June 30, 2011 – Carlow Ireland -Blacknight (http://www.blacknight.com) warn domain registrants to beware of companies offering pre-registrations in New gTLDs.
Last week in Singapore, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), announced that it would launch a program to include new generic top-level domains. For those unfamiliar with the terminology, gTLD is an acronym for generic Top Level Domain (.Com, .Net and .Org are all examples of a gTLD). This is a program that will be great for Internet users, great for businesses and will grow the Internet exponentially. The release of New gTLDs will be an exciting time for the Internet and will change the way we approach and use the technology.
However, it has come to Blacknight’s attention that certain companies are offering pre-registration services for domains in new extensions that don’t exist yet and quite possibly may never exist. After receiving several queries from customers, Blacknight discovered that registrants interested in acquiring domains in rumoured new gTLDs had become confused by these offers, as they are not familiar with how the new TLD implementation might work. This sort of speculative offer is the equivalent of taking a down payment on a concept car that has not been approved for production. It is a false promise
While several groups, including the Olympics and Red Cross as well as brands like Canon and many cities have announced their intention to apply, it won’t be possible to do so until January 12, 2012. An entity that applies for a new gTLD will have to pass several levels of approval before being awarded that extension and applying alone does not guarantee that a gTLD will come into existence. As the application period has not begun it is impossible to tell which new domain extensions will actually be introduced making it also impossible to sell a pre-registration for a domain within that extension.
Michele Neylon of Blacknight explains: “We are tremendously excited about the changes coming to the Internet. We believe it will be beneficial to the evolution of the technology and greatly enhance user experience.” He continues: ” As a company we are heavily invested in the idea that our customers should have a secure internet experience and are opposed to anything that sours them on their online dealings. New gTLDs can and should be a positive innovation but if consumers are duped now with false promises and misleading advertising then the positive will become negative “
Blacknight urge registrants to disregard any offers of pre-registration in new gTLDs and to contact their registrars and service providers with any questions regarding future offers.