ICANN Update - Names Council Warns Pre-Registration of [...]

September 29, 2000 -- Commenting on theprocess for establishing new top-level domain names (TLDs) theNames Council of the Domain Name Supporting Organization (DNSO)emphasizes that no new TLDs have been selected as of this dateand no one is authorized to pre-register names.

Noting that some companies are claimingto offer pre-registration services to consumers who may wishto register in the new TLDs, the Names Council has issued thefollowing statement. "The Names Council feels it is prematurefor companies to offer pre-registration services for domain namesin speculative new TLDs. To date, no new TLDs have been selectedand there is no guarantee that any particular organization willbe authorized to take registrations for any particular TLD. Theregistration of names in new TLDs will be done on a fair basis,and the practice of pre-registration should not be encouraged."

The Names Council statement was made followingits meeting on the 21 September 2000, at which the Council welcomedICANN's initiative to invite proposals for new top level domains.With the application process well under way the Names Councilconsiders it may be helpful to the Internet community to outlinethe process and its associated time line.

Timeline for new TLDs

At its meeting in July 2000 in Yokohama,Japan, the Board of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Namesand Numbers (ICANN) adopted a plan to receive and evaluate proposalsto operate or sponsor new TLDs. These names will complement existingTLDs such as ".com". No selections of any new TLDstrings have yet been made, nor has any decision been made regardingthe number that will be introduced. The application process willclose on 2 October 2000 and ICANN will publish (via its web sitehttp://www.icann.org) all applications soon afterward. Membersof the Internet community will have at least a two-week periodto comment on the proposals. ICANN then expects to enter intodialogue with a short-list of applicants to ensure that the growthof the Internet is undertaken in a stable and controlled manner.