Slashdot Mirror


World Governments Object To New gTLDs

hypnosec writes "ICANN is receiving more and more requests for new generic top level domains, and governments around the world are busy registering their complaints and objections with the proposed names. To date, more than 200 objections have been raised against proposed gTLDs, with Australia leading the pack with over 120 objections. Some of the other countries which are at the forefront of registering their objections include France, Germany and India. US and UK are near the bottom of the list. ICANN's "early warnings" about national objections to gTLDs serves as formal objections but it doesn't mean that these domains will never be signed off. There is always room for discussions and mediation that would allow prospective registrants to keep on pursuing their claims. Australia has objected to names such as '.baby,' '.app,' and '.beauty' among other. It has also objected to names such as '.sucks' and '.wtf,' stating that these names have 'an overtly negative or critical connotation.'"

32 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. Hey I Know The Fix by GeneralTurgidson · · Score: 5, Funny

    Give control of everything to the UN

    1. Re:Hey I Know The Fix by mwvdlee · · Score: 5, Funny

      Indeed.
      Bureaucracy will ensure no new gTLD's will be approved before DNS has been completely replaced and it no longer matters.

      --
      Slashdot social media options: AIM, ICQ, Yahoo, Jabber and Mobile Text. Why no MySpace?
    2. Re:Hey I Know The Fix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Next you'll be suggesting cooperation rather than competition.

      It doesn't matter that competition leads to the majority ending up losers in ruins - think of the small minority of winners! Reach for that rainbow, man! You might just win a slice too!

      Classical capitalism: throwing ten dogs in a cage knowing that there's only enough food in there for two.

      Modern capitalism: as classical, but making absolutely sure the dogs kill each other rather than turning on you for throwing them in there.

    3. Re:Hey I Know The Fix by gl4ss · · Score: 3, Interesting

      well, some conspiracy theorist would say that this new tld sellout and fucking it up so badly as they have was done to move control away from icann.
      it's a nice idea, to have to just use google to get to google's web page, but such a system would need one gatekeeper entity and icann is not up to the task.
      maybe they should have made it a sort of nobel prize to get - build a new data cable from africa to south america and as a prize get a new tld for you. or star a new country. anything else than first going with the idea of asking 185k for a chance to participate in a digital archery contest, then pulling out and not even having the green go light for the whole fucking thing.

      before I was under the assumption that the people who had applied for those tld's had already paid the apply fee, is it so? because I've started to doubt that they couldn't be that stupid? or could they? I mean, if they did then isn't ICANN on the edge of being outright fraudsters?

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    4. Re:Hey I Know The Fix by AlphaWolf_HK · · Score: 2

      I was opposed to gTLD's at first, but I thought about another existing problem that we have, which gTLD's may fix.

      If you own a trademark, let's say videolan. You figure, ok, let's pick up videolan.org. But oh wait, we need to prevent domain squatters from grabbing up the same names on .net, .us, .com, etc etc etc. Now instead of one domain name to maintain and pay for, you have numerous. Hell, you may have to pick up a domain name for every common TLD out there just to prevent squatters from grabbing it and then packaging spyware with it, so that your software package doesn't get a bad name due to asshats loading it with spyware.

      Maybe not necessarily that far, but it's annoying when I type in e.g. vlc.com, and I end up with some domain squatter page. It would be a lot better if I could just trust a tld called videolan, and the owners of that project don't have to track numerous.

      I don't know about anybody else, but I get annoyed as hell when I type a domain name that I am pretty sure belongs to who I think it does, only to find out that a squatter has it. Ok, big deal, go to the right one next time. Except now the squatter page is in my autocomplete, and I have to be careful about when I arrow down and hit enter, unless I go through and delete it.

      I think we either go back to the system where .com .net and .org were supposed to go to their respective organization types, or just allow the gTLD system to go through.

      And restricting .sucks or .wtf because they find it offensive is just stupid politically correct bullcrap. Why not ban sucks.com while you're at it? (oh look, an ad squatter has it!)

      --
      Careful with names containing L slashdot.org/~AiphaWolf_HK slashdot.org/~AlphaWoif_HK slashdot.org/~AiphaWoif_HK
    5. Re:Hey I Know The Fix by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      what about ".australianpoliticiansareabunchofcunts"

    6. Re:Hey I Know The Fix by mpe · · Score: 3, Informative

      I was opposed to gTLD's at first, but I thought about another existing problem that we have, which gTLD's may fix.
      If you own a trademark, let's say videolan. You figure, ok, let's pick up videolan.org. But oh wait, we need to prevent domain squatters from grabbing up the same names on .net, .us, .com, etc etc etc. Now instead of one domain name to maintain and pay for, you have numerous.


      The thing to remember is that trademarks are NOT intended to be globally unique in the first place. They are specific to both places and types of business.

  2. overtly negative or critical connotation? by alienzed · · Score: 3, Funny

    I guess Australians don't have internet access yet...

    --
    Never say never. Ah!! I did it again!
    1. Re:overtly negative or critical connotation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It is because our government has to much religious influence. Scary thing is this is our less conservative scummy government too. Our conservative government are a pack of loonies.

      Remember this is the same country that only just passed R18+ rating on video games. After religious nutbars tried to block it for ages.

    2. Re:overtly negative or critical connotation? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      I realize that these are extream examples, but what is offensive to one large group is not always offensive to Slashdot types, who are rarely offended at anything.

      As a Slashdot spelling grammar type, I'm offended by the misspelling of "extreme"!

    3. Re:overtly negative or critical connotation? by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I'm offended by your inability to recognize the fact that you're being offensive to those of us who are not easily offended.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    4. Re:overtly negative or critical connotation? by fustakrakich · · Score: 2

      So ANYTHING should be allowed?

      Yes

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
  3. australia.wtf by MakerDusk · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't see why there are even objections. Why do governments even have a right to determine what gTLD's are offensive? We're talking about privately owned names and the government should have no hand in that. It should be something between the applicant and their user base alone. For any government that thinks they have the right to control the names that people choose on internet: censorship.sucks

  4. Critical connotation! WFT!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I fail to see how that is supposed to be a reason for not allowing a TLD. Critique and satire are important cornerstones of individual and free expression, of - yes - critical discourse and public debate. Yes, not everything on the internet smells like roses and tastes like sugar. But meaningful exchange has never been without thornes and sometimes words have to be nasty to get through.

    It is shamefull for a democratic government to be acting in such a way. A democracy hears its citizens, accepts critique and initiate change whereever reasonable. Censoring speech because you're afraid of people not praising you all the way - that's the way of tyrannies.

  5. They can have .zune, tho'. by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 4, Funny

    Brazil is objecting to .amazon being taken by amazon.com.

    Let's hope Microsoft can't claim windows.com. 1. It was arrogant for them to name their custom windowing system that, and 2. The product is now more accurately described as .primaryColorTiles.

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  6. What's wrong with Baby? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    My first reaction was 'why would they complain about baby?' But I went and read the complaint. I guess I totally misunderstood the purpose of these gTLDs. I naively assumed they were just new extensions that everyone could use if they wanted. However the complaint about .baby was that Johnson and Johnson was reserving it for themselves. Well DUH!! of course you can't do that.

    I worry about the lack of common sense in the business world.

    1. Re:What's wrong with Baby? by Russ1642 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So Baby.com is ok, but Johnson.baby isn't? Once every company grabs up a gTLD it'll be the same as what it used to be. Instead of 'ABCD.com' it'll be 'XYZ.ABCD'. Big deal.

    2. Re:What's wrong with Baby? by msauve · · Score: 2

      You do realize you're arguing with an AC, don't you?

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  7. Why not just drop TLDs by pittaxx · · Score: 5, Informative

    No one respects the conventions at this point anyway and I don't see much point in using them any more. Big companies just register everything available anyway, and small ones has to deal with trolling an scamming. It's just an extra vector for profit to some people, the way I see it. I'd say just drop the requirement for TLDs and let the people use current ones if they want to.

  8. Just stick to country codes for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Just stick to country codes ONLY for top level names and let each country do what they want.
    Of course that would mean the end to .com, .net and .org, but doing anything else just creates a mess.

    But I don't see that happening, too much money to be made.

  9. Ah the world's nanny state is also present. by MistrX · · Score: 2

    'An overtly negative or critical connotation.'

    Yeah imagine people being critical.
    Even worse: People being critical with a frown on their face!

    1. Re:Ah the world's nanny state is also present. by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 2

      'An overtly negative or critical connotation.'

      Yeah imagine people being critical. Even worse: People being critical with a frown on their face!

      Just wait until they hear about ".gov" and ".mil" ... overtly negative or critical connotation indeed.

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  10. World Governments ? by rossdee · · Score: 2

    How many "World Governments" are there? I only know of one (Yhe UN) and not all of the National Governments take any heed to what they say.

    If there was more than one World Government wouldn't they be arguing/fighting with each other?
    (like during the cold war, the First World (Capitalist western Democracies) were nearly at war with the Second World (Communist Countries), and some of the fighting was in third world countries...

  11. EU's position by srussia · · Score: 5, Funny

    "All these words are yours except .europa."

    --
    Set your phasers on "funky"!
    1. Re:EU's position by mrbester · · Score: 3, Funny

      "Attempt no registrations there."

      --
      "Wait. Something's happening. It's opening up! My God, it's full of apricots!"
  12. Would you even trust sites on these new TLDs? by denis-The-menace · · Score: 2

    /. should have a poll about this.

    --
    Obama's legacy: (N)othing (S)ecure (A)nywhere and (T)error (S)imulation (A)dministration
  13. Re:US claims .army ;-) by DragonWriter · · Score: 2

    and have the Two Words: nuclear fucking weapons

    Something just doesn't add up with this statement.

    One, two, three, its all the same when you have nuclear-fucking-weapons!

  14. I object to ALL new TLDs by WaffleMonster · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I can't think of anything more outrageous and distructive to the DNS system than allowing a bunch of useless new TLDs which only serve to enrich ICANN, phishers and name protection rackets.

    I guess I should be appalled and dismayed when you develop a structure on the Internet which explicitly allows governments to weigh in on decisions and it quickly devolves into childish nonsense... Nobody could have possibly predicted this??? ..give me a fucking break.

    Giving governments a taste of say/power over the happenings of the net is bad policy it only encourages governments to seek more power which only results in bad outcomes.

    It might seem silly but those extra layers in the ISO model are getting to be more and more important to the design of protocols and operation of the network. Being sloppy, greedy and a total sellout (ICANN) instead of clever and concerned about the freedom and well-being of users is a recipe for disaster.

  15. If slashdot was still a site with editors: by SmallFurryCreature · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If Slashdot editors weren't just after cheap headlines they might have picked up on this:

    Domain: Capitol

    Australian objection: The useofgeographicnamesat the secondlevel:Thestring(.capital) is a generic geographicterm,and DeltaMillLLCdoesnotappeartohaveproposedsufficientmechanismstoallowcommunitiesto protecttheirnamesandreputationsfrommisuseatthesecondlevel.

    So it seems that Australia is actually trying to prevent what many here fear, that there will be a ton of meaningless top domains which will force people either to register their sub domain to protect their brand/identity or have it exploited by someone else.

    As for the giggles about .sucks wanna bet the company behind that isn't about protesting or free speech but "you want to prevent [your name here].sucks from appearing in search result, why not register it yourself, that will be 1000 dollars please. A tiny amount to the internationals, costs of doing business but feed a leech and it will only suck more.

    I am with Australia on this and I think they should use their power to block ALL requests. Get the whole idea shutdown. Someone in government in Australia seems to be awake and the rest of world is asleep at the wheel as usual or to interested in just their own tiny section to see the big picture.

    --

    MMO Quests are like orgasms:

    You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.

  16. Australia sucks balls. Balls that Australia sucks. by TiggertheMad · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Australia has objected to names such as '.baby,' '.app,' and '.beauty' among other. It has also objected to names such as '.sucks' and '.wtf,' stating that these names have 'an overtly negative or critical connotation.'"

    I call dibs on Australia.Sucks!

    I mean, way to go Australia, that's thinking out of the box! If you prohibit negative and critical TLDs, then negative and critical speech will go away and everyone will be happy. I wish I had thought of that...

    (Fuck you Australia. No really, fuck you.)

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
  17. Re:Australia sucks balls. Balls that Australia suc by rs79 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Damn, beat to the punch. But that doesn't matter, what matters is http://australia.sucks/ works even though it doesn't at time of writing. Or typing. Whatever.

    But it's not Australia per se. It's a guy called Paul Twomey. He showed up in the late 90s after making a real dogs breakfast of internet regulations in Australia and was about as smarmy as they come so of course he did well in the den of lying clueless shitbag skullduggery that is ICANN and lasted 10 years until he lied to congress and achieved zero deliverables in a decade.

    http://rs79.vrx.net/opinions/ideas/internet/domains/eyestar/icann/ceo/salary/

    So, after being ousted and replaced by Beckstrom I'd wager he ran around to any governmental authority that would list and for only $way_too_much helped them write a report on the order of ".sucks" sucks.

    This was done through the "Government Advisory Committee" or "GAC", and I was there that day when the GAC was introduced by the ITU wonk Bob Shaw as an "essential" part to this. Where "this" was supposed to be "measure the consensus of the internet communty and implement it".

    During an open mike session later that hour, I asked for a show of hands for support for this GAC. 11 out of 1000 people raised their hands, all government reps to the GAC even though it hadn't been created yet. It was emphasized this was "advisory" only.

    Ok, we heard your advice, now fuck off.

    P.S. I still have the .rm files of that day in Berlin fom the Berkman center archives if anyone's interested.

    --
    Need Mercedes parts ?
  18. please Stop this tld crap, before it runs out of c by someones · · Score: 2

    please Stop this tld crap, before it runs out of control!