Despite Opposition, ICANN is not Inclined to Delay Launch of New Generic Top-Level Domains

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has joined a chorus of lawmakers and industry groups who have expressed opposition to ICANN's January 12, 2012, roll-out of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). In a 15-page letter, sent Dec. 16, the FTC warned that rapid expansion of the number of generic top-level domain names - the part of the domain name to the right of the dot, such as ".com," ".net" and ".org" - could create a "dramatically increased opportunity for consumer fraud," and make it easier for scam artists to manipulate the system to avoid being detected by law enforcement authorities. The Commission urged ICANN - before approving any new gTLD applications - to take additional steps to protect consumers, including starting with a pilot program to work out potential problems. As recently as December 19, however, an ICANN representative reportedly stated that the organization intends to proceed with the rollout next month. Despite voicing their concerns, it seems that Congress and the FTC do not have the authority to stop ICANN from going forward with the new gTLD plan.

ICANN's proposal would allow an unlimited number of domain names created out of almost any word, including brand names and trademarks. The application fee is $185,000 and total costs are likely to run many hundreds of thousands more. Trademark owners and brands are particularly concerned that they will have to invest many hundreds of thousands of dollars to pre-emptively claim new gTLDs containing their name or marks, to prevent others from claiming them and with little hope of a real return on their investment. Lawmakers also expressed concern about the January 12 launch during a Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on December 8 and a House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on December 14. Many industry groups, including The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) and the International Trademark Association, have expressed serious concerns about the imminent launch of new gTLD program. launch process. Mei-Lan Stark, INTA Treasurer, testified in May before the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet and said "INTA is not against the expansion of the gTLD space...[however] INTA remains concerned that the current proposal for new gTLDs has not yet been refined to the point of being ready for launch."

For more information, read our alert on the recent opposition to the gLTD program and ICANN’s response.