back to article ICANN in a strop that Intel, Netflix, Lego, Nike and others aren't using their dot-brand domains

Some of the world's biggest brands, including Intel, Nike, Target, Netflix, Lego, UPS and the NFL have been told to put their namesake dot-word domains live in the next three months or risk losing them altogether. Domain name overseer ICANN has warned 200-plus companies in a blog post that there is a 12-month deadline from …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Proof that it was a shakedown all along

    Why should they have to use them? I can buy a domain name and never use it, why does it a top level domain that I hold a trademark for like .intel or .hbo have to be used and why does using it require a registrar be set up. Pretty sure HBO has no plans to let others register a .hbo domain. They just picked them up because of ICANN's FUD about what might happen if a company didn't and someone else got it instead.

    They're in cahoots with the registrars who viewed running all these unnecessary registry operations for useless dot word domains as a cash cow - wouldn't be surprised to learn that Register.com and GoDaddy paid kickbacks to ICANN officials to get dot word domains approved!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

      That's not always true. Some TLD have restriction, for example .cat you must post pages promoting the Catalan language within a certain time frame.

      1. x 7

        Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

        " .cat you must post pages promoting the Catalan language within a certain time frame."

        what if you posted videos of moggies? Would that suffice?

        1. Dan 55 Silver badge

          Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

          Depends if they're Catalan cats.

          1. Francis Boyle Silver badge

            How many words

            of Catalan do they need to know?

      2. jonathanb Silver badge

        Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

        So I can't take on Youtube with video.cat?

    2. Ole Juul

      Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

      hundreds of global brands paid the $185,000 application fee to protect their name

      And they didn't even have to fool around with Bitcoin for the ransom. Brilliant.

    3. raving angry loony

      Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

      It's called "the fine print". And you'd think multinational corporations would have learned to read the fucking things before signing the contracts.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

        They did it because they had no choice as they felt it might weaken their trademark if they didn't pick them up, and fear someone else would pick them up and cost them 10x more down the road.

        I hope they're successful in fighting ICANN, the less money those evil bastards get the better off we all are.

        1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

          Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

          If they were worried about trademark dilution then that implies that the choice offered by ICANN was "pay us $185000 or we'll cause you to lose your trademarks". That, surely, is something that their highly-paid corporate lawyers should have picked up on. Since they didn't, I'm assuming that the legal advice was "If someone else grabs it and tries anything funny then we'll just bury them in court.".

          So they bought into the hype and then changed their minds. Shrug.

    4. Vincent Ballard
      FAIL

      Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

      More-or-less equivalently, how do we know they're not already using them? Ok, we can't see public DNS entries under those TLDs, but they could be using them privately for naming in their internal networks. I can certainly see an argument for using a private but officially registered TLD over .local.

      1. Sloppy Crapmonster

        Re: Proof that it was a shakedown all along

        If you're running your own DNS server, you can use any TLD internally. You could override .com if you wanted to. Google bought .dev, said "we're only going to use this internally," and proceeded to screw with everyone else already (mis-)using .dev for internal things.

        I'm just upset I don't own clownpenis.fart

  2. MooJohn

    Is it too late to get the rights to .fud domains?!

  3. nilfs2
    Childcatcher

    It makes sense for banks and some other companies

    A bank having a TLD could possibly help reduce phishing, nobody but the owner of the TLD would be able to create a ".somebank" fake domain.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It makes sense for banks and some other companies

      Except extended validation certificates already solved that problem.

      If you're not actually that bank, you're not getting an EV.

      1. YetAnotherLocksmith Silver badge

        Re: It makes sense for banks and some other companies

        Well, that's the theory at least.

        And besides, adding more domain names is weakening security - without certainty, people are more likely to be unconcerned with a slightly different domain name.

      2. MJB7

        Re: extended validation certificates

        Except that user studies show that most users can't tell the difference between sites with EV certificates and sites with ordinary certificates - which is why browsers are dropping support for them (in the sense of showing a different UI - EV certs will still be accepted as a TLS certificate).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: It makes sense for banks and some other companies

      A lot of attacks rely on being able to make the mark use a different DNS server, which is easy if you have them on a wifi you control. With my own DNS server I can make .somebank resolve to whatever I want, no matter how much money you spent wasted on your fancy domain.

      These domains do nothing, and would immunize only people the more clueful of the masses against thinking something is up when they see a non .com domain, like they do now when they see a .biz or .to or whatever and alarm bells go off. It would make security worse not better. Proper use of certificates is still required for any real security.

    3. MJB7

      Re: I missed this reading the original collision notification

      Not really. Nobody but the owner of the TLD would be able to create a .somebank domain, but it doesn't stop the phishers creating somebank.co, or somebank.com, or somebank.zqeasfh.com - all of which will be recognized by most of the public as "the Somebank website".

  4. Alister

    If UPS don't want theirs...

    I have an idea for using it, I could create all sorts of sub domains:

    fuck.ups

    cock.ups

    tits.ups

    foul.ups

    ...

    1. Swarthy
      Go

      Re: If UPS don't want theirs...

      piss.ups/ina/brewery

      With handy how-to instructions for those that couldn't organize a....

  5. Len Goddard

    ironic

    And of course one company with the expertise and probably the desire to use a .domain name can't get it.

    I refer, of course, to amazon. (I'm not taking sides in that dispute).

    1. Sloppy Crapmonster

      Re: ironic

      There is nothing keeping them from buying .amzn

      1. Fibbles

        Re: ironic

        Isn't that a text speak contraction for 'amazing'?

  6. Michael Seven

    As was foretold, these businesses most likely spent $185,000 to protect their brands. They probably never had the intention of actually using them. They are not going to confuse their customers supplementing their dot com brand with another dot brand. That would be absurd.

    There would have to be full adaptation with all dot brands buying into that idea. Logistically it is impossible. Simply clarity is what the public needs.

    1. Frank Zuiderduin

      This.

      There was never any need for these new TLDs. I've always been amazed at all the idiots who thought they would add anything useful. It was just a means to extort money from large companies who wouldn't want their brandnames abused.

  7. Snowy Silver badge
    Joke

    Just make a page with links to your region version of your site (.com or co.uk) or is that not enough?

    Call it Iwasrobbedbyicann.word

  8. -tim
    Facepalm

    Extortion and crime in the DNS game?

    Every fortune 500 trademark lawyer in the would have advised their client that not getting their .TLD could be seen as not protecting their trademark which could result in loss of a very valuable asset.

    The instant registration of domain names doesn't help reduce their use for crime and encourages rapid and free registration which means every well meaning domain owner is subsiding the criminals who register a domain, use it long enough to spam or phish and then return it without paying. It is time for that to end but there an incentive to do that either.

    I run my own DNS with its own global zone (".") and then I delegate .com, .net, country codes and the few .info sites that are criminal so all these other domains effectively don't exist.

    1. frank ly

      Re: Extortion and crime in the DNS game?

      "... I delegate .com, .net, country codes and the few .info sites that are criminal so all these other domains effectively don't exist."

      Did you mean to say "... that are not criminal ..."?

  9. BurnT'offering

    I know of a financial services organisation that tried to get a .bank domain

    Despite being a 100% legit bank (well, in so far as that's possible) they couldn't meet the registrar's conditions. Well, not honestly.

  10. Dave Bell

    Some names make more sense

    Companies have been exploiting some otherwise obscure TLDs for years, and paying for the privilege. Think what .tv must have earned from TV companies. And it makes some sense in that case.

    Some of those long names don't make much sense as world-wide brands or as TLD labels.

    I can see a point to a .bbc existing, less so for .itv, as the BBC really does have a world-wide identity.

    1. dotstories

      Re: Some names make more sense

      agree - there is a point for brands. When I started in digital marketing for luxury brands, most of them were wondering what to do with a website.. Now they know.

      IT may be the same for new gTLD dot brand..

  11. dmacleo

    hmm netflix,netflix just not as easy to type as netflix.com....

    1. Fibbles
  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A solution

    In need of a use-case.

  13. Yes Me Silver badge
    Happy

    Happy, happy day!

    It's just hilarious, for those who have been ridiculing the TLD expansion for years anyway. Pure joy.

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