New generic Top-Level Domains

Is there a safeguard for this in the new gTLD program?

2013-06-19T16:21:00.001+02:00

Is there a risk to pre-register a domain name?

With ICANN allowing Registries to own a Registrar, the lack of protection provided by the Trademark Clearinghouse and the increasing number of serive providers offering domain name pre-reservations, I was asked this question again: "is there a risk to pre-register a domain name and if there is one, what is it?"

Here is part of the answer I gave in French to an interested party today:

My English answer: "There is none if your Registrar is honest but below is a little story of what has already and can still happen":

"Lorsque nous avons lancé le .XX*, un matin j'ai reçu XXX contrats en même temps, tous de la même organisation.

Ce schéma est un classique car il permet au titulaire de chaque contrat de bénéficier d'une porte "supplémentaire" pour interroger le serveur du Registre le jour de l'ouverture.

La liste de pré-réservations permet à chaque nouveau bureau d'enregistrement accrédité d'interroger le serveur du Registre et de lancer ses enregistrements. Généralement un Registrar à 1 seule accréditation, pas XXX.

Pour simplifier, le jour de l'ouverture, le Registrar qui a 1 accréditation à 1 chance sur XXX contre l'autre groupe de Registrars... Pour bien comprendre, le jour de l'ouverture, les 2 Registrars lancent leurs enregistrement tous en même temps et le premier arrivé est le premier servi.

La pré-réservation est SANS garantie car si vous voulez enregistrer XXX.VIN, vous risquez de ne pas être le seul et si par malchance vous avez confié votre pré-enregistrement à plusieurs Registrars pour augmenter vos chances, dont un (ou plusieurs) qui fait partie des XXX cités ci-dessus...c'est très risqué. Voici pourquoi:

L'intérêt d'un groupe de Registrars de s'approprier le plus grand nombre de noms de domaine, est de les récupérer souvent le compte de ses clients afin qu'il puissent les exploiter mais aussi...pour les vendre aux enchères (aussi comme noms de domaine PREMIUMS). Lors du lancement de l'extension .XXXXX, ça n'a pas raté.

Côté acheteur (vous), voici ce qui peut se produire: alors que vous avez passé commande pour pré-enregistrer votre nom, vous recevez un email qui vous propose de participer à une enchère avec un prix de départ à 60 € (par exemple) alors que ce type de noms se vend 20 € chez un autre prestataire (notez toutefois que chaque Registrar est libre de pratatiquer les tarifs qu'il souhaite). Ensuite, pour ceux qui n'ont pas appelé leur Registrar (mieux, le Registre!) pour hurler contre telle injustice, il faut surenchérir pour prétendre à son nom de domaine. A savoir, certains prestataires malhonnêtes, savent comment faire pour "auto-surenchérir" de façon anonyme.

En ce qui me concerne, en aucun cas je ne divulguerai à quelque prestataire de service que ce soit les noms qui m'intéressent !"

* Info has been modified.

Question to ICANN:

Is there a mechanism to block a Registrar form registering his clients pre-registered domain names to offer them for auction?

Predictable answer:

This is not our problem.

.CLUB auction winners caught on video

2013-06-08T12:01:00.006+02:00

Congratulations to the happy winners:

.CLUB DOMAINS, LLC application can be downloaded here.

L'Oréal to withdraw its .LOREAL new gTLD application

2013-06-07T09:51:00.001+02:00

Made public yesterday, French Luxury brand L'Oréal has decided to withdraw its application from the ICANN new gTLD program. Apply the "withdrawn" filter in this page to check withdrawn applications.

Allication withdrawn: .LOREAL (download the application).

Question to the French Government on .WINE and .VIN

2013-06-06T15:48:00.000+02:00

Question to the French Government on .WINE and .VIN new gTLDs, starts at 48:00 mn in this video.

The direct link which points to mn 48:00 is available here.

Update (slides) on the ICANN new gTLD program (05 June 2013)

2013-06-06T10:24:00.003+02:00

Yesterday's agenda, (in red, what matters to me):

Initial Evaluation:

Results Published for Application Priorities 1 to 600:

518 passed;
4 eligible for Extended Evaluation;
60 withheld due to CQ/Change Request or Outreach;
18 withdrawn.

Initial Evaluation Outcomes:

Pass;
Eligible for Extended Evaluation;
Ineligible for further review.

71 Application withdrawals to Date.

Continuing Operations Instrument;
Objections & Dispute Resolution:

Current Progress:

262 admissible objections ﬁled;
139 admissible applicant responses ﬁled;
119 Filings in-review;
4 ﬁlings dismissed due to applicant withdrawal;
DRSPs are ﬁnalizing applicant responses and selection of expert panels.

Circumstances that may alter process timing:

Applicant and objector interaction (e.g., responses, payments);
Complexity of objection ﬁlings (e.g., consolidation).
Additional/Supplementary activities (i.e., hearings, additional written submissions, negotiation, mediation).

String Contention Resolution:

Contention Proceedings planned to begin September 2013;
Community Priority Elections will be accepted beginning next week (by 14 June) via the Customer Portal:

Expect an announcement next week with election instructions;
Additional CPE may be performed after Extended Evaluation, as necessary

Auctions:

Non-community contention sets can begin auction concurrent with CPE;
Others will begin at the conclusion of CPE and EE, as necessary.

Contracting (Next webinar: 13 June 2013);
GAC Advice;
Pre-Delegation Testing (Anycast Instance Testing to be eliminated);
Registry Data Escrow;
Security & Stability Studies:

ICANN has commissioned two studies to determine:

Security impacts of delegating applied-for new-gTLD strings that are currently used in private networks;
Security & stability impacts of dotless domain names.

These studies will identify and classify potential risk levels, and provide ICANN with mitigation options, as needed.

IDN Variant TLD Program Webinar (27 June 2013);
Trademark Clearinghouse (http://trademarkclearinghouse.com/):

Users:

636 trademark holders
119 agents.

Trademark records submitted: 3,027:

Veriﬁed: 1,380;
In process: 1,132;
Incorrect: 503;
Invalid: 12.

Early bird submissions for no additional fee;
Trademark Clearinghouse & Internationalized Domain Names Webinar (Date: 19 June 2013).

Tentative timeline:

30 June: Registry Agreement Approved;
1-8 July: Contracting;
9 July - 9 August: Pre-Delegation Testing;
12-14 August: Transition to IANA;
15-28 August: IANA Delegation;
28 August: First new gTLD delegated;
29 August - 27 September: Sunrise Notice;
28 September - 27 October: Sunrise Period.

Questions (one answer by ICANN was: "I understand the question and I understand how important it is to you but the ICANN legal department prevents me from answering it" :-).

Download the complete presentation here (PDF file).

Passing ICANN Evaluation & Preparing gTLD to Launch

2013-06-05T20:39:00.001+02:00

More here: http://wolfedomain.com/

Agenda | New gTLD Program Committee | ICANN

2013-06-05T09:20:00.001+02:00

11 June 2013

Consent Agenda:

Approval of Minutes

Main Agenda:

BGC Recommendation on Reconsideration Request 13-3
Info Discussion on ALAC Statement on IDN Variants
Plural vs. Singular
Any Other Business

Agenda | New gTLD Program Committee | ICANN

New gTLD applicant creates Governance Councils

2013-05-30T10:50:00.000+02:00

Famous Four Media, an applicant for multiple extensions just created a series of Governance Councils to "govern" new Registries to be created.

Many of these strings are in competition and none have yet been allocated to any applicant:

.BASKETBALL
.CASINO
.BOOK
.CHAT
.DIET
.FASHION
.FOOTBALL
.GAME
.HOTEL
.MOVIE
.MUSIC
.NEWS
.POKER
.RESTAURANT
.RUGBY
.SPORT
.SOCCER
.TENNIS
.TICKETS
.TAXI
.WINE
...

You will probably like to read why “The .Health Governance Council will be an essential part of the .Health gTLD” on TheDomains.com, followed with a few questions of mine to its representative which have not yet been answered. Also .HEALTH competitor Donuts shares about his competitor's Governance Council on LinkedIn (20+ comments).

The list of Governance Councils can be found down this page : http://www.governancecouncils.com/

Trademark Clearinghouse: "Cyber-squatters and opportunists will certainly be flying around"

2013-05-29T15:32:00.000+02:00

According to this official announcement, "your brand need not fall into a black hole".

To register your brand in the Trademark Clearinghouse, click here or I can recommend a serious TMCH agent and a good Corporate or Retail Registrar.

The NGPC to hold a series of calls to discuss .WINE and .VIN applicant responses to the GAC advice

2013-05-23T11:26:00.000+02:00

The ICANN Board New gTLD Program Committee (NGPC) held a discussion in Amsterdam on 18 May 2013 regarding how and when it could address the Beijing GAC advice.

Regarding wine related applications, both .VIN and .WINE applications were part ot the GAC advice to the ICANN board for further GAC consideration, the GAC advised the Board not proceed beyond Initial Evaluation with .WINE and .VIN.

The NGPC's goal is to carefully consider GAC advice and community input to make decisions that will allow the greatest number of new gTLD applications to move forward as soon as possible.

In its update, the NGPC says: "Over the next few weeks, the NGPC will hold a series of calls to discuss applicant responses to the GAC advice, the Safeguard advice and related public comment".

I understand Donuts will receive calls from the NGPC since it is the applicant for .VIN but not only: Afilias also applicant for .WINE and Famous Four Media should receive these calls too.

I have questions in mind here:

Who is the wine expert in the NGPC group?
Since none of the 3 applicants are in the wine business: what will their answer be? Will they camp on their position or will they have expected this call and adapted their speech?
~~Will these answers be made public?~~
I did not have the chance to receive an answer from ICANN from my correspondence dated April 3 2013 and entitled "Hints and Solution for the Protection of Wine Geographical Indications in the ICANN New gTLD Program", will the NGPC have a look at it?
Regarding .VIN, there have been discussions with the French Government already which have not resulted: will these calls make any difference with the actual situation?
Isn't it time ICANN hires an expert for this wine question and...decides?

Le .LOTTE est arrivé

2013-05-22T16:24:00.001+02:00

Les fans de club de pêche à la lotte et autres gastronomes vont être bien déçus. En attendant les prochaines surprises de l'ICANN, un peu d'humour sur le Journal Du Net avec le .LOTTE.

Lire ce brillant article sur le JDN (en Français).

:-)

Le dossier .VIN (et .WINE) intéresse de plus en plus...

2013-05-22T10:25:00.000+02:00

Échec ou succès, je ne sais pas encore...

J'ai lancé le projet dotVinum en 2009, à une époque ou je travaillais pour un bureau d'enregistrement accrédité Français. A cette époque, j'avais estimé, grâce au programme ICANN des nouvelles extensions Internet, que les gens du vin pourraient bénéficier d'une identité qui leur soit propre: des noms de domaine qui se termineraient en .VIN, en .WINE et en .VINO.

Chaque jour je regardais les volumes d'enregistrement de noms similaires afin d'effectuer des statistiques très précises sur ce projet et constituer mon propre dossier. Souvent "border line" sur ce projet et n'ayant que ce sujet à la bouche (mes anciens collègues de travail - que je salue en passant - doivent bien rigoler en lisant ce post), j'ai été rappelé plusieurs fois à l'ordre par mon PDG (que je salue aussi en passant, bien entendu). Alors que je souhaitais être suivi par mon employeur qui n'y voyait au début que du bon, l'ICANN a commencé petit à petit à déléguer les dates de lancement, à proposer plusieurs versions de son manuel du candidat. Le temps passant, les dates ne se précisant pas vraiment, je devais décider de ce que je voulais faire.

Un jour, j'ai décidé. Alors que mon employeur venait de vendre sa société à un groupe Anglais et que les relations se tendaient entre tous, j'ai décidé de partir - sans argent - pour tenter de réaliser ce projet. A l'époque, j'avais négocié une autorisation de travailler dans les noms de domaine car mon contrat de travail était ambiguë à ce sujet.
De l'argent, j'en ai trouvé beaucoup par la suite, à l'étranger. Le seul problème c'est que l'on est capable de patienter très longtemps pour de belles promesses. Et alors que l'ICANN continuait de décaler ses dates de lancement, mon partenaire financier m'a dit un jour qu'il n'engagerait personne tant qu'il n'aurait pas plus de précisions de l'ICANN. J'ai donc rencontré plein de monde depuis et répond aujourd'hui aux questions de ceux qui commencent à s'intéresser au sujet des Registres du vin de plus près.

Aujourd'hui, je lis avec grand intérêt les publications de mes anciens collaborateurs dans la presse sur le .VIN. Amusant aussi de retrouver un de mes anciens cadre dirigeant comme conseil d'un des candidats à l'un de ces dossiers. Attristé peut être aussi que ces gens n'aient pas eu envie de faire un dossier commun ensemble. Attristé aussi que les gens du vin Français se réveillent si tardivement à un moment ou ces projets prennent le mauvais chemin. La question de la protection des Indications Géographiques n'est pas nouvelle...

Je ne sais pas dire si j'ai parlé trop fort ou pas assez. Cela dit, il est encore possible d'accorder tout le monde: encore faut-il parler la même langue et des mêmes choses. Et là...c'est mal parti ;-)

Wellpoint to withdraw its .ANTHEM new gTLD application

2013-05-21T09:30:00.000+02:00

Anthem is a trusted health insurance & health care plan provider, dedicated to delivering better care to our members, providing greater value to our customers and helping improve the health of our communities.

Allication withdrawn: .ANTHEM (download the application).

L'Oréal to withdraw its .KIEHLS new gTLD application

2013-05-17T13:28:00.000+02:00

At its web site states: "Kiehl's was founded as an old-world apothecary in New York's East Village over 150 years ago. Kiehl's extensive experience has resulted in a unique blend of cosmetic, pharmaceutical, herbal and medicinal knowledge developed over generations".

Application withdrawn: .KIEHLS (download the application).

New gTLDs: The dark horse in market

2013-05-16T22:06:00.001+02:00

ccTLD not assigned

2013-05-14T13:59:00.000+02:00

I just read about the country code Top-Level Domain for SAINT BARTHÉLEMY to be assigned soon (not sure wether this is true or not): the unassigned .BL domain name extension.

Checking the list of ccTLDs at IANA, I found that more ccTLDs are not assigned neither:

The .BQ for BONAIRE, SINT EUSTATIUS AND SABA;
The .EH for WESTERN SAHARA;
The .MF :-) for SAINT MARTIN (FRENCH PART);
The .SS for SOUTH SUDAN;
The .UM for UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS.

Some IDNs are not assigned yet neither.

.bzh and .paris New gTLDs

2013-05-14T09:48:00.002+02:00

.bzh and .paris new gTLDs obtained ICANN’s approval on Friday May 10.

Read the AFNIC press release for more info.

New gTLD advice: listen to the Chair

2013-05-11T11:24:00.003+02:00

New gTLDs: Money Maker

2013-05-08T23:30:00.000+02:00

There are fascinating ideas about how, when and more than everything: who is going to earn money from gTLDs.

I think back-end registry providers will earn money, some applicants will earn money too but my experience launching Eurid, the registry for .EU, reminded me one thing: these days just before launching, until the (first) Sunrise period is launched. These days are special because the entire team is prepared, has been trained, and knows what to do.

So why were these days special and what does it have to do with earning money?
Well...it is very simple but I will let you guess a little more...

Read this article on CircleId.

Radix Registry Passes 4 New gTLD Initial Evaluations

2013-05-07T15:53:00.000+02:00

AUSTIN, Texas and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 07, 2013 – Radix Registry, the new TLD Company of Directi, has passed the initial evaluation stage on 4 of its TLD applications, .blog, .hotel, .online and .insurance.

Directi, a global leader in Internet products and Web services, under its new brand Radix had applied for 31 strings comprising several generic and mass market names. A month back, it was announced that Directi, Tucows and Namecheap will join forces to manage the .online registry, the string which successfully cleared the initial evaluation as mentioned earlier.

”All the hard work went into exploring every minute detail in building the application has paid off. Each application was custom made as per the TLD and we didn’t follow the cookie cutter approach like others”, said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO of RadixRegistry.

The applications which are next in line are .hosting, .music and .city. “Apart from customizing the applications, meeting all the ICANN prescribed standards also helped us to successfully clear the Initial Evaluations”, added Mr. Turakhia.

Radix, the largest applicant from the Asia-Pacific Region, is the sole ICANN gTLD applicant for the .space, .press and .host strings. Radix previously announced that it has invested $30 million in to the application process. To know more about the strings they have applied for, please check http://radixregistry.com/.

About Radix

Radix FZC is a Directi Business whose mission is to become the registry operator of a variety of top level domains. Radix will be an active participant in ICANN's process to expand the Internet naming system, and will aim to obtain rights to operate several new generic domains. Radix will leverage Directi's rich domain expertise, and will be led by an able team that has helped flourish some of Directi's existing registrar and web hosting businesses.

About Directi Group

Directi (http://www.directi.com) is a $300+ million group of Businesses that develops innovative mass-market Web Products serving millions of Customers worldwide. Directi businesses include ResellerClub.com, BigRock.com, LogicBoxes, Media.net, Skenzo and rank amongst the fastest growing businesses worldwide in their corresponding industry segments. The combined Product Portfolio of various Directi businesses includes - Communication and Collaboration apps, Social Networking software, Instant messaging, Context Analysis Engines, Antispam and Antivirus Solutions, Large scale Billing and Provisioning platforms, Traffic Monetization Solutions, Online Advertising Solutions, DNS Management Products, Linux and Windows Server Management Software, Web Hosting Control Panels and much more. Directi is headquartered in Dubai, UAE and has more than 800 employees world-wide across five offices in the UAE, India, United States, and China.

A few things I read about new gTLDs recently

2013-05-07T14:28:00.001+02:00

Google Inc: GOOG alters algorithm in preparation for launch of new gTLDs; value of new gTLDs tipped to increase significantly, click here;
Public comment on the revised draft of the New gTLD Registry Agreement, click here;
.VIN & .WINE new gTLDs: CHAMPAGNE wines strongly support the position expressed by the GAC, click here;
An applicant is pissed by ICANN delays and explains consequences of these multiple delays, click here;
New TLD applicants can learn some lessons from .TEL, click here.

There is more on the "new generic Top-Level Domains" group on LinkedIn (almost 1200 members). It is free to join, to discuss and ask questions.

More press review about .WINE and .VIN new gTLDs

2013-05-01T17:49:00.001+02:00

I suggest to copy and paste links:

http://www.lepopulaire.fr/france-monde/actualites/societe/techno/2013/10/19/le-vins-d-appellation-d-origine-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-vin-1535347.html
http://www.winenews.it/news/30938/con-i-domini-wine-e-vin-ce-rischio-di-una-mancanza-di-tutele-per-le-denominazioni-europee-lallarme-di-cnaoc-confdration-nationale-producteurs-de-vins-dappellations-dorigine-contrles-ed-efow-federazione-europea-vini-dorigine
http://www.lyonne.fr/france-monde/actualites/societe/techno/2013/04/30/le-vins-d-appellation-d-origine-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-vin-1535347-commentaire.html
http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2013/04/30/1617263-la-viticulture-menacee-sur-internet.html
http://www.lamontagne.fr/france-monde/actualites/societe/techno/2013/04/30/le-vins-d-appellation-d-origine-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-vin-1535347.html
http://www.jianiang.cn/yejie/hangye/0501192922013.html
http://www.lyonne.fr/france-monde/actualites/societe/techno/2013/04/30/le-vins-d-appellation-d-origine-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-vin-1535347.html
http://www.larep.fr/france-monde/actualites/societe/techno/2013/04/30/le-vins-d-appellation-d-origine-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-vin-1535347.html
http://www.amba.fr/viticulture-menacee-internet-20663.html
http://mobile.lesoir.be/234005/article/actualite/fil-info/fil-info-internet/2013-04-29/vins-d-appellation-d-origine-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-vin
http://www.vinehoo.com/news/details_18047_1.aspx
http://www.estrepublicain.fr/education/2013/04/30/consozapping

Note some of these releases not only come from France but China and Italy.

French wine industry worried about coming .WINE and .VIN new gTLDs

2013-04-30T10:08:00.001+02:00

Many articles were published this morning regarding .wine and .vin new generic Top-Level Domains:

On Sud-Ouest: http://www.sudouest.fr/2013/04/29/les-vins-d-appellation-d-origine-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-vin-1039582-713.php
Les Marchés de l'argoalimentaire au quotidien: http://www.lequotidienlesmarches.fr/vins-cnaoc-et-efow-s-inqui-tent-de-la-protection-des-aoc-sur-internet-art356244-21.html
Vital Concept agriculture: http://www.vital-concept-agriculture.com/afpnews
Notretemps.com: http://www.notretemps.com/internet/le-vins-d-appellation-d-origine,i27125
Vogesmatin.fr: http://www.vosgesmatin.fr/actualite/2013/04/30/consozapping
La journée vinicole.com: http://www.journee-vinicole.com/index.php?menu=inc&page_consult=contenu_art&rubrique=72&sousrubrique=216&art=30691&nlle_lettre=23434&theme=france&cat=&titre_url=CNAOC/EFOW%20-%20Attention%20%E0%20la%20lib%E9ralisation%20%20des%20noms%20de%A0domaines%20sur%20Internet%20!%20-%20La%20Journ%E9e%20Vinicole%20n%B023434
Vitisphere.com: http://www.vitisphere.com/index.php?mode=breve&id_breve=61388
Agrisalon.com: http://www.agrisalon.com/fr/permalien/article/6999418/La-Cnaoc-et-Efow-s-inquietent-des-futurs-sites-en-.vin.html

More to come I guess.

Wine-searcher.com: http://www.wine-searcher.com/m/2013/04/growing-opposition-to-dot-wine

EFOW against racketeering on the Internet but not against wine Registries

2013-04-29T18:36:00.000+02:00

Below is a copy of the public comment submitted by the EFOW regarding the protection of Wine Geographical Indications:

ICANN must ensure the protection of origin wines

The decision of ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the American private domain name system technical oversight body, to recognise new generic top-level domains on the Internet worries the wine sector. EFOW, the European Federation of Origin Wines, believes that the applications related to the wine sector (“.wine” “.vin”) may lead to abuses of Geographical Indication (GI) wines. EFOW calls on governments and the European Commission to ask ICANN to put forward guarantees.

The development of the e-commerce has been beneficial for all economic sectors, including the wine sector. The creation of new generic top-level domains (nowadays there are about 20 such as “.com”, “.eu” etc.) is a real opportunity for the wine sector. Nevertheless, it also constitutes a major risk: seeing anyone use GI names to their benefit and the appearance of a speculative market around the sale of domain names.

ICANN has recently decided to recognise new generic top-level domains (“strings”). The objective is to enable a community, a brand or a territory to register a distinctive Web address on the basis of its’ activity. 4 applications related to the wine sector have been filed: 3 private firms are competing to manage “.wine” and a fourth “.vin”. Once ICANN determines which registrars obtain these strings, these firms will be able to commercialise them allowing individuals and/or organisations to combine these strings to a second-level domain name to create a personalised Web address as “chianti.wine”, “champagne.vin”, “rioja.wine”, “port.wine” and many others.

None of these four projects nor ICANN rules commit to the protection of GI wine names. More importantly, these companies have already announced their intention to auction to the highest bidder the second-level domain name. By doing so an address as for instance "bordeaux.vin" could be sold to a company or individual with no connection to Bordeaux wines. Since no objection procedure has been developed to protect GIs, unlike brands, EFOW considers that ICANN cannot accept these applications as such and must adapt the rules of the game.

At a recent meeting in Beijing, the GAC (Governmental Advisory Committee) of ICANN - whose members are governments and the European Commission - has expressed reservations about these four applications and has given these firms 3 months (until July) to further discussions with the sector. This warning is the result of the mobilisation of a part of the sector and of several wine producing governments as well as the European Commission. Nevertheless, the ICANN Board which wasn’t pleased with this recommendation has decided to open a public comment period in an attempt to circumvent this opinion.

This is why EFOW has decided to launch the debate and to warn consumers about potential frauds that they may suffer in the near future. It also wishes to alert the wine sector of potential extortions they may face (buying second-level domain names at prohibitive prices). EFOW’s President, Mr Riccardo Ricci Curbastro, considers that "the Internet is nowadays an essential tool for information and trade development. The lack of regulation of domain names by ICANN may increase usurpations and counterfeiting’s of our names. It is therefore essential to define precise rules not only protect our intellectual property rights, but also to protect consumers against frauds on the Web. We are not against the development of new domain names but we believe ICANN should establish fair competition rules”.

EFOW hopes that other stakeholders will stand by its’ side and that wine producing governments and the European Commission will intensify their efforts to reason with ICANN and force the Board to provide protection procedures for GIs.

The European Federation of Origin Wines: www.efow.eu

Public comments are open...again (protect wine Geographical Indications)

2013-04-24T09:55:00.002+02:00

In its last communiqué, the GAC had identified certain gTLD strings where further GAC consideration may be warranted at the next GAC meetings to be held in Africa (Durban) next July 2013.

The GAC advised the ICANN Board not to proceed beyond Initial Evaluation with the a certain number of strings including .WINE and .VIN.

It is now possible for the wine Community to comment globally: it is important to remember that ICANN is the organization to provide the rules, not the applicants. Regarding the protection of wine Geographical Indications, my guess is that if a solution should be found, it should be found with ICANN, not wine applicants.

If Wine Geographical Indications should be protected on .WINE and .VIN extensions only, it would absolutely not solve the problem and allow other registries to allow the registration of any Geographical Indications as a domain name: champagne.food and champagnes.food would not be protected.

You can read the information about Public Comments here comment here or directly submit a comment by sending an email at: comments-gac-safeguard-advice-23apr13@icann.org (please copy-paste).