What ICANN Does...
 Application
Excerpts
".STORE
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .STORE and there will be no market in .STORE domains.
Amazon will strictly control the use of .STORE domains."
"The
single entity registry status of .SHOP and the fact that it will
only be available to internal registrants at Amazon EU S.à r.l.
and Amazon EU S.à r.l.’s Affiliates minimizes the potential
for abuse in the TLD. There will be no resellers of .SHOP domains and
there will be no market in .SHOP domains."
".NEWS
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .NEWS and there will be no market in .NEWS domains."
".BOOK
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .BOOK and there will be no market in .BOOK domains."
".APP
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .APP and there will be no market in .APP domains."
".MOVIE
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .MOVIE and there will be no market in .MOVIE domains."
".VIDEO
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .VIDEO and there will be no market in .VIDEO domains."
".MUSIC
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .MUSIC and there will be no market in .MUSIC domains."
".SONG
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .SONG and there will be no market in .SONG domains."
".TUNES
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .TUNES and there will be no market in .TUNES domains."
".GAME
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .GAME and there will be no market in .GAME domains."
".KIDS
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .KIDS and there will be no market in .KIDS domains."
"The
single entity registry status of .PLAY and the fact that it will
only be available to internal registrants at Amazon EU S.à r.l.
and Amazon EU S.à r.l.’s Affiliates minimizes the potential
for abuse in the TLD. There will be no resellers of .PLAY domains and
there will be no market in .PLAY domains."
".MAIL
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .MAIL and there will be no market in .MAIL domains."
".FREE
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .FREE and there will be no market in .FREE domains."
".PAY
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .PAY and there will be no market in .PAY domains."
".SAVE
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .SAVE and there will be no market in .SAVE domains."
".MOBILE
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .MOBILE and there will be no market in .MOBILE domains."
".GROUP
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .GROUP and there will be no market in .GROUP domains."
".CLOUD
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .CLOUD and there will be no market in .CLOUD domains."
"The
single entity registry status of .BUY and the fact that it will
only be available to internal registrants at Amazon EU S.à r.l.
and Amazon EU S.à r.l.’s Affiliates minimizes the potential
for abuse in the TLD. There will be no resellers of .BUY domains and
there will be no market in .BUY domains."
".DEAL
will be a single entity registry, with all domains registered to Amazon
for use in pursuit of Amazon’s business goals. There will be no
re-sellers in .DEAL and there will be no market in .DEAL domains."
Just
a few actual excerpts from Amazon's applications for 76 new gTLDs.
Super Monopolies has only examined 22 of them. You can
read the full list on the Pool.com
website.
.BEAUTY
"The
current best thinking involves a business model in which generic...
domain names would initially be reserved/allocated to L’Oréal.
"...L’Oréal’s
existing business units and select licensees and partners would be allowed
to register domain names in the .BEAUTY gTLD."
L’Oréal
application for the .beauty registry. (After five years or
so, they may consider allowing public registration
of .beauty domains to their competitors excluding L’Oréal's
first choices). See detailed info on the Beauty
string page.
.TIRES
"Goodyear
plans to operate the proposed .tires gTLD as a restricted, exclusively-controlled
TLD and as such will not be commercially offered for registration/use
by the general public. Thus, Goodyear will have exclusive ownership
and control over all second-level registrations within the TLD and their
use."
"...the
.tires gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised manner
with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain names
will only be available to BATO (Bridgestone)... ...the proposed new
gTLD is not intended to instigate competition and consumer choice at
the level of registration of domain names among prospective registrants."
See more
details on the Tires string page.
.SEARCH
 "Charleston
Road Registry (Google — ed.) intends to operate the proposed gTLD
as a closed registry with Google as the sole registrar and registrant.
The goal of the proposed gTLD is to allow Google to manage the domain
name space for its Google Internet search offerings. The proposed gTLD
will provide Google with the ability to customize its domain and website
names for its search offerings to signal to the general population of
Internet users that .search websites are indeed managed by Google.
Google intends to make it clear to Internet users that this is the authoritative
and designated space where they can find Google Search services offered
solely by Google, accessible via differentiated and streamlined web
addresses.
"Charleston
Road Registry intends to apply for an exception to ICANN’s Registry
Operator Code of Conduct and operate the proposed gTLD with Google as
the sole registrar and registrant.
"18.b.ii.1.
Competition
"Charleston
Road Registry supports the advancement of registry operators as a whole
and the diffusion of gTLDs amongst diverse stakeholders to generate
increased competition for the benefit of the Internet public. Increased
competition will result in more competitive prices for consumers, additional
efficiencies and increased productivity in enterprises, and spur innovation
in the gTLD space.
".search
will operate as a closed gTLD. It will provide Google with the opportunity
to differentiate and innovate upon its Google Search products and services
through its use of the gTLD. This will promote competition in the
gTLD space by inciting competitors to respond with improved gTLD operations,
greater range and higher quality products and services, and/or the creation
of their own respective gTLDs, to the benefit of all Internet users.
Launching the proposed gTLD will also generate increased competition
in the online marketplace by adding incremental availability to the
second level domain pool."
Google
application for the .search registry.
SPECIAL NOTE: Charleston Road Registry is wholly owned by Google.
You can
read Google's application for the dot SEARCH string at Pool.com
here. Of special interest is "Question 18(b): How do you expect
that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users,
and others?"
.DoubleThink?
 Google
made 101 applications for new domain strings. That sounds eerily like
Room 101 in 1984 — the worst nightmare imaginable.
Maybe they should apply for the .doublethink registry too, but
then that would make 102. No problem, Google can simply reprint 1984
and change it to Room 102. Then, it will always have been Room 102.
"In
the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you
would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make
that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it.
Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence
of external reality, was tacitly denied by their philosophy. The heresy
of heresies was common sense. And what was terrifying was
not that they would kill you for thinking otherwise, but that they
might be right. For, after all, how do we know that two and two make
four?"
George
Orwell, 1984
You heard
it directly from Google. They would have you believe that allowing them
to operate an exclusive closed registry for the dot SEARCH string will
"promote competition" by "inciting competitors to respond".
Bridgestone
seems to be making a similar argument to gain control of the .tires
domain extension — arguing that by operating a closed registry,
it will "have a flow on effect to enable increased competition"
which would benefit internet users by "forcing improved services
and competitive pricing in the market place."
Michelin,
Pirelli, Toyo and Yokohama must be looking forward in keen anticipation
of the benefits of Bridgestone's "flow on effect".
ICANN Claims To
Be In Favor Of Competition, Over And Over
Again and
again and again, ICANN makes the same claim about its commitment to
competition in the internet marketplace. Even on its own website,
in its own report about its own advice received from the
GAC, preceding its own comment period about said advice:
"One
of ICANN's key responsibilities is introducing and promoting competition
in the registration of domain names..."
ICANN
news report about GAC advice on Beijing Communique, April 2013.
Again and
again and again, ICANN's actions, or rather inactions, paint a very
different picture to its repeated claims that it supports competition.
Compare this latest ICANN claim with the reality of The Weather
Channel's application for a closed gTLD on .weather,
where they plan to operate up to 100,000 privately owned websites in
exclusivity:
"As
a restricted gTLD, registration will only be open to internal users
(affiliate entities) at this stage and no unaffiliated third parties
will be able to register domain names under .weather domain space."
The
Weather Channel
There you
have the facts as they stand. Rather than mandating "promoting
competition", the entire .weather string may be granted to just
a single registrant. How on earth would that comply with ICANN's "key
responsibilities"?
(A brief
analysis of the .weather string is presented on the Misc
strings 1 page.)
Opinion
"The
closed generics are likely the exact opposite of what ICANN was
hoping for with this new program."
Steve
Machin of dotTICKETS.org — commenter on InternetNews.me:
"Big Brands Trying To Corner Generic Namespaces?"
"The
current proposal is contrary to ICANN's intention with the launch
of new gTLDs, namely to broaden the domain name space and to spur
competition for the benefit of all."
Martin
Broden. Inter IKEA Systems B.V.
ICANN
Forum on Closed Registries
[All emphases
above are by Super Monopolies.]
The case
rests. No further comment on this page about the proposed closed gTLDs
by Super Monopolies.
|
Compare
this pledge from ICANN with Amazon's application
for a closed registry for "online shopping" in Japanese.
Amazon's application states that the registry will:
