In an interview, ICANN Chair Steve Crocker said that there would be no delay or restriction of the new gTLD programme.
According to the interview on Dot-Nxt [warning: payment required]:
Steve Crocker [said that the ICANN] Board will be holding a special meeting in the first week of January and that the meeting’s focus will be the launch of the new gTLD program the following week. But that meeting will not consider either a delay or a limited rollout, he stated.
Asked specifically about widespread calls for a “pilot program” that would feature only a limited number of Internet extensions, Crocker noted that the organization had already run pilot programs for expanding the top level of the Internet and argued that “we haven’t seen anything to suggest there would be value in delaying the launch.”
A highly organized campaign by lobbyists against new gTLDs, begun after the new gTLD programme was approved, has brought letters from U.S. politicians urging delay, or a limited roll-out of new gTLDs.
Tom Foremski, who interviewed TLDH Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush a few days ago, has written an article about the interview, entitled “Former ICANN Chairman Warns Opposition to New Domain Names Could Fracture the Internet.”
Tom Buford from Red Hot Penny Shares gave his view today on TLDH:
“TOP LEVEL DOMAIN HOLDINGS (TLDH): TLDH reports ‘strong international interest’ in the new top level domain programme which REMAINS ON TRACK despite grumbling from some quarters.
TLDH’s subsidiary Minds + Machines ‘has now signed, or is close to finalising, agreements with clients in the US, Canada, South America, Africa, Asia and Europe to represent them in the gTLD application process… in addition, the Company continues to make good progress on preparing applications for gTLDs on its own behalf’.
It says that ‘over 100 named-bids have already been identified by market commentators as intending to apply (of which over 40 are cities or regions) and it believes that the industry wide applications which will be made during the application window will be a significant multiple of this.’ Applications must be made by April 12th after which they will be evaluated before going live possibly in late 2012.
This is going to be a hot story in 2012 and TLDH is the ONLY way to invest in it. BUY UP TO 13p”
Silicon Valley Watcher, run by former Financial Times correspondent Tom Foremski, has published an interview with the Chairman of Top Level Domain Holdings, Peter Dengate Thrush.
Peter Dengate Thrush, Top Level Domain Holdings’ Executive Chairman, had a conversation with Ben Rooney of the Wall Street Journal, talking about choice, competition, opposition to the new gTLD program, the role of governments, and control of the Internet’s root zone.
The full article was published today on the Wall Street Journal’s web site.
On August 8, 2011 Interactive Investor (http://www.iii.co.uk/tv/episode/top-level-domain-holdings) interviewed Anthony Van Couvering and Peter Dengate Thrush on ICANN’s ruling to introduce new domains on the Internet and how Top Level Domain Holdings (TLDH) will deliver on this.
From Faster Forward, Washington Post Blogs 5 August 2011
In June, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved a program that has the potential to send shockwaves throughout the entire Internet.
Starting in January, ICANN is set to accept applications for the new domains, meaning that brand-centric domain names (think “.apple”) or industry-centric domains (“.pharm”) could spring up online very soon.
From Proactive Investors 5, August 2001
“Today’s decision will usher in a new Internet age. We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration.”This is how Peter Dengate Thrush described an end of restrictions on internet suffixes such as .com, .org and .gov.
At the time of those comments he was chairman of ICANN – the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – which is the body set up to oversee domain names.
From CircleID 14, July 2011
MINDS + MACHINES is pleased to announce that it has reached an alliance with RIGHT OF THE DOT to identify and market premium domain names for Minds + Machines clients. Under the non-exclusive arrangement, Minds + Machines will refer applicants for new top-level domains (TLDs) to Right of the Dot for high-value premium domain consulting services, and Right of the Dot will refer clients seeking top-level domain registry services to Minds + Machines.
From TheDomains 17, July 2011
According to the Independent.co.uk, the outgoing chairman of ICANN Peter Dengate Thrush is joining Minds + Machines as its executive chairman.
The article quotes Antony Van Couvering, CEO of publicly traded Top Level Domain Holdings, otherwise known as Minds+Machines as saying:
“Peter is a superstar in our field. We are delighted to have him at the helm”
