expression

 

We left off on the time when the brands did not feel the Internet revolution, the techniques evolving and the registered domain names. (Read act 1: Denial (and anger))

The example of McDonald’s is interesting. In 1994, Wired, an American magazine created a year earlier, communicates about the case of mcdonalds.com. Joshua Quittner, a journalist at Newsday, contacted McDonald’s and asked if they would be interested in registering mcdonalds.com. There was little to no answer. He registers the name, contacts McDonald’s which does not answer. Then he publishes his article on Wired, putting the contact address ronald@mcdonalds.com.

McDonald’s complains and Quittner asks for a donation for charities: it will be 3500USD for the computer equipment of a school in New York.

McDonalds - .brand domain name example

 

In analogy, we can remember when a Russian worker asked for a gift from Vladimir Putin, who could not refuse in front to the camera. Putin offered him his watch worth a year’s salary.

The virulent attacks of trademarks are legion in order to recover the domain names from little jokers, some of them could be part of the company, such was the case for mtv.com.

Brands federate among themselves, contact ICANN to develop simplified procedures, even if, according to the famous trademark dilemna, the American organization had known the risk of cybersquatting for a long time.

On the side of lawyers, training courses are launched on each side of the Atlantic and the UDRP, SYRELI, URS and others, are created in order to defend the digital territories.

France, known for a long time as a country supporter of trademarks, will not remain passive and is today, the second country in the world in the disputes resolutions concerning domain names.

Thus, in the virtual territory, and in contrast to the reality, the police is financed by trademarks. The holders of a territory, similar to countries, are doing nothing or almost nothing: recovering a .Fr can be possible using a SYRELI procedure, while for our friends from the outside of Rhine, no alternative procedure exists: to apply for its .DE, it is the court or nothing.

Nevertheless, an economy of defense of brands is organized and thus, an ecosystem is developed.

Everything seems to be going well, until the arrival of the new extensions, as called in the field, the first round…

 

Read act 3: Depression

The acquisition of Rightside Group by Donuts becomes a reality

new gTLDs - The acquisition of Rightside Group by Donuts

It’s at mid-July that ICANN has given its consent regarding the merge of Rightside Group, the registry behind the 40 new gTLDs (.ATTORNEY, .NINJA, .PUB, .DENTIST, .NEWS, .ROCKS, .LIVE, etc.) and the other well-known registry in the new gTLDs’ world, Donuts Inc (more than 200 TLDs: .LIFE, .LOANS, .MEDIA, .SOLUTIONS, .WORLD, etc.).

Donuts will then acquire Rightside at the price of 10.60$ per action, in the context of a takeover offer, i.e. an operation of approximatively 213 million in total.

Donuts, already largely dominant with its hundred extensions, continues to reinforce its position and benefits from difficulties faced by some registries suffering from deficit of commercial success.

This new operation highlights a fact: many new extensions didn’t obtain the expected enthusiasm and the registries which created them are in difficulties.

Are we heading slowly but surely towards a retrieval by Donuts of unsuccessful registries seeking to limit the losses?

 

Black July for the .xyz

.XYZ - new gTLD

The volume leader of the new gTLDs has seen its zone file cut by more than half.

While it started its July month with more than 5.2 million of registered domain names in its zone, it had only 2.5 million on Monday 17, letting the .top get its way back to the top in the meantime.

How to explain such a phenomenon?

First of all, the multigenerational extension doesn’t escape the non-renewal law.

A year after having massively registered at the derisory price of 0.01$ or even received for free their domain names in .xyz, the acquirers simply don’t renew these latter, hence a considerably reduced zone file.

Last but not least, a big part of the non-renewals comes from the ban done to registries by the China Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to sell .xyz.

Yet, half of the registered domain names in .xyz were owned by people in China.

The case is currently in the process of being resolved, so the .xyz has yet to type its final point.

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer

.BRAND : 4 episodes, for this summer
Photo : CC BY-SA 3.0 Nick Youngson – source : http://nyphotographic.com/

Act 1: Denial (and Anger)

 

The brand, a forbidden territory. Everything is played out by attacks, complaints, courts. A ruthless world. Since the 23rd of June 1857 and the creation of the first system of trademarks by France, it is possible to benefit from an exclusive right of use for a term on different applications. Otherwise the law is coming. The arrival of the Internet will shake up this foundation.

If one remembers the Milka conflict with Kraft foods, which led to the famous opposition between Milka Budimir, a seamstress in Bourg-lès-Valence, and the American giant Kraft Foods about the domain name milka.fr, we can keep in mind the case of many domain names holders who succeeded in winning attacks against those bigger than them.

The expression of David vs Goliath is illustrated in France with leclerc.fr, domain name registered by a fan of the Leclerc tank. In spite of an attempt at recovery of SYRELI type, the tradesmen never succeeded in obtaining this famous domain name. For posterity, the justification of the individual will be retained in his argument: “… in life there are not only shopping centers and consumption, France is above all, a country of history, a strong history of which we can be proud!”

 

.BRAND - Leclerc.fr website
Leclerc.fr website

 

In the United States, the case of Nissan Computers is interesting. The little known IT company was registered after the name of its owner, Uzi Nissan. The eponymous Japanese company Nissan Motors evidently pouted at the deposit of nissan.com and tried to recover the domain name in question. Despite an incessant media campaign and numerous attacks, today nissan.com remains the property of Nissan Computers. Nissan Motors now uses nissanusa.com for its US business. In this case, the Nissan.com website only reflects Nissan Computers’ computer sales activity. We can instead find a strong attack against Nissan Motors. A bad buzz in action!

 

.BRAND - nissan.com website
Nissan.com website

 

What can we keep in mind through these two experiences? A relatively interesting bone marrow: the domain name, this intangible asset representing the image of a company, has not been sufficiently monitored by multinationals.