Fellow NARALO members, Connecting.nyc Inc. and the New York Internet Society are sponsoring a panel to explore "Premium .nyc Domain Names and The Public Interest." There are some familiar names on the panel as indicated in the invitation copied below. *It's to be Livestreamed. *For those of you who might be in the area, there an Holiday Party. Best, Tom Lowenhaupt ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Premium .nyc Domain Names and The Public Interest Thursday, December 18, 2014, 6:00 - 10:00 PM DUMBO Brooklyn <http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=55+Washington+Street%2C+Room+321%2C+...> - 55 Washington Street, Room 321, Brooklyn, NY /Take elevator to 3rd Floor and go to room 321. After 7 the street level door might be locked, if so, phone 917 579 2950./ * As of December 1st, 60,000 .nyc domain names have been sold (did you missed that boat?). But 3,069 of the best have been set aside for allocation via high-bid auctions, e.g., bars.nyc, hotels.nyc, news.nyc, sports.nyc, etc. Many think there should be Public Interest Commitments (PICs) associated with developing these Premium Domain Names. For example, require the developer of news.nyc to offer local news, and that local pizza shops be listed in pizza.nyc. (The scenario where Hilton Hotels and Pizza Hut own them adds nothing to life in the city.) We're going to hear from a panel engaged with premium names from different perspectives: o Avri Doria is an Internet policy expert intimate with the development of the PIC concept at ICANN. o Gabriel Levitt, V.P. Pharmacyhchecker.com (on .pharmacy) is concerned that the lack of PICs will adversely affect the health of millions of U.S. residents. o Thomas Lowenhaupt, Connecting.nyc Inc. sees PICs as a way to establish signposts for city resources and demonstrating the city's commitment to the long term development of the .nyc TLD. o Jeff Merritt, Mayor's Office of Technology and Innovation (Invited) oversees city technology developments such as .nyc and its pay phone / wi-fi projects. The city's contractor for .nyc TLD, (Invited) has a decade of experience developing TLDs. And THERE'S A PARTY. Enjoy Holiday Cheer and a light snack with the New York Internet Society. *The panel will be available on livestream: https://new.livestream.com/internetsociety/dotnyc*.