Among the 500+ new, generic top-level domains (gTLDs) that have been approved, few have generated as much concern and consternation as .sucks.
Before he left office, US Senator Jay Rockefeller told ICANN — the international organization that manages the internet’s domain name system — that the domain has “little or no public interest value” and called it “little more than a predatory shakedown scheme” aimed at getting businesses to spend big money on defensive domain registrations. When early reports spread about what it might cost a trademark holder to protect itself with a .sucks domain, domain industry insiders called it shocking and .crap.
Controversy or not, .sucks is almost here. A company called Momentous won ICANN’s auction last November via its subsidiary, Vox Populi, giving it the right to operate the .sucks gTLD. The early registration period — “sunrise” is the official term — starts on March 30th and general availability begins on June 1st.
What are brands to do? And what wil…
Before he left office, US Senator Jay Rockefeller told ICANN — the international organization that manages the internet’s domain name system — that the domain has “little or no public interest value” and called it “little more than a predatory shakedown scheme” aimed at getting businesses to spend big money on defensive domain registrations. When early reports spread about what it might cost a trademark holder to protect itself with a .sucks domain, domain industry insiders called it shocking and .crap.
Controversy or not, .sucks is almost here. A company called Momentous won ICANN’s auction last November via its subsidiary, Vox Populi, giving it the right to operate the .sucks gTLD. The early registration period — “sunrise” is the official term — starts on March 30th and general availability begins on June 1st.
What are brands to do? And what wil…