ICANN once in a while approves a new top level domain (TLD). The latest one that is coming up is .tel (with a sunrise period for existing trademark holders starting December 3, 2009). I consider this a form of highway robbery. Every time ICANN does this existing domain and trademark owners essentially have no choice but to also register their domain under this new TLD or risk having someone squat their name. On the one hand one might argue that the price is low enough so that folks should not...

ICANN once in a while approves a new top level domain (TLD). The latest one that is coming up is .tel (with a sunrise period for existing trademark holders starting December 3, 2009). I consider this a form of highway robbery. Every time ICANN does this existing domain and trademark owners essentially have no choice but to also register their domain under this new TLD or risk having someone squat their name. On the one hand one might argue that the price is low enough so that folks should not...

This morning in scanning Techmeme while having my early morning cup of coffee, I noticed two separate items about TLDs. First up, a post from Techcrunch on how .cm domains are opening up for pre-order. Second, an entry from Slate on how ICANN is planning to further expand the available TLDs. Last year, I wrote that I believe “New TLDs Are Highway Robbery” – they are simply a tax on the system. To some extent search is solving this problem as few people these days type domain names directly in...

This morning in scanning Techmeme while having my early morning cup of coffee, I noticed two separate items about TLDs. First up, a post from Techcrunch on how .cm domains are opening up for pre-order. Second, an entry from Slate on how ICANN is planning to further expand the available TLDs. Last year, I wrote that I believe “New TLDs Are Highway Robbery” – they are simply a tax on the system. To some extent search is solving this problem as few people these days type domain names directly in...