Re: ICANN opens up Pandora's Box of new TLDs

* Marshall Eubanks · * Thu Jun 26 19:34:39 2008

Hello;
On Jun 26, 2008, at 7:28 PM, Ken Simpson wrote:
Has anyone been able to figure out what it will cost to secure a
completely un-contested tld? I haven't been able to find proposed
fees anywhere. I think it will be a practical necessity for all
organizations to secure their own TLD at the outset, lest someone
else secure it for them and leave it up to the court of arbitration.
.. And where, pray-tell, will the mega cash from the TLD auctions be
going? Surely ICANN doesn't need a multi-billion $ annual budget,
but if these TLD auctions go the way of the cellular auctions,
there's a good potential for that kind of an outcome.

This gives an (unofficial) estimate :
<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080626-confusion-icann-opens-up-pandoras-box-of-new-tlds.html
>
.confusion: ICANN opens up Pandora's Box of new TLDs
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: June 26, 2008 - 12:11PM CT
<snip>

Not every zany TLD will be immediately available to anyone who want to
register a domain, however. Businesses must apply to register the TLD
first, then go through a review process to ensure that it isn't
offensive and doesn't infringe on anyone's intellectual property. If
approved, registering the TLD will cost anywhere from $100,000 to
$500,000, ICANN says, and the business or organization must prove that
they are either capable of managing the TLD or can reach a deal with a
company that will. This is no small beans—unless you're planning to
fork over up to half a million dollars and put in the labor to manage
everything that appears under the TLD, this task is probably best left
to large organizations and governmental entities. The organization
registering the TLD will also be responsible for determining whether
it will be restricted to certain types of sites or open to the public.

<snip>
Regards
Marshall