new.net: yet another dns namespace overlay play

Tue Mar 6 06:59:49 UTC 2001

[ this came from http://www.new.net/about_us_press.tp and appears not to be
  a joke.  its operational impact will not be felt today, but if it's even
  moderately popular before it dies, operational impact WILL be felt.  i'm
  quite surprised by some of the folks they list as their partners.  --vix ]

  Contact:
  Claudia de Llano or Lisa Doiron
  Connors Communications
  (310) 452-7540
  claudia at connors.com or lisa at connors.com

                                                  Brad Copeland
                                                  New.net, Inc.
                                                  626-229-7800
                                                  pr at new.net

  New.net Expands Internet Naming With Launch of 20 New Top-Level Domain Names

         New Domain Name Registry's Technology Uses Existing Internet
       Naming System to Make Available Sensible, Meaningful Web Addresses 

Pasadena, Calif. - March 5, 2001 - New.net (http://www.new.net), a domain
name registry created to meet the market demand for Web addresses with
logical, easy-to-remember extensions that make Internet navigation easier,
today officially released its first 20 new top-level domains. New.net has
developed a novel, proprietary approach, using software technology deployed
at either the network level by partner ISPs or on individual PCs, that uses
the existing Internet naming system to enable millions of users to gain
access to these new addresses.

With this launch, the Internet community will be able to purchase and use
domain names with extensions ("top-level domains") that were previously
unavailable. Each of the new top-level domains was chosen to enable
organizations and individuals to create Web addresses that more clearly
describe their product, service offering, group activity or passion. The
first 20 top-level domains being released are:

             .CHAT      .GMBH       .LTD        .SPORT
             .CLUB      .HOLA       .MED        .TECH
             .FAMILY    .INC        .MP3        .TRAVEL
             .FREE      .KIDS       .SHOP       .VIDEO
             .GAME      .LAW        .SOC        .XXX

"New.net will dramatically broaden the scope of available domain names,"
said David Hernand, CEO of New.net. "Our research has indicated a
tremendous market demand to move beyond .com and .net. We believe these new
extensions will make it far easier for companies and individuals to market
their Web sites using more intuitive addresses and for Internet users to
navigate the Web."

Availability

Domain names using the initial set of extensions are available on a
first-come, first-served basis for a flat fee of $25 per year. New.net
anticipates that the availability of such descriptive extensions will
inspire purchasers to provide content that is relevant to the specific
domain names purchased. However, as an added benefit to parents, the
company will require those purchasing domain names ending in .kids to offer
Web sites that contain kid-friendly content and comply with the Children's
Online Privacy Protection Act, and it reserves the right to revoke names
that aren't used accordingly.

Partnerships

Through strategic relationships with leading Internet Service Providers
(ISPs), including EarthLink, Excite at Home, and NetZero, over 16 million
users will have access to the New.net domains beginning this week. Other
Web users can activate their Internet browsers to recognize the new domain
names in a few seconds by visiting www.new.net.

"EarthLink is excited to partner with New.net as we identify new ways for
our subscribers to more easily find information on the Internet and in
turn, make their own Web sites more readily accessible to others," said,
Jon Irwin, executive vice president of EarthLink's user experience. "By
automatically making New.net available to our customer base, we are
enhancing EarthLink's online experience and helping to provide an open,
uncensored connection to the real Internet."

New.net has also embarked on a series of partnerships designed to promote
the mass downloading of its browser plug-in and widespread use of its new
domain names. In the first of these announcements, New.net has partnered
with MP3.com. As a result of this partnership, MP3.com will be an exclusive
third-party seller of .mp3 domain names and will encourage its millions of
visitors to activate New.net's browser plug-in. MP3.com's Web site hosts
what it believes is the largest collection of digital music available on
the Internet, with audio files posted from over 135,000 digital artists and
record labels. These artists will be able to sign up for unique Web
addresses with their name and the .mp3 extension (e.g.,
www.artistname.mp3).

Opportunities also exist for current registries and registrars of .com and
other domain names. New.net is currently in discussions with a wide variety
of companies to offer the New.net domains to their customers.

New.net is making additional efforts to win the trust of parents that .kids
sites will be appropriate for their children. As part of that effort,
New.net has reached an agreement in principle with .KIDS Domains, Inc. to
be the official registry of .kids domain names. Those applying for .kids
domain names will be required to publish content that is "kid-friendly" and
in compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and
.KIDS Domains guidelines. .KIDS Domains will be screening all requests for
.kids domain names for appropriateness and will be implementing a process
to evaluate sites' compliance with guidelines for kid-friendly content.

The International Solution

"We believe that New.net's new domains will be particularly attractive to
the international community, which has been long-neglected by the existing
naming system," added Hernand. "By adding .gmbh, .ltd and .soc, in addition
to .inc, we can provide a more sensible naming system for businesses in a
wide variety of countries. And by introducing the .hola extension, we have
a unique top-level domain that will appeal to the growing population of
Spanish-speaking Internet families in the U.S. and around the world. In
addition, New.net's technology will allow the use of foreign-language
characters in both the domain name and the extension, unique among naming
systems."

The Technology

New.net is able to provide use of these new, top-level domains through
innovative, patent-pending technology that allows the New.net names to live
within the existing Internet domain name system. Whether on an individual
browser level via the New.net plug-in, or through software resident on a
participating ISP's server, requests to display Web pages with New.net
domain names are resolved by appending the additional extension .new.net
onto the address. As a result, requests are automatically routed to
New.net's DNS servers to determine the correct IP address of the computer
hosting the Web page.  New.net has partnered with UltraDNS, one of the
Internet's leading DNS infrastructure services companies, to provide
scalable, global DNS services.

The Future

New.net plans to introduce additional new top-level domains based on
consumer and business demand. The company is engaged in ongoing market
research to narrow the list of possibilities and is actively seeking
consumer feedback on its Web site in order to assist in making sound,
market-driven choices.  New.net will also consider proposals submitted by
third parties interested in having particular top-level domains released.

About New.net

New.net (http://www.new.net) is building the Internet's leading
market-driven domain name registry business by selling domain names with
logical, easy-to-remember top-level domain extensions that make the
Internet easier to navigate. Based in Pasadena, California, the company was
started in May 2000 by idealab!, a leading Internet incubator. Since that
time, New.net has developed propriety technology that allows its
domain-naming system to exist alongside the traditional naming systems
currently in use on the Internet.

                  # # #

    © 2001 New.net, Inc. All rights reserved.