Bret Fausett wrote:
The idea that there are tiny language groups hanging around saying "oh, if only we had a TLD then we would do all sorts of Internet stuff" is rather implausible.
I'm not sure what you mean by "tiny language groups," but I had in mind languages like Chinese. I think John was referring to most of the entries at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.cym#Language_and_community
In Paris I attended a reception staged by proponents of .bzh , and at the gala of the Cairo meeting I shared a table with the delegation pushing for .cym -- the points of view of both groups of TLD advocates were astoundingly similar. Most non-Europeans would have to look them up to even know that .cym is for Welsh language culture and .bzh is for the Brittany area of France. The efforts are very real, and issues of pride and cultural survival appear to be overriding mundane concerns such as business models and long-term stability. There seems to be a sincere -- but ill-advised, IMO belief that a cultural TLD will offer a technology haven in which native-language and cultural websites will be able to flourish, or at least slow down assimilation.
And I don't think anyone claims that TLDs enable Internet access or the creation of Internet content, but they may enable identity and branding and ease of communication, for IDNs. Such claims exist. Usually, as I've heard them, they take the form that a native TLD would facilitate the assertion of identity, at very least by making it easier to get relevant native-language domain names through explicit anti-squatter policies. As an example, consider that the Welsh word for "Wales" is "Cymru (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/cymru/), yet "cymru.com" (despite its Welsh dragon logo) points to an American IT security form and "cymru.org" is unused but owned (according to WHOIS data) by someone in Switzerland. There may be a feeling that cultural identity is being hijacked, without the trademark protections offered to commercial interests or the reserved phrases requested by governments.
The feeling is real and in some cases justified. But this of course begs the question of whether the answer is creation of a TLD for every national cultural/linguistic minority. Most current efforts share the wishful thinking that their TLD will also be valued (and domain registrations purchased) by their respective diasporas (ie, North Americans of Welsh background). I can't see any of these TLDs attracting more than a few thousand registrations and in some cases even that is optimistic. I almost wish that there was a single TLD, let's say ".nation" for instance, under which all of these could be placed.... maybe then there would be enough volume to sustain a stable TLD and reasonably priced domains. The new gTLD plans make specific mention of these "cultural" TLDs; by encouraging and not dissuading their creation, arguably ICANN could be seen to be exploiting cultural pride in order to gain the revenue from the new registrations.
new TLDs may exist mostly to shake down existing registrants who'd want defensive registrations in new domains.
Every executive at a registry or prospective registry I know thinks defensive registrations are one of the worst things for their business, because they tie up quality names in the hands of people who don't use them or simply redirect them to the .COM. It is awful advertising for your namespace if most instances of it redirect to a .COM. Believe it or not, the goal is *not* to sell to the existing .COM registrants. If I am .WEB or .INFO or something, I'd much rather have the Idaho Butter Manufacturers actually use IBM.WEB than let International Business Machines register it defensively. The goal for some TLDs is to maximize revenue as a business model. They don't care who owns IBM.<tld> so long as it's taken. Of course, defensive registrations don't have to happen. Does IBM really need ibm.<everything>? In the case of ccTLDs they may be seen like virtual branch offices, and there may be special purpose ones (like.mobi) make sense. But the trademark owners can do at least as much as registries to curb defensive registrations.
- Evan