The domain will begin to accept applications for names from 3rd
December, at which point only companies holding trade marks in
names will be able to apply to register them.
Much cybersquatting is done by companies which earn money from
adverts displayed on the pages belonging to domain names which
users assume will belong to a famous organisation. That kind of
cybersquatting will not work on .tel domain names said Justin
Hayward, communications director of Telnic, the registry behind
.tel.
"[.Tel] does not allow for pay per click advertising, as it is
the first top level domain that customers cannot host a website
on," he said.
Not all cybersquatting is designed to earn advertising income.
Some cybersquatters register domain names related to famous
companies either to hold them to ransom or to confuse consumers
into using them rather than the famous company for goods or
services.
Hayward said that this would still be a problem on .tel, as it
is on all top level domains (TLDs). "That is an industry issue," he
said. "But we do have some protections. We have an acceptable use
policy, and if people are not behaving according to that then we
will ask them to change or we will shut them down."
Hayward said that the domain is focused on "communications, not
content", and that all names will display a similar, standard
page.
"Instead of using the DNS [domain name server] to store IP
[internet protocol] addresses for a web server which then delivers
html content for download, .tel uses the DNS to store contact
information directly," said Hayward.
Phone numbers, web addresses and email addresses are then
delivered to whatever device looked up the domain name in the first
place. If it is a computer, the information will be delivered in a
standard web page. If it is a phone or a BlackBerry, the system
will recognise that and deliver it in a format suitable for those
machines, Hayward said.
Telnic has also developed software which will integrate .tel
listings into the contacts systems of PCs and smart phones. Those
changes to contacts software will mean that if someone changes
their phone number in their .tel listing it will automatically be
changed in contacts' Outlook software or on their iPhone.
Companies will be able to register names at the .tel domain on
3rd December but registrars are encouraging companies to act now to
ensure that they gain control of the names related to their
businesses.
Only holders of trade marks related to domain names will be able
to register them for the first two months. After that, anyone will
be able to register names for six weeks, but at a premium price.
That price will be set by registrars, and some have published
prices of up to £240 for a three-year registration.
After that period, on 24th March, names are expected to cost $15
to $25 per year, Hayward said.
"As with the launch of any new domain, businesses need to ensure
they have taken the appropriate steps to register their new .tel
domain before they become available on wider distribution,"
Jonathan Robinson of registrar NetNames. "This will protect their
brands from any online speculators, maximising their online
presence”.
Telnic said that 100 registrars have registered with it to begin
processing such applications.
The creation of new domains is not always welcomed by brand
holders. Each time one is created, famous brands are encouraged to
register all variations of their names at that domain to ensure
that cybersquatters do not gain control of them.
While the absence of advertising will make .tel less attractive
to cybersquatters, some activity is still likely.
"The sunrise period for trade mark holders will help, as will
the fact that cybersquatters will not be able to earn ad revenue,"
said David Woods, a litigation and brand protection specialist at
Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind OUT-LAW.COM. "But brand holders
will still want to make sure they hold the names attached to their
brands, and are likely to pay out again to defensively register all
sorts of variations on their brands, whether they want to use
.tel's features or not."
Editor's note, 06/11/2008: A different version
of this story appeared at this page under a different headline
yesterday. It contained inaccuracies for which we apologise.
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