Global Name Registry Hopes To Score Big With '.Name'

[George at Orwellian.Org]

Excerpt:

#    GNR is billing ".name" as more than a Web address. Along with
#    technology partners such as New York-based Speednames Inc. and
#    International Business Machines Corp., the U.K. company hopes
#    to transform .name addresses into a multipurpose "digital
#    identity" that can also serve as an e-mail address, cellphone
#    number and even an electronic credit card.
#
#    Instead of typing in a credit card number, customers could simply
#    provide their ".name" address, and merchants would then be able
#    to retrieve the financial information from a secure server hosted
#    by a bank or other "trusted" institution, the company says.

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http://interactive.wsj.com/articles/SB991855694886302396.htm
#    
#    June 7, 2001
#    
#    Global Name Registry Hopes To Score Big With '.Name'
#    
#    By BUSTER KANTROW Dow Jones Newswires
#    
#    STOCKHOLM -- What's in a .name?
#    
#    For Britain's Global Name Registry Ltd., the hope is, a lot. 
#    The London-based start-up is the global administrator for ".name," 
#    one of the new top-level Internet domain names to be introduced 
#    this year.
#    
#    As the gatekeeper for the entire domain, GNR will begin 
#    distributing ".name" addresses this autumn, collecting a $5.25 
#    (6.16 euros) wholesale registration fee and a similar annual 
#    renewal fee for each one it hands out.
#    
#    The company also plans to provide more than just a name. It hopes 
#    to transform the .name addresses into a multipurpose tool that 
#    can receive e-mail or serve as a virtual credit card.
#    
#    It's a formula that could pay off in millions or even billions 
#    of dollars in annual revenue, if demand for ".name" Internet 
#    suffixes takes off.
#    
#    "People have an emotional affinity for their names," said GNR's 
#    chief executive, Andrew Tsai, in a recent interview. "Clearly, 
#    Icann picked a space where they thought millions and millions 
#    of people wanted addresses."
#    
#    New Competition Ahead
#    
#    Originally a spinoff of Norway's Nameplanet.com, which operates 
#    a free Web-based, e-mail service, GNR beat dozens of other 
#    applicants to the Internet Corp. for Assigned Names and Numbers, 
#    or Icann, the U.S.-based agency that manages the Internet-address 
#    system. The would-be registries included such familiar names 
#    as Finland's Nokia Corp. and Lycos Inc.
#    
#    The new top-level domains -- which include ".biz," ".info" and 
#    ".museum" -- are intended to create new competition in the 
#    domain-name space, which has been dominated by California-based 
#    VeriSign Inc., central administrator of the ubiquitous ".com" 
#    suffix.
#    
#    VeriSign's control of the ".com" suffix was recently extended 
#    by Icann, despite criticism from the Internet community, where 
#    there has been some resentment of the company's monopoly position. 
#    VeriSign has agreed to relinquish control of the ".org" and ".net" 
#    suffixes.
#    
#    Mr. Tsai, formerly president of Urbanfetch Ltd., said he thought 
#    the initial demand for the new domains would be strongest in 
#    North America. But he said registrars, who act as middlemen 
#    between the U.K. company and individual customers, are also 
#    reporting strong interest in the ".name" domain from China, Korea 
#    and other parts of Southeast Asia.
#    
#    "The opportunities are mind-boggling, but this is a very, very 
#    challenging discipline, to set up a registry," he said. "We 
#    consider ourselves a technology infrastructure company, and we 
#    don't take for granted the challenges of implementing this 
#    business plan."
#    
#    GNR's backers include Carlyle Europe Venture Partners LP, 
#    Northzone Ventures AS and Four Seasons Venture AS.
#    
#    With the lucrative ".name" registry in hand, it is Nameplanet 
#    that is now the subsidiary of GNR. "The student has become the 
#    teacher," says Mr. Tsai.
#    
#    GNR is billing ".name" as more than a Web address. Along with 
#    technology partners such as New York-based Speednames Inc. and 
#    International Business Machines Corp., the U.K. company hopes 
#    to transform .name addresses into a multipurpose "digital 
#    identity" that can also serve as an e-mail address, cellphone 
#    number and even an electronic credit card.
#    
#    Instead of typing in a credit card number, customers could simply 
#    provide their ".name" address, and merchants would then be able 
#    to retrieve the financial information from a secure server hosted 
#    by a bank or other "trusted" institution, the company says.
#    
#    Such value-added services are expected to provide an additional 
#    revenue stream for GNR, as well as for the registrars.
#    
#    "There is no other domain out there currently that has any 
#    functionality," says Mr. Tsai.
#    
#    GNR moved a step closer to launching the new addresses over the 
#    weekend here, as Icann set a deadline of June 30 for giving final, 
#    formal approval to the new domain.
#    
#    Manifest Destiny
#    
#    Once the approval is secured, GNR will begin handing out names 
#    to around 80 registrars around the world, who will sell them 
#    to individuals, Mr. Tsai said.
#    
#    The addresses will be registered with two dots (i.e., 
#    joseph.smith.name) in order to maximize the potential 
#    combinations, and will be introduced in phases.
#    
#    The new addresses are reserved for individuals. But companies 
#    and others will first have an opportunity to ask that addresses 
#    related to their trademarks be removed from the database.
#    
#    GNR will then launch a series of two-week "land rushes" when 
#    registrars may submit lists of requested addresses. If two 
#    individuals request the same address, one of the two will be 
#    randomly chosen, Mr. Tsai said.
#    
#    The first names should be available to individuals by early 
#    autumn, the company said.
#    
#    GNR says there will be five to 10 land rushes, then names will 
#    be handed out as requested. Registrars are expected to sell the 
#    addresses for $20 to $35 annually -- roughly what a ".com" address 
#    costs now, Mr. Tsai said.