Seven New Top Level Domains
.biz and .info about to be launched

On November 16, 2000, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) introduced seven new top-level domains (TLDs) which they approved for further negotiations. These TLDs supplement the familiar TLDs .com, .edu, .gov., .mil, .net, .org. It is expected that the expansion of the domain name system (DNS) especially contributes to a stimulation of economic activity on the Internet (www.icann.org).

During the last months ICANN successfully negotiated a basis agreement with the applicants of the “unsponsored” TLDs .biz, .info, .name and .pro. It includes customised appendices to cover special issues raised by the different proposals. Contrary to the unsponsored TLDs, the smaller .aero, .coop and .museum will be operated by sponsoring organisations representing a specific community. To take the specific needs of each community into account, these organisations have set out concrete principles and policies to be met by the Registrants. In order to enforce the intended purpose which is dependent upon the community involved, ICANN will delegate policy-formulation responsibilities to the sponsoring organisations. The negotiations of registry agreements for .aero, .coop and .museum are at a developing stage.

On May 15, 2001 the registry agreements for .biz and .info were finalised - NeuLevel (.biz) and Afilias (.info) are on their marks for the release.

The new TLDs are:

.aero
This TLD will be open to the air transport industry only. Registry operator will be Societe Internationale de Telecommunications Aeronautiques SC, (SITA).

.biz
NeuLevel will award this TLD for commercial or business purposes. Following the conclusion of the registry agreement, NeuLevel will soon enter into the process of launching the new TLD (www.neulevel.com).

In order to minimise cybersquatting, Intellectual Property owners are invited to file IP claims from May 21 to approximately July 9, 2001 before the launch of the .biz registration. When applying for a domain name the Registrant will be notified of an IP claim providing him the opportunity to opt out of the application process. If the applicant continues with the registration the conflicting domain is put on hold for a 30-day period during the Domain Name Application and Selection Step (see below). This gives the IP owner time to resolve the conflict before the registration, for example by using the specific .biz dispute resolution program for trademark owners.

During the Domain Name Application and Selection period, running from early July to September 25, 2001, businesses and individuals may submit their domain name applications to their Registrar, who will then forward the requests to the Registry. In case of multiple requests NeuLevel will select and award the domain name randomly. There is no first-come first-served basis at this stage.

Beginning October 1, 2001 .biz domains will become available to all businesses.

As .biz is intended to serve commercial and business purposes, Registrants will have to certify that the registered domain name is related to the Registrant’s business or intended commercial purpose but NeuLevel will not be responsible for monitoring a proper use. Third parties can claim violation of the restrictions, which is enforced in accordance with the specially designed Restrictions Dispute Resolution Process (RDRP).

.coop
Dot-coop will be available to cooperatives only. It is operated by the National Cooperative Business Associacion, (NCBA).

.info
Comparable to .com, this TLD is provided for unrestricted use. As for .biz the accreditation agreement with Afilias as the operator of the new TLD .info was finalised on May 15, 2001 (www.afilias.com) .

Afilias will start a “sunrise” period around late June 2001. During a period of 30 days, the owners of registered trademarks or service marks which are valid by October 02, 2000, can file their request for registration of their trademark as .info domain through an accredited registrar before the Registry opens to the public. At this stage no proof of the existence or validity of the mark is required. However, “sunrise” registrations can be challenged using a specific dispute resolution procedure provided by Afilias in conjunction with the World Intellectual Property Association (WIPO). During the “sunrise” period Afilias will randomly select and accept applications. These selected domain names will then become active approximately one week after the beginning of the general registration.

The opening of public registration will start within 15 days after the end of the sunrise period. Prior to implementing the first-come first-served system, Afilias will adopt a random selection of the applications for a period of approximately three weeks to ensure a fair “roll out” of the new unrestricted TLD.

.museum
The introduction of .museum provides museums the restricted opportunity to register their domain using a specific TLD. Registry operator is the Museum Domain Management Association (MDMA).

.name
The registration of this TLD is open to individuals. It is run by the Global Name Registry, LTD.

.pro
Accountants, lawyers and physicians are the main target of the TLD .pro which will be operated by RegistryPro, LTD.

ICANN warns that apart from official launch periods no opportunity exists for pre-registration. However, it is expected that the remaining registry agreements will be announced in due course.