Source: Wednesday, July 6th, 2011
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58421.html

New '.music' web domain worries recording industry

The recording industry is singing the blues over a new online addressing rule that will allow for the creation of a ".music" domain.

The new domain name system was approved in June by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit organization that oversees the Internet addressing system.

The music industry is concerned that the new system could allow online pirates to buy new domain names that help make their websites look more legitimate - encouraging more copyright infringement of digital music.

One of the main concerns is that music pirates could register Internet addresses under the domain .music to make it appear to Web surfers that the music on its site is legal and licensed by recording companies.

"Because these generic top-level domains are so specialized, people may think, ‘This is where I go if I want music,'" said Steven Marks, general counsel for the Recording Industry Association of America. "Therefore, we have the same kind of [copyright infringement] problem we have today."

The change in the Web's domain name system is monumental because it allows businesses, nonprofits and organizations to apply for nearly any domain name they like. ICANN will begin accepting applications for new domain names between January and April of next year. It will cost $185,000 to create a new top-level domain, and all applicants will be subject to in-depth background checks by ICANN.

It's unclear how much of a problem music pirates applying for domain names might pose when the application process gets under way. While there's a possibility that the new system carries a risk of copyright infringement, it also presents an opportunity to create a safe home for digital music on the Web under the .music domain name.

"These guys like the RIAA spend their entire lives combating illegal downloading sites. Any opportunity for people to come up with a new backdoor for launching these sites and services obviously is a problem for them," said Ben Crawford, chief executive officer of CentralNic, which facilitates and manages domain name acquisition for companies. "I actually think the opportunity to create a safe zone is greater than the risk of proliferating zones of piracy."

The recording industry also sees opportunity in the new domain name system.

"There's the opportunity for this to be something that's very helpful and worthwhile for the industry - a place where everyone knows this is the place to get legitimate music," Marks said.

This isn't the first time members of the recording industry have aired concerns to ICANN.

In a January letter to ICANN's leadership on behalf of 15 national and international trade groups, RIAA Deputy General Counsel Victoria Sheckler wrote that the coalition is concerned "that a music themed [generic top-level domain] will be used to enable wide-scale copyright and trademark infringement." The letter added that the group "would like to work with ICANN and others to ensure that best practices are developed and used to ensure this type of malicious behavior does not occur."

As the clock ticks down, the recording industry is staying in touch with ICANN and deciding how to best handle the change.

"We're very focused right now on who is going to be applying for the [.music domain] and what do they have in mind for it and what role we'll play," Marks said.

For its part, ICANN said it consulted with a range of stakeholders when designing and implementing the new system, and players in the intellectual property community were included in those discussions. The application review process will also be very stringent, because if an application is approved, ICANN will be responsible for maintaining and distributing approved domain names.

"It is a serious business commitment," said Michele Jourdan, a spokesperson for ICANN. "It's not a trivial thing so that anyone would be able to get a .music domain name and do bad things with it. Every applicant is going to go through background checks; they're going to have to demonstrate that they're serious about this and what their intent is."

get the .brand buzz...


Etisalat secures top-level domain - TradeArabia.com
TradeArabia

CentralNic Powers First New Top-Level Domains Announced by ICANN - CircleId.com
CirlceID

Expert view: Gavin Brown - dotnxt.com
dotNxt

New domain names to break grip of tech giants
The IndependentIOL Scitech

The End of the Dot-Com Era? - cnbc.com
CNBC

Dot-anything Web domain costs big .$$$ - cnn.com
CNN

ICANN's Domain Expansion: Why .Metallica Makes Sense - blog.forbes.com
Forbes

Your .brand gTLD: hopeful registry partners go into marketing overdrive - worldtrademarkreview.com
World Trademark Review

How companies are coping with gTLD applications - managingip.com
Managing Intellectual Property

DotBrand Solutions launches in the Middle East
AME Info ITP.net
Zawya Alrroya
The National Trade Arabia
NewzGlobe
Gulf News
The Next Web
Al Watan The Peninsula

DotBrand Solutions in Germany
Business-on.de IT-Business.de IT Espresso DE Domain Recht

How ICANN's Approval of New Domains Will Change the Web - mashable.com
Mashable

Analysis: New Internet rules will spawn battle for "dots" - reuters.com
Reuters
Yahoo! News OnIslam CNBC MSNBC Arabian Business

Forget .com, here's .coke - money.cnn.com
CNN Money

Experts clash on benefits of owning and managing .brand domains - v3.co.uk
V3

Site Name Broker Preparing for Suffix Explosion
LA Business Journal

Hundreds of dot-brand domains predicted - theregister.com
TheRegister

New '.music' web domain worries recording industry - politico.com
Politico

Marketers debate usefulness of ICANN's new domain names - btobonline.com
BtoB Online

Drinks firms could profit from internet expansion - just-drinks.com
Just-Drinks

ICANN Approves Custom Generic Top Level Domains - eweek.com
eWeek

ICANN approves top level domain name changes - upi.com
UPI

ICANN Approves Generic Top Level Domains - enterprisenetworkingplanet.com
Enterprisenetworkingplanet.com

Here come the domains - bizmology.com
Bizmology.com

Goodbye .Com, Hello .Anything - portfolio.com
Portfolio.com

ICANN Vanity Domains: A Caution for Midmarket Firms - internetevolution.com
InternetEvolution

Top-Level Domains Will Help Web Growth & Reach - yousaytoo.com
YouSayToo

.Branding: It's the End of the .com World as We Know It - brandchannel.com
BrandChannel

Dot-Brand: Get those applications ready - mediapost.com
Marketing Daily

Money Radio 1510 Interviews Ben Crawford - New gTLDs: A New Era for Brands on the Internet
Money Radio

Are You Ready for .anything? Generic Internet Domains on the Way - pcmag.com
PCMAG.COM

Ben Crawford: Why Trademark Owners Are Acquiring Their .Brand TLDs "Defensively" - blog.ud.com
UD.COM

A New Era for Internet Domains: Why .XXX Is Just the Beginning - mashable.com
Mashable

Squawk On The Street: Has The Internet Out Grown .Com? - thedomains.com
theDomains

The Big Bang in Domain Names Is Coming - The CMO Site
the CMO site

Here Come the .Brand Top Level Domain Names - Domain Name Wire
Domain Name Wire

Introducing dot Brand Solutions - Launching Brands into a New Digital Landscape

Please direct PR enquiries to our London Headquarters on +44 20 33 88 0600 or via email at info@dotbrandsolutions.com


next: DotBrand Solutions' events