ICANN Proposes Disputed Domain Auction

LOS ANGELES — The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has announced its plans to settle disputes over new generic top level domains (gTLDs) by auctioning the name to the highest bidder.

The proposal, entitled "Economic Case for Auctions in New gTLDs," was released after discussions at the recent ICANN meeting in Paris, France, and describes "the economic case for auctions as a tiebreaking mechanism for resolving contention among identical or confusingly similar applications for new gTLDs."

The move follows ICANN's opening of the domain name system to nearly any desired keyword, such as ".xbiz" — a move that it hopes will increase diversity and availability of domain names beyond the "dot com" arena.

Operators in the online adult sector are quite familiar with domain name disputes, such as the much publicized Sex.com saga as well as other high-profile cases.

The paper was prepared by ICANN's auction design consultant, PowerAuctions LLC, along with support from the ICANN staff and notes that "there are two lines of argument for auctions as the tie-breaking mechanism for resolving contention among competing applicants for new generic TLD strings. First, auctions accomplish the goal of allocative efficiency: putting scarce resources into the hands of those who value them the most."

Outlined as examples of gTLD bidders that would "value them the most" are:

  • Applicants whose true intentions or abilities are to serve many users would be able to justify higher bids than applicants who will serve few users;
  • Applicants capable of providing high-quality service at low cost would be able to justify higher bids than low-quality, high-cost applicants; and
  • Applicants who intend to develop the gTLD immediately would be able to justify higher bids than applicants whose purpose is to hold the gTLD, unused, for speculative purposes.

While the ICANN report acknowledges that "auctions are not perfectly aligned" with its objectives, it notes that "alternative allocation mechanisms such as comparative evaluations and lotteries inherently have much more severe limitations and defects, as evidenced by the historical record and by the abandonment of these alternatives in other communications areas."

According to ICANN, auctions will be used as a tie-breaking mechanism, not the primary means of allocation, for the resolution of "string contention" among competing applicants "for identical or similar strings." Auction would be the final means of settling any contention cases that have not been resolved at any of the previous stages in the process.

The paper does not address specific details on how an auction process to "resolve string contention" may be conducted, but that information is expected to follow as part of the larger gTLD implementation plan that will be presented in the near future.

As for the "Economic Case" outlined in the proposal, Americans and others will take a financial hit and be at a competitive disadvantage; as the plan calls for "various devices [to] be considered for favoring disadvantaged bidders in an auction."

As an example, ICANN would provide a 25 percent bidding credit to those bidders "whose community is located primarily in least-developed countries." This means that a $300,000 bid from such a bidder "would be viewed as equivalent to a $400,000 bid from a wealthy country."

Public feedback on this phase of the open gTLD implementation plan is being solicited through an online forum at forum.

Comments may be submitted via email to auction-consultation@icann.org until Sep. 7, 2008.

View Document

Related:  

Copyright © 2024 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More News

Nebraska AV Bill Moves Forward Despite Privacy, Free Speech Concerns

Nebraska’s unicameral Legislature has given first-round approval to LB 1092, the state’s version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists.

AEBN Celebrates 25th Anniversary

The Adult Entertainment Broadcast Network (AEBN) is celebrating its 25th year in business this week.

Performers in Meta Blacklisting Lawsuit Seek to Preserve Antitrust Claims

Adult Performance Artists Guild board officers Alana Evans, Kelly Pierce and Ruby have informed a California court that, although they want to drop their lawsuit claiming that Meta conspired with OnlyFans to blacklist rival premium fan platforms’ talent, they may still have antitrust claims that they may pursue in the future.

FSC, Co-Plaintiffs to Ask US Supreme Court to Review Constitutionality of Texas Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and its co-plaintiffs in the challenge to Texas’ controversial age verification law have filed a petition before the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit asking to stay its recent upholding the law because they intend to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law’s constitutionality.

FSC Vows to Fight Florida Age Verification Law

Free Speech Coalition (FSC) issued a statement vowing to continue fighting Florida’s age verification law, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday as part of a comprehensive bill targeting minors’ use of social media.

Kansas Republican Aims to Create New Bureaucracy to 'Investigate' Porn Websites

Republican state legislators succeeded Monday in moving forward Kansas’ version of the age verification bills being sponsored around the country by anti-porn religious conservative activists, despite serious concerns raised by House Democrats about the cost of establishing a new bureaucracy tasked with investigating websites for pornographic content.

SK Intertainment Launches 'Skinfluential Management' Agency, FansFuel Joint Venture

Mr. Skin/Mr. Man parent company SK Intertainment has launched new creator agency Skinfluential Management, as well as a new joint venture with Showbizz Media's creator stats and affiliate marketing platform, FansFuel.

Industry Attorney, Free Speech Champion Clyde DeWitt Passes Away at 75

Noted industry attorney Clyde DeWitt passed away on Friday in Las Vegas at 75, according to friends and colleagues.

APClips Names Avery Jane 'Creator of the Month'

APClips has named Avery Jane its Creator of the Month for March.

JustFor.fans Offers Gumroad Users Platform to Sell NSFW Artwork

JustFor.fans (JFF) is offering Gumroad users a platform to sell NSFW artwork after the latter banned adult content.

Show More