ICANN opens up Pandora's Box of new TLDs

Thu Jun 26 23:33:21 UTC 2008

Hello;

On Jun 26, 2008, at 7:28 PM, Ken Simpson wrote:

> Has anyone been able to figure out what it will cost to secure a  
> completely un-contested tld? I haven't been able to find proposed  
> fees anywhere. I think it will be a practical necessity for all  
> organizations to secure their own TLD at the outset, lest someone  
> else secure it for them and leave it up to the court of arbitration.
>
> .. And where, pray-tell, will the mega cash from the TLD auctions be  
> going? Surely ICANN doesn't need a multi-billion $ annual budget,  
> but if these TLD auctions go the way of the cellular auctions,  
> there's a good potential for that kind of an outcome.
>

This gives an (unofficial) estimate :

<http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080626-confusion-icann-opens-up-pandoras-box-of-new-tlds.html 
 >

.confusion: ICANN opens up Pandora's Box of new TLDs
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: June 26, 2008 - 12:11PM CT

<snip>
Not every zany TLD will be immediately available to anyone who want to  
register a domain, however. Businesses must apply to register the TLD  
first, then go through a review process to ensure that it isn't  
offensive and doesn't infringe on anyone's intellectual property. If  
approved, registering the TLD will cost anywhere from $100,000 to  
$500,000, ICANN says, and the business or organization must prove that  
they are either capable of managing the TLD or can reach a deal with a  
company that will. This is no small beans—unless you're planning to  
fork over up to half a million dollars and put in the labor to manage  
everything that appears under the TLD, this task is probably best left  
to large organizations and governmental entities. The organization  
registering the TLD will also be responsible for determining whether  
it will be restricted to certain types of sites or open to the public.
<snip>

Regards
Marshall