Proposed New Top Level Domains
Table of Contents
Introduction
There is a lot of misinformation in the news media about the new Top
Level Domain (TLD) proposal process. ICANN has narrowed the list of
proposed TLDs. They haven't been approved as new TLDs, they have just
been granted further discussion and negotiation with ICANN.
ICANN would like to have the discussion period completed by the end of
the year [See January 17, 2001 Update], and
make new TLDs available some time next year, however nothing is set in
stone, nor are there any actual timelines... There is no guarantee that any
of these TLDs will be approved for use, nor is there any procedures or
guidelines outlining how to register, who can register, or the fees that may
be charged for registration. The TLDs have just been narrowed to the ones
that will get consideration.
The United States Federal Trade Commission and ICANN have both issued
warnings about organizations promoting pre-registration services. Please
see the following pages for the actual warnings:
DNS Central will do our best to get registration systems in place for
any of the new TLDs that are actually approved and be prepared to allow
you to place registrations for them through our site. This page will be
updated from time to time as we get more information on the progress being
made.
Update: January 17, 2001
Introduction of the new top-level domains may be slightly delayed because
the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") did not
complete contractual agreements with the new registry operators by the end
of 2000 as intended. Instead, it's looking to complete the first round of
contracts sometime in mid to late January, according to ICANN President Mike
Roberts. Scheduling appointments with the registries was difficult over the
holidays, noted Roberts. "We're close, but that doesn't mean we're ready to
announce anything yet," he said.
Update: June 1, 2001
The .biz and .info domains are scheduled to be available for live
registrations sometime this fall. The tentative start date for .biz is
October 1, 2001 and the tentative start date for .info is September 19,
2001. It is possible that these start dates may change. DNS Central will
not be participating in the pre-registration phase for either domain due
to legal and ethical issues that we have with the systems the registries
has chosen to employ. DNS Central is already authorized to process .biz
and .info domain registrations and we will include both domain extensions
in our registration system once they have passed the pre-registration
phase and are available for live registrations.
Update: July 26, 2001
The rollout of new Internet top-level domain names hit a speed bump this
week with the filing of a class-action lawsuit alleging that the operators
of the new .biz domains are running an illegal lottery by charging
customers for the chance to register a .biz name.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2798854,00.html
Update: August 14, 2001
Advisory Concerning Unqualified .info "Sunrise"
Registrations
http://www.icann.org/announcements/icann-pr14aug01.htm
Update: October 4, 2001
.info is live! You can now register .info domains in real-time via the
DNS Central
Registration System.
Update: November 7, 2001
.biz is live! You can now register .biz domains in real-time via the
DNS Central
Registration System.
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