Tag: .brand

ICANN84: A summit to take stock six months before the opening of applications for new generic extensions

Due to instability in the Middle East, Muscat, Oman will have to wait another year to host an ICANN Summit, the Internet’s governing body. For its Annual General Meeting, ICANN played it safe by taking up residence at the prestigious Dublin Convention Center for six days of discussions, meetings, and work on policy issues. This was the organization’s last annual summit six months before the launch of the next series of new generic extensions.

Tripti Sinha at the Welcome ceremony of ICANN84
Tripti Sinha at the Welcome ceremony of ICANN84

An opening ceremony in the form of a review and a “Meitheal”

During the opening ceremony, Tripti Sinha, Chair of the ICANN Board of Directors, drew an analogy between the Irish concept of “Meitheal,” which refers to a group of people who serve the community by doing work “that no one can do alone,” and ICANN, whose mode of operation is similar. The Annual General Meeting is indeed a kind of harvest or review of results for ICANN. Among them, she cited:

– the approval of ICANN’s new strategic plan for the period 2026-2030,

– the prudent management of the organization, which has created bugetary margins,

– the ICANN Grant program, based on the 2012 auction reserve fund, with 23 projects set to receive funding,

– the launch of a holistic review of the organization,

– ICANN’s contributions to WSIS+20, the 20-year review of the World Summit on the Information Society initiated by the United Nations,

– and progress on the next round of new generic extensions, with the application window opening in just six months and the applicant support program already underway.

For Kurtis Linqvist, who is attending his third summit as ICANN CEO, “the year has been marked by complex issues such as problems affecting regional registries,” we are obviously thinking of the Afrinic regional registry “and the complexity of the world”, and even “local problems” affecting ICANN’s offices, such as the forest fires in Los Angeles during the summer and the earthquake in Istanbul, springing to mind. In this context, he welcomed the progress made on the various topics covered by ICANN. He concluded by setting out his priorities for the coming year: “listening,” “focusing on implementation” and “improving” the “way we work internally to avoid friction and slowing down implementation.” 

The difficult equation of reconciling expectations and rapid technological developments

The Geopolitical forum, which usually provides an overview of regulatory and legislative developments that may impact ICANN’s missions, focused this time on the WSIS+20. A decisive meeting will be held in mid-December in New York during the United Nations General Assembly to formalize a concluding text on the implementation of the WSIS outcomes. The session held during ICANN84 was an opportunity to advocate for an inclusive Internet and contents in users’ languages. With regard to AI the desires expressed for greater transparency on algorithms so that non-dominant languages are also taken into account, ensuring that these technologies are adapted for the widest possible audience, regardless of the language used and spoken. The widespread use of AI, particularly by the younger generation, and their appetite for centralized platforms and social networks were also raised during questions to the Board of Directors, as a reminder that the world and the uses of Internet are changing very quickly.

During the Public forum, ICANN’s role in universal acceptance was questioned, as it advocated a shift in focus toward expertise and implementation rather than awareness. The attention paid to diacritics, which are symbols that accompany a letter or grapheme to change its meaning or pronunciation, and ICANN’s lack of leadership in providing guidance on building bridges between Web 2 and Web 3 were also debatted. These multiple issues complicate the task of preventing the fragmentation of the Internet, but ICANN’s primary goal which was recalled by the Board is to “provide the best Internet space for Internet addressing.”

DNS abuse and urgent requests for access to registration data

To push for a more virtuous market, new Policy Development Processes aimed at consolidating measures already taken to combat DNS abuse have been outlined for the coming year.

On the law enforcement side, the issue of specific access to registration data continued to fuel numerous sessions. The entity representing governments, the GAC, is pushing for a delay, likely in calendar hours, to be added to domain name provider contracts.

Hot topic: the next round of new top-level domain extensions

It did not escape anyone’s notice that the hot topic at this year’s ICANN84 was the launch of a new application window for generic extensions, announced two years ago for April 2026. In fact, upon entering the Dublin Convention Center, two column trims displayed an announcement to this effect: “Ready to apply for a generic extension?” For those who had experienced the launch of the previous series in 2012, this communication seemed rather discreet.

In any case, the topic was present in a very large number of sessions. On the success side: the Applicant Support Program designed to help applicants who might not be able to apply due to financial or resource constraints. 115 applications have been received, of which 2 have been fully approved to date. The majority come from Asia, followed by North America. In 2012, while this program was new, more limited, and less widely publicized, only three applications were received by this program.

However, ICANN84 also showed that the program is experiencing delays, which were highlighted during the Public Forum. These delays include the registry services providers verification process and the provision of the registry contract for future registry operators, the final version of which may not be available until next March. 

ICANN Board adopts the Application Guide Book for next round during the closing session of ICANN84
ICANN Board adopts the Application Guide Book for next round during the closing session of ICANN84

At the end of the week, however, participants welcomed the approval of the Application Guide Book during the public session held by a Board of Directors undergoing renewal. Although it is still subject to additions between now and the end of December, this essential document is now recognized as a reference. A final contribution from outgoing Board member Becky Burr reminded us that no fewer than 197 meetings were held by the implementation team to draft the nearly 400-page document, with no fewer than five phases of public comments. Also noteworthy were the departures of Maarten Botterman and Chris Chapman from the Board of Directors.

Our comment

ICANN has still not given an official date for the window for submitting applications for new generic extensions and therefore for .brand projects. It could be April 27, with a duration of 12 to 15 weeks, or perhaps longer if the issues mentioned in our article, such as the completion of the evaluation of technical operators or the publication of the final version of the registry contract, would occur too close to the opening date. In any case, ICANN has sought to reassure everyone that the April launch will go ahead. The final date for the next round should be made official in December.

As we can see, the deadline for this new opportunity is fast approaching. While it may not be obvious whether or not to take advantage of it, it is important for everyone to be aware of this new opportunity to create their own Internet extension and have a dedicated namespace, as it has not been possible since 2012. Getting started requires a well-defined project, identifying the right contacts in organizations, and anticipating the budgets to be invested. To succeed and make your project profitable, you need to choose the right partners to provide you with the support you need. Nameshield, a leading sovereign European provider, offers you expertise and tailored support throughout the entire life cycle of such a project. Let’s discuss this further together now.

ICANN82: Stability, security and unity in opposition to current upheavals

The 2025 season of ICANN meetings on Internet governance kicked off in March in the Emerald City of Seattle in the United States of America. 2025, a year of ‘exceptional times’, as Tripti Sinha, the Chair of the Board of Directors, described it. At a time when the world is being turned upside down by geopolitical and technological developments such as AI and quantum computing, ICANN wants above all to look at ‘what can be controlled’ and at opportunities, with the preparation of the next series of new generic extensions and the fresh look of its President Kurt Erik ‘Kurtis’ Lindqvist, who took up his position 91 days before ICANN82.

The right time for an examination of conscience

On the occasion of his first summit as current ICANN President, Kurt Erik Lindqvist said he had been well received by the community. He hopes that the identification of problems will be anticipated in order to make ICANN’s processes more fluid and the organisation’s approach to become more agile. For the next series of new generic extensions, which is a crucial issue for the organisation, he stated that everything necessary is being done ‘to keep to the timetable’.

On the subject of financial sustainability, another central issue, Tripti Sinha recalled that ICANN was completing its 2026-2030 strategic plan to anticipate future needs. A plan that should promote a multi-stakeholder and inclusive approach, continue the culture of continuous improvement, focus attention with stakeholders on emerging technologies and strengthen the security and stability of the Internet. On a more serious note, she pointed out that we are in a world that has become ‘unpredictable’. She said that in ‘extraordinary times’, ‘the human spirit seeks stability, security and unity that are embodied in ICANN’s mission statements’ and that ‘ICANN must remain a reliable and stable institution.’

Kurt Erik Lindqvist now acting as CEO of ICANN

The opening ceremony was followed by a session led by Sally Costerton, who is now the President’s advisor on community engagement. She led a session on community feedback on the operation of the annual meetings organised by ICANN. While 1,828 people were registered for ICANN82 when it was launched, participants learned that the costs of the summits have increased by 31% between 2018 and 2024, currently representing a budget of USD 2.3 million per meeting. Various options were discussed, such as charging for attendance at summits or, more likely, reducing the number of face-to-face meetings or their duration.

The next series of new generic extensions is becoming clearer and clearer

While up until now we have heard talk of April 2026 as the opening date for submitting applications for new top level domains, the date of 25 April is now considered to be D Day. The cost of the next round is also known, with the application fee set at USD 227,000, as announced in former articles. This amount is based on a projection of 1,000 applications, which would enable a financial break-even point to be reached. The applicant support programme, which aims to support less favoured geographical areas, is also on track and is already accepting applications. At ICANN82 we learned that 13 applications had been initiated in the programme. On the other hand, the implementation of all the recommendations of the Subpro policy development process is still in progress. The current focus of work in progress includes the formulation of the new Registry agreement to be signed by future registry operators and the long awaited Applicant Guidebook.

Thirteen years after the previous series of new generic extensions, a session was also devoted to the ICANN Grant programme. The aim of this programme is to redistribute, through financial support, part of the reserve fund resulting from the auctions linked to multiple applications at the previous round. The auctions generated a reserve fund of 240 million dollars. For the 2024 cycle, an endowment of $10 million was earmarked for projects that had to meet a number of criteria. The programme was a victim of its own success, with 247 applications received from 64 countries for a total funding that would have amounted to 83 million US dollars.

ICANN policies under the shadow of cyber security legislations and new technologies

While the EU Member States are in the process of transposing the NIS2 cyber security directive into their national legislation, and in the United States the final arbitrations are underway for the latest version of the CIRCIA (Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act), a number of related issues continue to be discussed at ICANN. One of these is access to domain name registration data for legitimate purposes. At the instigation of the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee), which represents governments, ways of authenticating law enforcement requestors are being considered to enable them to be specifically identified so that they can be prioritised when requests for access to data are made. This future mechanism is intended above all to respond to specific cases of imminent threats linked to the exploitation of children, attacks on the integrity of individuals or critical infrastructures.

On the subject of malicious use of the DNS, almost a year after the implementation of binding measures for registry operators and registrars, ICANN’s compliance department has stated that 46 investigations are currently underway into abuse of the DNS, with mitigation measures affecting more than 5,400 domain names.

Another trend observed: the median time taken to fully remediate an abuse report is 7.5 days in the case of phishing and malware. This has fallen since the ICANN measures were introduced. Another shadow hanging over ICANN82 was the change of administration in the United States. Although it has had no impact on ICANN so far, the unpredictability of the new administration has raised a lot of questions among participants.

AI was also discussed in a specific session. As it was exposed AI technology, like Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde, can bring benefits when used as a resource, for example to mitigate abuse, but can also be used for malicious purposes by perpetrating increasingly sophisticated abuses. The subject of a governance framework was raised. This is a subject on which the Internet Governance Forum and the WSIS+20 global forum organised by the International Telecommunication Union and the United Nations should be working.

In conclusion, ICANN82 was marked by the curiosity aroused by the arrival on the scene of its new CEO, whose public forum at the end of the summit showed that everything he said was scrutinised and analysed. ICANN82 was a summit that did not shy away from the highly unstable technological, legislative and geopolitical context in which we find ourselves. In the face of this instability, we can offer solutions that provide security, reliability and stability. Just as we tend to say that real estate is a solid investment, the acquisition of a brand extension, a dot brand, with a view to the next round next year is also a solid investment. It allows you to become the owner of a piece of the Internet, a naming space protected from attacks, where addresses can be created that are deemed reliable, so that your targets can find you and that you can address them in complete confidence over the long term. These are times that also call for consideration of the notions of sovereignty and proximity. In this respect, Nameshield has been an independent European player for over 30 years, and the management of .brand projects is one of our areas of expertise.

Image source : Veronika Andrews via Pixabay

.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

.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.

Schmidt launches its new website in dot brand: Home-design.schmidt

Schmidt is one of the first French brands of kitchens, but also the first kitchen furniture export company in France.

Schmidt group has decided to launch its new website in « .brand » (dot brand), .schmidt and thus has joined many big companies which have made this bet, like BNP Paribas (mabanque.bnpparibas), MAIF (voyagepro.maif), Club Med (corporate.clubmed) or the latest, SNCF (oui.sncf).

Schmidt chose to regroup its activity under the « home design » designation which describes well its industry. The company is not only dedicated to the kitchen world but also proposes bathrooms and “custom-made” furniture for the entire house: dressing, TV furnitures… all with a design touch.

The domain name home-design.schmidt allows on the one hand, to optimize the SEO and on the other hand, to facilitate its development and its international communication. After its launch in Great Britain at the end of April, the website arrives in Belgium, and will continue with Spain, Italia and Switzerland by July the 4th.

The domain name home-design.schmidt is easy to recognize and to remember for general public.

dot brand - Home-design.schmidt website
Home-design.schmidt website

But what is the benefit for brands to have their own extension?

In 2013, some companies (including some thirty French companies) wished to have their own « .brand » extension, in order to capitalize on their leading brand. Most of them wanted to secure and protect their naming spaces (to limit intermediaries in the chain of actors involved on a domain name registration). The purpose is also to have a domain name really distinctive and reassuring for the final consumer. The brands fight against cybersquatting, but this is an endless war. It represents an important annual budget and doesn’t limit the damages enough. The message of the brands owners of a « .brand » (dot brand) is the following: If you’re not on my « .brand » website, then you don’t buy the products or services of my brand.

This practice to communicate in « .brand » isn’t known enough by the general public. Of course, the consumers’ awareness should be increased in order to use extra caution during their navigation, and that means the domain name verification.

So having its « .brand » is a differentiating factor and will be more and more used for marketing purposes.

.brand - ma.cuisinella website
ma.cuisinella website