U.S. Senate Committee to Review ICANN's gTLD Proposal on Thursday

Jothan Frakes says:

This happened with Video Tape, the  CD, and MP3 and  other technology advances.

Those who misunderstand  the benefits or have not been following entrench in fear-based reaction.

Rather than hundreds of Cable or Satellite TV Channel choices, the folks at CRIDO prefer the internet to be more like the BBC with few channels.

Don't believe the hype... it is a small handful of vocal companies as a subset of the larger groups that are allegedly against the evolution of the internet naming.  Many of the large participants in these industry groups are applying for their own TLD.

December 6, 2011 04:34 AM #

Antony Van Couvering says:

Tsunami?  Hardly...  a trade organization many of whose members are actually applying for TLDs.   The strong reaction from the Old Guard just shows how disruptive the change will be and how unprepared they are for it:

Good quote from Thom Kennon (VP Y&R) over on Adage:

"Shame on the ANA for taking such a misinformed and myopic view of one of the most significant changes in how brands and consumers find each other since the birth of the commercial Web.

I can only assume Mr. Elliott checked in first and then only with the legal and risk-reduction guys when trying to form a considered view. Next time, he should wander a little further down the hall and see what the strategy, creatives and visionary IT guys think.

Although none of us have any idea of the broad, deep implications of this re-architecting of the interwebs, it doesn’t take much of a creative bent to see the powerful opportunities this will likely afford every brand --- and organization, and industry and even cities, states and towns.

Unlike the ANA – whose argument here seems to be nothing more than a repetitive loop of “ICANN’s wrong, it doesn’t add up…”- some of us are working to explore what this change might offer for the future of the brands and businesses we represent.

As the ANA (and sadly any of its members who take this Luddite advice) sit on the sidelines, some of us are exploring how the early brand movers – in the right category with the right architectural strategy – can reap huge, long-term rewards and competitive advantage from leading instead of lagging.

Here’s some better advice: every single brand manager, marketing strategist, technologist, content developer and CMO should start spending some serious time understanding what these changes can and will bring to how the ‘human web’ is evolving. Be smart, nimble and opportunistic and be ready to steal the march from those who chose to worry and wait."

December 6, 2011 10:01 AM #

Alexa Raad says:

I agree with the above two comments.  I would hardly call this a Tsunami.  Rather it is the ripples of opposition now reaching the shore, of an event which took 6 years to close.  

A Tsunami requires heft and critical mass.  They have the raised the noise level, but hardly represent the critical mass.  
Unfortunately, none of the companies are considering the image they are portraying to the rest of the world.  Namely that a minority of US businesses, feels that they can sit out all the debates and compromises on global Internet policy, only to come to the table after everyone else and demand that it all be refashioned to their likes.  If US ever wanted to shake the image that it controlled the Internet, it will be harder now to do so.

December 6, 2011 02:57 PM #