Landrush period

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A landrush period is the time during which domain names are available for registration, usually to a closed group (usually through a premium price), to entities that do not own a trademark in the name they wish to register, for example generic terms like loan or car, and thus would not qualify for registration during the sunrise period. [1] Orders may or may not be treated on a first-come-first-served basis. This period follows the sunrise period just after the launch of a new top-level domain or second-level domain during which, for example, owners of trademarks may register a domain name containing the owned mark, but a landrush period precedes a period of general availability, when any qualifying entity can register any name on a first come first-served basis.

Contents

Launch phase

As launches occur, gTLDs will follow a cycle of different launch phases. All launch phases start with the Sunrise Period, there is flexibility with the other stages. [2]

Sunrise period

The sunrise period is often a 30-day (or longer) phase during which trademark owners can purchase domain names before they are offered to the general public. This period of time allows for companies to keep the domain name associated with their brand before someone can publicly purchase the domain. Often domains such as info, mobi, and eu are picked up by companies during the sunrise period that precedes the larger landrush period. [3] In order to participate in the sunrise period, one has to be a registered trademark holder with the Trademark Clearing House. The allowance of time for each registered domain name in the sunrise period is two years. After that, the trademark holder needs to reclaim their domain.

Landrush period

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) defines the landrush period as the time between the sunrise period and general availability during which applications for a domain name may be received from any interested eligible party. [4]

Registries often have the option of including a landrush period, but this process is not mandatory. In the landrush period registration is open to everyone, but the registration is sold at a higher price than the regular price. Also some domains during a landrush period could be auctioned or on a "first come, first served" basis. [2]

The only domains not offered to everyone during the landrush period are Premium Domains. Each registry reserves the right to reserve high value or "Premium" domains and to sell or auction those domains at elevated prices. [2]

On average, a landrush period will last about 30 days and, in this period, applications for domain names may be received from any interested and eligible parties before registration is open for general availability.

In 2012 a digital land rush was expected because of a possible creation of new domain names and web addresses. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit, is currently responsible for regulation of domain names, and ICANN predicted a landrush period for the new domain names. [4] ICANN surveyed the public for new possible names, and the organization had a goal of trying to expand new top-level domain names. As new domain names are created, ICANN hopes for many overseers to sell their name to registrars. According to ICANN, the front-runner for a new domain name is ".shop" and the goal is to increase supply and demand for domain names. A landrush period will occur over the creation of new domain names because as the new domain names are created, overseers will sell their domain names, which will cause businesses and individuals to rush to buy new names. This increase in demand causes a landrush period and leads to increase consumption of domain names. In addition to an increase of demand in a landrush period, ICANN hopes to have a greater landrush period than ".jobs", which was a failure. [5]

ICANN's Procedure for Landrush

According to The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in order to participate in a Landrush period applicants must submit an application for a domain name that was not previously allocated, not eligible for allocation, and is not subject of an application that is being currently processed by the auction provider. [4] Also multiple applications for the same domain name will be settled with an auction. In addition, a claims period will be in effect during the entire duration of the Landrush period and the applicant must accept the information contained within a Claim Notice. [4]

General Availability Period

The General Availability phase follows all Sunrise and Landrush periods. This is an open period based on the "first come, first served" policy to the public. Typically, 90 calendar days after General Availability opens for each new gLTD, registries must provide Trademark Claims. [2]

ICANN defines General Availability is the point in time following which requests to register a domain name may be received from any eligible part on the same "first come, first served" basis. Another name for General Availability is also General Registration. [4]

Major Landrush Periods

First Major Landrush

Though generic top-level domains (gTLDs) were first established in 1984, the first major domain landrush was mostly centered around the dot-com bubble, which took place from 1997 until 2003. With the release of the official generic top-level domains, dot-com companies began to arise. This bubble involved investors pouring money into internet startups during the 1990s with hopes that those companies would one day become profitable. [6] These companies were solely based on the World Wide Web, but usually had no strategic business model to support any revenue stream. The result was the bursting of the dot-com bubble, which ultimately ended the first major landrush period. [7]

A large part of the first major landrush was cybersquatting, a practice in which individuals strategically purchase high-value domain names for resale at a higher price. However, this practice was made illegal with the passage of the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act in 1999. There are companies, such as DomainMarket.com, based around similar practices yet are still considered legal ventures.

Second Major Landrush

February 4, 2014, marked the beginning of the second major domain landrush. This landrush commenced the production of new web addresses, which has not occurred since 2000, when ICANN last accepted applications for top-level domains. The process of applying for new domain names runs through ICANN, the non-profit that manages several Internet-related tasks. ICANN's process can be an expensive one, demanding an initial fee of $185,000. Additionally, the application process is a lengthy one, in which ICANN believes could take up to a year. Furthermore, the domain names are not simply given to anyone. ICANN reviews critical details regarding applicants’ financial stability, technical abilities and their intentions with the domain. [5]

Andy Vuong of the Denver Post wrote that some of these new domains will, "target specific industries, such as .attorney and .ski, or social causes, such as .hiv, which will be dedicated to sites that contribute to the fight against HIV and AIDS". [8]

The essential reason to create new gTLDs is due to the fact that there are not enough domain names available for businesses or individuals to create sensible and logical URLs. A vast amount of .com's are in use already, and individuals and businesses are having difficulties in creating a fitting and simple domain. ICANN's Cyrus Namazi told Quartz that, “We’ve gone from an average of four or five letters in a second-level domain to something in excess of 14 to find what you’re looking for”. [9]

One main argument against the creation of new domains is that the days of individuals typing in full URLs is slowly dying out. For example, internet browsers such as Google Chrome’s use an address bar which doubles as a search field. [9]

Global Landrush Periods

The .eu Landrush Period

One of the major landrush periods that occurred was the .eu TLD (top level domain). The “.eu [domain] is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the European Union” and it was approved in March 2005. It is currently one of the largest European ccTLD. The sunrise period for this domain was divided into two separate parts—the first opened on December 7, 2005, while the second began on February 7, 2006. The first phase was meant for “registrants with prior rights based on trademarks and geographic names” leaving the second phase open to “company, trade, and personal names”.

After the sunrise period comes the landrush, which, for .eu, occurred on April 7, 2006, when registration for the domain became possible for “non-trademark holders”. In order to request a domain, people had registrars place their requests into a long queue. Many registrars were backed up with too many requests, so registering for a domain essentially became a game. People would figure out which registrars had already completed many requests, which left these registrars with few requests, and “allow[ed] people to ‘beat the queue.’” The way that EURid (European Registry for Internet Domains) designed the land rush for the .eu domain allowed for over 700,000 domains to be registered within the first 4 hours. Four months later, in August 2006, there were 2 million registered .eu domains.

The process that EURid created for this domain was criticized for using “phantom” registrars. The difference between something known as a “phantom” registrar and a regular, official registrar, is that an official registrar has only one chance to register a specific domain, while a “phantom” registrar crowds out the .eu domain and has multiple opportunities to register the same domain. This suspicion arose due to 400 registered LLC companies that had similar addresses and contact information. Bringing this realization to the public's attention was the founder of GoDaddy who felt that these 400 companies were classified as "phantom registrars created to hijack the .eu land rush." [10]

Related Research Articles

A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As of 2017, 330.6 million domain names had been registered. Domain names are used in various networking contexts and for application-specific naming and addressing purposes. In general, a domain name identifies a network domain or an Internet Protocol (IP) resource, such as a personal computer used to access the Internet, or a server computer.

The domain name .com is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Added at the beginning of 1985, its name is derived from the word commercial, indicating its original intended purpose for domains registered by commercial organizations. Later, the domain opened for general purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.eu</span> Internet country-code top level domain for the European Union

.eu is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for the European Union (EU). Launched on 7 December 2005, the domain is available for any person, company or organization based in the European Union. This was extended to the European Economic Area in 2014, after the regulation was incorporated into the EEA Agreement, and hence is also available for any person, company or organization based in Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The TLD is administered by EURid, a consortium originally consisting of the national ccTLD registry operators of Belgium, Sweden, and Italy, joined later by the national registry operator of the Czech Republic. Trademark owners were able to submit registrations through a sunrise period, in an effort to prevent cybersquatting. Full registration started on 7 April 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.info</span> Generic top-level domain

The domain name info is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. The name is derived from information, although registration requirements do not prescribe any particular purpose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.xxx</span> Sponsored top-level Internet domain

.xxx is a sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) intended as a voluntary option for pornographic sites on the Internet. The sponsoring organization is the International Foundation for Online Responsibility (IFFOR). The registry is operated by ICM Registry LLC. The ICANN Board voted to approve the sTLD on 18 March 2011. It went into operation on 15 April 2011.

Domain name speculation, popular as domaining in professional jargon, is the practice of identifying and registering or acquiring generic Internet domain names as an investment with the intent of selling them later for a profit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Generic top-level domain</span> Top level domain without country association.114

Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet. A top-level domain is the last level of every fully qualified domain name. They are called generic for historical reasons; initially, they were contrasted with country-specific TLDs in RFC 920.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.co</span> Internet country-code top level domain for Colombia

.co is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) assigned to Colombia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.tel</span> Top-level domain

The domain name .tel is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. It was approved by ICANN as a sponsored top-level domain, and is operated by Telnic. Telnic announced in January 2011 that over 300,000 domains had been registered since the start of general availability on 24 March 2009. A substantial drop of mostly IDN .tels occurred at the beginning of 2014 - the current total registered .tels as of 21 July 2016 is 98,516.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.asia</span>

The top-level domain .asia is the officially designated regional domain in the Internet for Asia and the Pacific. It is a sponsored generic top-level-domain (gTLD) operated by the DotAsia Organisation Ltd. The domain is open to companies, individuals and organisations that have a connection to the region. Asia domains can be seen and used by international and Asian businesses; regional conferences and symposiums; as well as Asian artists and celebrities.

The sunrise period of domain name registration is a special period during which trademark holders may preregister names that are the same or similar to their trademarks in order to avoid cybersquatting. This occurs prior to the general launch of the top-level domain (TLD). To register, the group or individual must be able to prove their prior right to the name. The sunrise period serves as a test period, and is followed by the landrush period and/or General Availability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.me</span> Internet country-code top level domain for Montenegro

.me is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Montenegro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.sx</span> Internet country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten

.sx is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet for Sint Maarten.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.biz</span>

.biz is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet. It is intended for registration of domains to be used by businesses. The name is a phonetic spelling of the first syllable of business.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZA Central Registry</span> Non-profit that operates various second-level domains in South Africa

The ZA Central Registry (ZACR), formerly known as UniForum SA, is a non-profit organisation established in 1988 and operates various second-level domains (SLD's) in South Africa. The ZA Central Registry is the administrator of the South African zones such as "co.za" and "web.za". Their offices are based in Midrand, South Africa.

.saarland (dotSAARLAND) is an ICANN-approved generic top level domain (TLD). It falls into the category of Geographic TLDs (“GeoTLDs”). The new top level domain is meant for all people and businesses in the German Federal State of Saarland and those otherwise associated with Saarland. However, any natural person and any entity is eligible to register domain names in the .SAARLAND TLD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.wiki</span> Generic top-level Internet domain

.wiki is a top-level domain name. It was proposed in ICANN's New generic top-level domain (gTLD) Program, and became available to the general public on May 26, 2014. Top Level Design is the domain name registry for the string.

The domain name Dot Chinese Website (.中文网) is a new generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. Dot Chinese Website is among many listed top level domains. Created along with the partner domain name Dot Chinese Online (.在线) by TLD Registry through Internet Corporation for Assigned Numbers and Names (ICANN)’s new gTLD program launched in April 28, 2014. TLD Registry was founded in June 2008 in Finland with the mission to create essential new Chinese TLDs - intended mainly towards a Chinese-speaking audience. Because it is displayed in a simplified Chinese character language specific script, Dot Chinese Website is known as an Internationalized Domain Name (IDNs).

.college is a generic-top-level domain (gTLD) used in the domain name system of the Internet. It was delegated to the Root Zone of the DNS on 10 April 2014, completing the successful application for the string. The .college back-end registry operations are provided by CentralNic. Unlike .edu, .college is open for registration to the general public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.guru</span> Generic top-level domain

.guru is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) owned by Donuts. It was delegated on 6 November 2013.

References

  1. ↑ ".MOBI Domain Name FAQs". DomainPeople. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Launch Phases".
  3. ↑ ASCIO. (2014). Sunrise/landrush/general availability. Retrieved from "Sunrise/Landrush/General Availability | Ascio". Archived from the original on 2014-03-25. Retrieved 2014-03-22.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Launch Policy 2013" (PDF). The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. 2013.
  5. 1 2 "Digital land rush expected for new Internet 'top-level' domain names". Archived from the original on 10 March 2014.
  6. ↑ "What Ever Happened to the Dotcom Bubble?". Investopedia. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  7. ↑ "Here's Why The Dot Com Bubble Began And Why It Popped". Business Insider. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  8. ↑ Vuong, Andy (7 March 2014). "Dot-what? Web land rush 2.0 to feature .wtf, .beer, .porn domains".
  9. 1 2 Mirani, Leo. "The biggest land rush in the history of the internet starts on February 4".
  10. ↑ Parsons, Bob. "The .eu landrush fiasco. A bumbling registry allows Europe's very own domain name to be highjacked!" . Retrieved 12 March 2014.
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