ccTLDs and gTLDs:Co-existing in a New Environment

Thomas BarrettEnCirca – President

Middle East DNS ForumAmman, JordanMarch 10, 2015

About Me

• Founder of two ICANN Registrars (EnCirca and Name Share)

• Founder of Calzone.org DNS industry calendar

• Operator of .pw ccTLD

• Member of .usTLD Stakeholder Council

• Member of .Bank Security Standards Working Group

Past

• CEO of NetNames corporate registrar (sold to NetBenefit)

• Founder of Afilias Registry

• Consultant for Neustar Registry

• Built Internet service for conducting Trademark Research

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About EnCirca

• ICANN-Accredited Registrar

• Supports all gTLDs (old and new) and many ccTLDs

• Trademark Agent to Trademark Clearinghouse

• Positioning: Top Registrar for restricted TLDs• Providing authentication consulting and software services for restricted gTLDs

• .travel, .jobs etc.

• .Realtor (exclusive registrar for this new dot-brand gTLD: 90K names)

• .Pharmacy

• .Bank

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By The Way

Co-Existing is not enough.

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You want to Win.How?

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Positioning

Positioning Defined

• "the place a brand occupies in consumers' minds relative to competing offerings".

•And YES, every TLD is a Brand !!!

•Positioning will happen whether or not a company's management is proactive, reactive or passive

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Attributes of Legacy TLDs (cc and g)

Typically:

- Monopoly position

- Restricted- Eligibility – who can get one?

- Naming- what names can they register? What is reserved?

- Use – How can they use it?

- Expensive

- Limited Distribution and Channel Policies

- Complacent!

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What’s New?

• Hundreds of new extensions were added in 2014

• Hundreds more in 2015

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Attributes of new GTLDs

• Some are completely open – just like com

• Some are restricted – like .Realtor or .NGO

• Some are geographic – like .Berlin or .Africa

• Some are brands – like .IBM or .Samsung

• Some have large distribution channels and some do not

• Some are pro-actively positioning themselves

• but most are not, So, the market is deciding what their positioning is.

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Impact of New gTLDs

• Exponentially increases Supply

• Segmentation of the Marketplace

This means new gTLDs will siphon users from old TLDS

• The .COM TLD is getting hit hard…• .club• .xyz• .guru• .photography

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New gTLDs That Will Siphon from .EDU

.College

.School

.Academy

.Institute

.Shiksha

.Degree

.University

.Schule

.Education

.Scholarships

.prof

.Science

.Courses

.Study

.How

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New gTLDs That Will Siphon From .Org

.Charity

.Green

.Eco

.Organic

.HIV

.Gripe

.Sucks

.Feedback

.Fan

.Fans

.Gives

.Giving

.Vote

.Voto

.Voting

.RIP

.Memorial

.Bible

.GOP

.Republican

.Democrat

.Catholic

.Catholic IDNS (including Arabic)

.Church

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The non-profit world is being sliced and diced into narrow market segments

New TLDs that will Siphon from ccTLDS

.Abudhabi

.Doha

.Dubai

.Istanbul

.Berlin

.London

.NYC

.LasVegas

.Sydney

.Brussels

.Amsterdam

.PersianGulf

.country

.global

.eu

.Asia

.Africa

.lat

.co.com

.Arab

.Shia

.Pars

.Irish

.Desi

.Scot

.cymu

.Wales

.Islam

.Halal

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ccTLD Registries Should Anticipate That New TLDs Will Threaten Their Business

(The threat is about more than just the string)

Different Ways to Evolve

• Enhance offerings, i.e. Security., Directory, Monitoring

• Relax restrictions

• Change policies

• Release reserved names – spark a land rush

• Increase distribution channel

• Incentivize distribution channel, i.e. extend credit

• Enable monetizing and aftermarket of used names

• Promote your brand

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Stay on the Radar

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Examples of legacy TLDs evolving

• .usTLD• Make "America's Address" Yours!• Creating a stakeholder council• Conducting virtual town hall to conduct market research

• .UK• Opened up the second level

• .com• VERISIGN IS A GLOBAL LEADER IN DOMAIN NAMES AND INTERNET SECURITY

• CYBERSECURITY• DDOS• THREAT PROTECTION

• .org• Providing people and organizations an identity online, where everyone has a voice.

• Cannibalizing .org with .NGO and .ONG• Unveiled the name of the new online community for NGOs, nonprofits and charities: OnGood! Available in

early 2015, OnGood will be a versatile online tool to help garner greater visibility and raise funds for NGOs.

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What Should Legacy ccTLDs Do?

•Anticipate possible threats

•Emphasize your positioning

(or re-position if necessary)

•Don’t be mute.

•Evolve

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Positioning

• "the place a brand occupies in consumers' minds relative to competing offerings".

• And YES, every TLD is a Brand !!!

•Positioning will happen one way or another

• So influence how it happens

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Questions?

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