The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse has puzzled me for a long time. They claim to be "dedicated to ending the systemic domain name abuses that plague the Internet today". A very worthy cause on paper, except the CADNA people seem to be confusing constructive criticism with constant ranting.
Their latest is entitled "ICANN's gTLD launch costs businesses $746 million, increases cyber crime". What are these people on? And how do they get major brands to back their coalition's press releases?
Their pitch: new gTLDs will force businesses to defensively register, and therefore cost them. Never mind the fact that the ICANN community has been working for years now on refining a new gTLD program that incorporates powerful new brand protection measures. And so what if said program has been delayed time and time again precisely because the ICANN community, in a responsible and cautious approach, is making sure that it gets as many aspects of the new gTLD launch right as it can.
Innovation always means pushing the boundaries and leaping into the unknown. But the new gTLD program has been in preparation for years and it is being carefully thought out by many talented people. ICANN community volunteers within the GNSO (generic Names Supporting Organization) first drew out a set of recommendations. The ICANN Board (also volunteers) then approved them and asked ICANN Staff (also talented) to draft a model from them. The first iteration of that model came out in October 2008. The 4th is scheduled to be released this June. In between, there has been constant consultation, analysis and drafting. That is not haphazard experimentation. That is careful planning.
Does CADNA care? No! All they seem to want is status quo. Whatever you do, don't innovate on the Internet. People have been scared of change since the dawn of human history, so I suppose it should come as no surprise that the new gTLD program is causing doomsayers to become agitated. Listen to them, and it's the end of the Internet as we know it.
And you know what, I agree with them! Being free to run your own TLD, to offer Internet users a domain tailored to their needs and focused on what they are looking for, that may well change the way we use the Internet in a few years' time. Just like Twitter and Facebook have changed our every day environment in ways that no-one could have predicted a couple of years ago...
Some big brands already get the new gTLD program. Just ask Canon. A pity an organisation that claims to be speaking on their behalf looks hell-bent on staying entrenched in the present, rather than looking to the future. Innovation is coming, get over it CADNA!
