Fwd: "Domain Protection Racket" Promotion on Network Solutions Home Page

[Milton L Mueller]

Actually this kind of marketing has been going on for years with or without new TLDs.
I have gotten emails regularly over the years advising me to register <whatevernameI have> in every TLD, including .cn, and to register every alphabetic variation of it.
Lauren is an old school internet type who has never quite gotten adjusted to the fact that the DNS has been commercialized.
To answer your question directly, no, I don't think there is any way that we want ICANN to try to exert control over how people market things, unless fraud is involved.


From: NCSG-Discuss [mailto:NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Nicolas Adam
Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2011 5:24 PM
To: NCSG-DISCUSS at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
Subject: [NCSG-Discuss] Fwd: "Domain Protection Racket" Promotion on Network Solutions Home Page


You'll notice the "Protect Your Brand", in the center. It's not as big as the criticism below make it to be but it's there.

Would it be relevant and/or feasible to 'regulate' (read encourage/constrain ==> through types of means that i will leave open to discussion) the way registrar can market those new TLD?

First, it doesn't look good.

Second, while i don't think anybody (except perhaps established registrars) who are in favor of gTLD expansion have a clear view of what the emergent system of naming and names will or should be, i am pretty sure no-one so disposed would care to advocate that this system should establish itself mainly as a protection scheme.

Is forcing advertising to depart with the protection rhetoric a step forward? Is it feasible?

Just some thoughts.

Nicolas

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:

[ NNSquad ] "Domain Protection Racket" Promotion on Network Solutions Home Page

Date:

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 12:42:23 -0700

From:

Lauren Weinstein <lauren at vortex.com><mailto:lauren at vortex.com>

To:

nnsquad at nnsquad.org<mailto:nnsquad at nnsquad.org>



"Domain Protection Racket" Promotion on Network Solutions Home Page



This "in your face" promotion currently running on the Network

Solutions home page clearly illustrates how the current top-level

domains (gTLD) expansion plan is akin to a traditional "Sign up now or

something bad might, uh, happen to you, buddy!" protection racket.



http://j.mp/ofrzyv  (Lauren's Blog - Screen capture from networksolutions.com)



As you can see, there is no concept of community service, social

responsibility, or even real "value-added" benefits.  The promotion

for two TLDs is explicitly about *protection* -- as in protecting

yourself from someone else grabbing those domains and making you look

bad, confusing your customers, and worse -- whether you have any real

interest in those TLDs or not.



And this is *only the beginning*, my friends.



--Lauren--

Lauren Weinstein (lauren at vortex.com<mailto:lauren at vortex.com>): http://www.vortex.com/lauren

Co-Founder: People For Internet Responsibility: http://www.pfir.org

Founder:

 - Network Neutrality Squad: http://www.nnsquad.org

 - Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance: http://www.gctip.org

 - PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com

Member: ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy

Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com

Google+: http://vortex.com/g+lauren

Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein

Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 / Skype: vortex.com




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