Phil Corwin, representing Internet Commerce Association, discusses threats to domain name owners.
Phil Corwin, representing Internet Commerce Association (ICA), addressed more than 50 domain name owners today at the SedoPro conference in New Paltz, New York. He warned that there are many threats to the value of domain names.
Corwin referenced Jimi Hendrix’ song “Castles Made of Sand”: Castles made of sand fall into the ocean eventually. Domain names are castles made of sand, and need to be reinforced with steel, says Corwin. He says the domain community needs to avoid the mess the private equity industry faces right now. Because of mainstream press attention, legislators have introduced a bill to tax private equity profits at a higher rate. The domain name industry is also in the press for the wealth it is creating, and this could get the attention of Washington. It’s too late to keep the industry out of the press, but it’s not too late to influence policy making.
He noted several of these specific threats to domain names:
1. Domain name classification as property versus a license. ICA wants domains to be classified as property, and says the domain industry should take the lead on getting this position solidified.
2. ICANN. Corwin notesd several threats to domainers because of ICANN. First, he believes ICANN is willing to sacrifice the domain industry’s interests for backroom deals, such as the VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) settlement. Second, the variable pricing scheme that was floated during .org/.biz contract discussions could be a major threat. Third was how ICANN and the supporting registry discussed .xxx. ICA has no opinion on .xxx, other than that a registry’s role should be solely to run the registry, not to define what type of content can be included on a domain name. Fourth, Corwin reminded the crowd that Vint Cerf is leaving the board. A power struggle could ensue.
At the last ICANN meeting the staff was given a directive to research becoming a private international organization. Corwin says this is a way for ICANN to insulate itself from litigation. Corwin also says that ICANN only admits problems when they become to big to ignore (witness RegisterFly).
3. Registrar conflicts of interest. Many registrars are retaining the best expiring domain names, which creates a conflict of interest.
4. Trademark interests. Verizon is leading the charge to broadly define trademark infringement for domain names. The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse, perhaps backed by large companies, is a new non-profit organization fighting for legislation against domain name owners.
5. Search engine conflicts of interest. Direct navigation competes with search engine usage. Search engines provide domains with revenue. How will this be reconciled? Corwin suggests using anti-trust laws against search engines.
Corwin concluded by saying the ICA’s future is uncertain. It raised about $300,000 in seed money from companies such as Sedo and iREIT, but Corwin says it needs at least $1M each year to be effective.
Nic says
What is everyone’s concern in relation to domains being ‘property’? Of course they are property, and whether they are intellectual property or real property, what does it matter? Property is property. A lease. IP. Or bricks and mortar.
Claude Gelinas says
Messing with the current domain name system will only bring more confusion.
Future online development, especially for those who will come after us will be severely compromised if idiotic ideas like “variable pricing” ever gain ground at the ICANN.
Talking about the ICANN, they need to focus on keeping their registrars in line with “the rules” because right now, the best domain names that come to expire -never- make it to the normal “public registration process”.
There needs to be more integrity -and- accountability in the domain name space, not more rules or “changes”.
Scott says
Until such times when the industry allows absolute ownership of domain names contrary to the current leasing/renewal program that is currently operated, how can one truly own a domain name.
For the past 4 years I have been reading “Chicken Little” reports such as this and to be honest, one can not predict where the industry is going. As a domainer I am fully prepared for the fact that domaining as it is now; is not a sustainable means and one should never build a business model around it unless they are prepared for short term gains only.
Dave Zan says
What matters is what enforceable rights are granted to its holders.
Stephen Douglas says
Bottom line: The domain industry needs to very quickly promote and educate mainstream business on the value of keyword generic domain names. As long as domain sales are increasing and flourishing, the industry will sort out its bones.
Mike says
You guys will understnad that it is not property when you will get a letter from the lawyer claiming to have rights to the name. After that you will have a choice to give up the name or pay thousands to retain it. During this conflict your registrar will act against the owner, some of them will block the usage. You telling me I really own it?
Read the small print from your registrar. If you by the way call to Network Solutions and tell them that you own the domain they will tell you that you won the “right to use the domain name” not the right to the domain itself. Sooner or later something have to give
Provider
SubliminalMessages.Com says
Of course they are property. Now, how do we get American banks to recognize their value and issue loans against them?
I read of this situation on http://www.SubliminalMessages.Com — one whacked out website.
SingleDoubt says
On 7th March 2007, Alessandro Sorbello of New Realm Media http://www.newrealm.com.au interviewed Dr Vinton Cerf in Brisbane Australia to present ‘Internet, Infinity and Beyond’ excerpts from Dr. Cerf’s presentation are available online at New Realm. Mr Sorbello http://www.AlessandroSorbello.com posed questions to Dr. Cerf relating to the development of the Internet and its role in today’s society and what we can expect in the future.
Dr. Cerf: So you can actually see some of the side effects. What happens when you get a billion people all connected together and able to interact? The first thing you notice is thanks to Tim Berners-Lee and the World Wide Web is an enormous avalanche of information coming into the network. The uses and consumers of information have now become the producers.
And so when you look at things like Wikipedia you discover that its content comes from anywhere in the world from anyone who has a piece of information that may be of use to others. What amazed me is the number of people who want to share their information and they are not looking for payment, they are simply looking for credit or they simply want to contribute.
The interplanetary internet is set to change the face of communication not only on our planet, but also in the way we communicate with our technology in space.