Where are Afilias' priorities?

[youmo]

Isn't something slightly wrong when the dotmobi twitter feed is being used to draw attention to other Afilias ventures that are in competition with dotmobi?

https://twitter.com/#!/dotMobiOffici...08279391739904

[photoman]

Very interesting...

[think]

Not even remotely appropriate.....

[Scandiman]

If anyone is surprised by this then visit their homepage and you will clearly see that their priority is not .mobi, nor did I expect them to shift the focus of their company following the buyout.

[think]

If anyone is surprised by this then visit their homepage and you will clearly see that their priority is not .mobi, nor did I expect them to shift the focus of their company following the buyout.

I didn't expect Afilias to focus on Mobi understanding the huge profits they stand to gain from the new gTLDs. But to use the official Dot Mobi twitter feed to promote these other Afilias' TLD products is a bit much for me as a Mobi investor....

[Scandiman]

I didn't expect Afilias to focus on Mobi understanding the huge profits they stand to gain from the new gTLDs. But to use the official Dot Mobi twitter feed to promote these other Afilias' TLD products is a bit much for me as a Mobi investor....

The OP raises the question of priorities and it's been consistently demonstrated that our level of priority for furthering awareness and usage of the .mobi extension has not been shared by mtld, it's original investors, and now the new parent company. It's like being surprised that rain is wet.

[Vance Hedderel]

There are @dotMobiOfficial followers on Twitter who are cross-domain owners / investors and have been following the ICANN new gTLDs program. It's very likely that there will be at least 500 -- and I suspect closer to 1,000 -- new domains rolling out in the next 18 months, and I think a blog post covering an aspect of this would likely be of interest to anyone who follows the domain industry. The .mobi domain exists in a bigger context and noting some of that via Twitter feed doesn't isn't designed as a blow against the .mobi domain.

[Scandiman]

There are @dotMobiOfficial followers on Twitter who are cross-domain owners / investors and have been following the ICANN new gTLDs program. It's very likely that there will be at least 500 -- and I suspect closer to 1,000 -- new domains rolling out in the next 18 months, and I think a blog post covering an aspect of this would likely be of interest to anyone who follows the domain industry. The .mobi domain exists in a bigger context and noting some of that via Twitter feed doesn't isn't designed as a blow against the .mobi domain.

Vance, can you elaborate on how in the face of this flood of new extensions mTLD and/or afilias will be protecting the mobile TLD exclusivity that .mobi currently has?

[Tim]

That's a coincidence as I've been redirecting my .mobi renewal money to other TLD's too. Talk about synergy...

[gogo]

Where are Afilias' priorities?

$$$

[Vance Hedderel]

Vance, can you elaborate on how in the face of this flood of new extensions mTLD and/or afilias will be protecting the mobile TLD exclusivity that .mobi currently has?

if you're asking, "Can dotMobi prevent ICANN from approving a mobile-related string, assuming an applicant puts forth the $185K application fee and meets all business & technical requirements?" Short answer: I honestly don't know. The applicant guidebook is 352 pages long (see http://www.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/dag-en.htm), and covers a lot of ground.

I'd personally be surprised if businesses spend the kind of funds and time needed to build an ICANN application to then replicate the functionality of existing strings -- whatever the context (.mobi or .aero or .whatever). The whole point of this from ICANN's point of view is "innovation"; I'm sure hoping there are people innovating beyond imitation.

[Andres Kello]

Isn't something slightly wrong when the dotmobi twitter feed is being used to draw attention to other Afilias ventures that are in competition with dotmobi?

if you're asking, "Can dotMobi prevent ICANN from approving a mobile-related string, assuming an applicant puts forth the $185K application fee and meets all business & technical requirements?" Short answer: I honestly don't know.

This is one of the most troubling posts from mTLD that I have ever seen on Mobility. Vance, with all due respect, you should know and it is your job to know.

Folks, mTLD took our money under false pretenses and is now spitting in our faces. So enough with the pleasantries.

No Trustmark and competing extensions means .mobi is not only useless, but any small Unique Selling Point left over after the Trustmark was flushed down the toilet is completely and utterly eliminated.

Vance, to be clear, the subject of this particular thread is just another symptom of a much deeper problem that mTLD seem to be completely oblivious to. .mobi's biggest supporters and investors feel disenfranchised and the company isn't doing anything to improve the situation because - evidently - they don't care. Enough is enough.

Folks, mTLD/Afilias/Whoever-the-hell-is-in-charge are leaving .mobi out to dry and nothing ever changes. If competing extensions are allowed to be released, then that is rock bottom, we can't go any lower than that, and any actions at that point will be too late. So, we must act now before there is even a chance for that to happen.

Ladies and gentlemen of Mobility, if we don't save .mobi, no one else will. And if the company isn't going to make any efforts to commit to their promises - both implied and specific - then we all deserve to get our investment back.

Over the weekend, I will prepare a new thread requesting disenfranchised members to join a new private sub-forum on Mobility.mobi dedicated to either saving this extension or getting our investment back. Which of those it will ultimately be will depend solely on mTLD.

We've waited far too long. We've pardoned far too much. mTLD have taken advantage of both to become complacent and apathetic. What they fail to realize is that we've got nothing left to lose.

Things are going to change.

Winter is coming.

[gogo]

if you're asking, "Can dotMobi prevent ICANN from approving a mobile-related string

To me the question is, would Afilias want to prevent that? No. If they did want to, would they spend any time and money to do so? No.

I'd personally be surprised if businesses spend the kind of funds and time needed to build an ICANN application to then replicate the functionality of existing strings -- whatever the context (.mobi or .aero or .whatever)

Yes, and mobi has no special function or functionality now anyway. Mobi is not a mobile extension anymore since the trustmark disappeared, and the trustmark was not written into the original agreement with ICANN to set up mobi. So it seems difficult to stop anyone introducing another extension that sounds mobile-related, like .cell or .phone or .smart or whatever. But I coubt anyone would even want to try since .mobi has been such a failure - using an extension to make mobile content findable just has not caught on.

I asked in another thread what people thought Afilias could do to maximise the return they get from .mobi and Dotmobi? No one really answered, but I'd guess sell Gomobi and Instant Mobiliser, put up renewal fees, and gradually shut down Dotmobi and let .mobi registrations sink or swim on natural demand. There just is nothing to promote or protect in .mobi, it failed to do what it was introduced to do and the best way to make money off it is minimise the costs. If people do not use .mobi they may well use other extensions in the Afilias stable which are more strategic for Afilias.

[gogo]

.

Ladies and gentlemen of Mobility, if we don't save .mobi, no one else will. And if the company isn't going to make any efforts to commit to their promises - both implied and specific - then we all deserve to get our investment back.

Over the weekend, I will prepare a new thread requesting disenfranchised members to join a new private sub-forum on Mobility.mobi dedicated to either saving this extension or getting our investment back. Which of those it will ultimately be will depend solely on mTLD.

Well said. I firmly believe they should, and probably will, refund the purchase price of premium names - they were sold under false pretences because the company killed the trustmark. In fact they carried on selling them even after realising the trustmark was dying, so that was particularly bad faith.

[youmo]

There are @dotMobiOfficial followers on Twitter who are cross-domain owners / investors and have been following the ICANN new gTLDs program. It's very likely that there will be at least 500 -- and I suspect closer to 1,000 -- new domains rolling out in the next 18 months, and I think a blog post covering an aspect of this would likely be of interest to anyone who follows the domain industry. The .mobi domain exists in a bigger context and noting some of that via Twitter feed doesn't isn't designed as a blow against the .mobi domain.

I personally think @dotmobiofficial should be solely for promoting .mobi and related mobile ventures, mobile industry news, mobile domains, etc…

The twitter ID is a metaphor for where we will be in a few years if no one protects the .mobi brand… someone else owns @dotmobi
( http://twitter.com/dotmobi ). Why hasn't dotmobi chased down Twitter to re-allocate this twitter I.D.? . Do you not have a TM on this name?
Did you consider trying to secure this name after the fact, or just accept that it's gone? A missed branding opportunity?

Is there anyone at dotmobi tasked with aggressively protecting and promoting .mobi?

Currently .mobi has a minuscule voice and footprint in the mobile space, with few allies and evangelists. There doesn't seem to be any discernible marketing strategy beyond convincing registrars to offer .mobi. Is there a budget for anything else? …to promote .mobi usage and build awareness? I always thought .mobi should be all over mobile startups and the mobile startup scene. Most mobile startups still choose .com.

I't amazing that it's 2011 and by and large we have missed out on most of the massive buzz in the mobile space. Most people out there still haven't heard of .mobi.

[Scandiman]

Well said. I firmly believe they should, and probably will, refund the purchase price of premium names - they were sold under false pretences because the company killed the trustmark. In fact they carried on selling them even after realising the trustmark was dying, so that was particularly bad faith.

And yet the trustmark still exists in the registration agreements: http://www.moniker.com/legal.jsp

"Acknowledge and agree that they must comply with the requirements, standards, policies, procedures and practices set forth in the dotmobi Style Guide (www.mtld.mobi) and consent to the monitoring of the website as described in the dotmobi Style Guide monitoring guidelines (www.mtld.mobi) for compliance with the Style Guide."

And the style guide remains unchanged, specifying a coding standard that has been now superseded.
http://mobiforge.com/starting/story/...velopers-guide

I wonder if Afilias will dedicate any resources to updating the style guide or simply remove the style guide requirements from the registration agreement. I realize domain investors rarely give a hoot about such details but when I'm developing .mobi websites and building a business I'm not much liking having a contractual axe hanging over my head being suspended by an aging string.

[keithmt]

Andres I look forward to your post-weekend thread!

The only question I have is how you determine the amount of $$$ lost?

[Scandiman]

I'd personally be surprised if businesses spend the kind of funds and time needed to build an ICANN application to then replicate the functionality of existing strings -- whatever the context (.mobi or .aero or .whatever). The whole point of this from ICANN's point of view is "innovation"; I'm sure hoping there are people innovating beyond imitation.

Vance, I and others here have invested considerable assets of both time and money over the years into .mobi domains and their development, and as it stands now I personally plan to continue to do so to maximize my investments. However your 'hopes' is not what I have invested in, it was stated previously that .mobi had an exclusive right as the mobile web tld, and like most rights they need to be defended, and the registry is the only one who can adequately do so in regards to the coming of the new TLDs. So my question remains, what exactly is Afilias and/or mTLD prepared to do to defend this exclusivity as the mobile tld? Or was the exclusivity a falsehood or has the ICANN rules changed in this regards? If you don't know then please ask the Afilias CEO to visit and clarify the registry position on such a vital matter to .mobi investors and developers.

[gogo]

Is there anyone at dotmobi tasked with aggressively protecting and promoting .mobi?

What is there to protect or promote nowadays?

I asked this in another thread http://mobility.mobi/showthread.php?...l=1#post160991 and there weren't really answers:

How would you promote .mobi? What is the sales pitch?

I mean the sales pitch to the registrants, not the site users. The only way I can see to boost registrations is cheap registration fees, and in fact Afilias are giving away free .mobi domains.

Well if you had a time machine you could turn the clock back five years and promote .mobi, but five years later the product has failed and the world has moved on. But I guess domaining is a wildly optimistic business and as long as people can see the list of huge auction sale prices from a few years ago, they will hope that will happen again and wish for Afilias to make that happen, somehow.

It surprises me that Afilias are so slow about dismantling Dotmobi and I am surprised to see Vance still on board.

[jaybee]

it was stated previously that .mobi had an exclusive right as the mobile web tld, and like most rights they need to be defended, and the registry is the only one who can adequately do so in regards to the coming of the new TLDs.

I always thought of this to be true also...

About dotMobi
dotMobi (the informal name of mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.), a consortium based in Dublin, Ireland with offices in Washington, DC and Beijing, is leading the growth of Internet use from mobile phones with the .mobi domain name. Unique among domain name providers, dotMobi ensures that services and sites developed around .mobi are optimized for use by mobile devices. On-the-go consumers can have confidence that an Internet site or service will work on their mobile phones when using a .mobi address.

dotMobi is backed by leading mobile operators, network & device manufacturers, and internet content providers, including Ericsson, GSM Association, Hutchison (3), Microsoft, Nokia, Orascom Telecom, Samsung Electronics, Syniverse, T-Mobile, Telefonica Moviles, TIM, Visa and Vodafone. dotMobi is also a sponsor of W3C's Mobile Web Initiative.

For more information on dotMobi domains and registration information, visit: http://mtld.mobi.Visit the dotMobi blog at http://blog.mobi.

For more information, please contact:
Vance Hedderel
dotMobi (mTLD Top Level Domain, Ltd.)
+1-703-485-5563
[email protected]

I still believe in the value of a mobile TLD (.mobi) but I am very disappointed with dotMobi/mTLD, at this stage.

Is there anyone at dotmobi tasked with aggressively protecting and promoting .mobi?

I still remember fishing.mobi being allocated via the dotMobi premium process with claims of a site coming soon (from dotMobi themselves) but just look http://fishing.mobi. They obviously didn't have a solid enough agreement in place. Also LL.mobi being allocated that redirect to .coms. They failed to protect e.g. youtube.mobi from a fake Chinese TM very early on (despite Google themselves supposedly being a 'backer'), after checking the whois I see it is now owned by Google...

[youmo]

It surprises me that Afilias are so slow about dismantling Dotmobi and I am surprised to see Vance still on board.

Lets keep the discussion realistic, the zone file is growing, awareness is growing, it's just all at a snail's pace, and is probably despite dotmobi's marketing efforts not because of it. There is a long record of disappointing marketing performance and IMO too much diversification. I would guess that revenue from registration fees is or has been diverted away from the TLD to fund goMobi and other ventures. With all these missteps in mind, I think Andres is right we need to try to assert some pressure on Dotmobi/Afilias to be more aggressive in defending the brand within the context of the new TLDs, and hopefully re-energize the marketing strategy.

In the past there has been a lot of disrespectful words said about individuals at dotmobi, so whilst we have this discussion in public, lets be professional, businesslike, and realistic about where we are and what needs to be done.

[think]

...

[think]

Lets keep the discussion realistic, the zone file is growing, awareness is growing, it's just all at a snail's pace, and is probably despite dotmobi's marketing efforts not because of it. There is a long record of disappointing marketing performance and IMO too much diversification. I would guess that revenue from registration fees is or has been diverted away from the TLD to fund goMobi and other ventures. With all these missteps in mind, I think Andres is right we need to try to assert some pressure on Dotmobi/Afilias to be more aggressive in defending the brand within the context of the new TLDs, and hopefully re-energize the marketing strategy.

In the past there has been a lot of disrespectful words said about individuals at dotmobi, so whilst we have this discussion in public, lets be professional, businesslike, and realistic about where we are and what needs to be done.

Moving forward. Afilias should at least defend Dot Mobi if another gTLD like .phone is being considered. That's the least they could do.

As for other options to move beyond the current state of things I am open to about anything that can help Dot Mobi remain relevant as a brand...

[Accent]

It's very likely that there will be at least 500 -- and I suspect closer to 1,000 -- new domains rolling out in the next 18 months ...

That is astounding and the first time I have heard such numbers.

The .mobi domain exists in a bigger context ...

DOES IT?????


What will distinguish Mobi from the masses? By Vance's numbers there are 500 - 1000 groups of people who have put a lot of money into the new extensions. Most of these people are no doubt currently in intense meetings focussed solely on breaking into that "bigger context" Mobi now enjoys. Many will have significant budgets for advertising, others will have connections to media and other advantages.

Vance, what percent of those new extensions are going to be general use TLDs?


As for the OP: "Where are Afilias' priorities?", I think the answer has been given. 500 - 1000 new extensions will be coming online and Affilias is one of very few companies qualified to set up and run them. Afillias will be utterly swamped with work.

[Scandiman]

As for the OP: "Where are Afilias' priorities?", I think the answer has been given. 500 - 1000 new extensions will be coming online and Affilias is one of very few companies qualified to set up and run them. Afillias will be utterly swamped with work.

Yup, that's their core business.

[Nash]

The history of Afilias as I have known it goes back to BEFORE .info was even assigned. Let us go back to the year 2000. Please do some research here. The subject is the .web tld and related to that I will give you my history about .web tld and Afilias' aggressive pursuit of that tld at the time.

.web was the hottest anticipated tld at the time and a company (IOD design) was the original applicant for that tld and they were running it through a different root than the .com, .net, .org since 1995 (please research that too). When the time came in 2000 for new applications for the new tlds IOD design submitted the application for .web ( I had registered at the time quite a few .web domains with them) . Out of the blue Affilias applies for the same .web tld and also .info too but they had extremely agressive intentions to ****** .web from IOD design. I felt (and do your own research here and this is only my personal opinion here) that ICANN was trying to HELP Afilias grab .web but for some reason they (ICANN) felt that there could be a lot of heat coming out of this push so they (ICANN) decided not to award .web to anyone and put the application of .web on hold. AND "funny" NOT reject IOD's application.
Afilias was then awarded .info

From this experience I felt that ICANN and Afilias are NOT and I repeat NOT on opposite sides. On the contrary ICANN thinks that they are very competent in the registry business and this is helpful to ICANN and the overall tld business. Afilias proved them right in running well the .info extension.

Now, my sense here and coming to .mobi is that ICANN is NOT going to throw a monkey wrench in the .mobi which is being run by Afilias (do your own research here).

If my hunch is right they (ICANN) WILL protect the uniqueness of the .mobi extension and by default it's purpose.

As for the .web tld I am hoping that in this next round IOD design will get their deserved .web tld, as I have quite a few gems already registered with them since 2000.

[HipHop.mobi]

lets hit em hard before the runaway and file bankruptcy

[Accent]

Got this email yesterday:

Afilias launches international contest to explore innovative uses of new top-level domains

"Global Innovation Contest for New TLD Ideas" represents first-of-its-kind competition for defining new domain concepts


Dublin -- 3 October 2011 -- Afilias Limited, a leading Internet registry services provider, today announced a rapid-fire contest to generate ideas for new top-level domains (new TLDs). As organizations consider whether or not to invest in new TLDs under the forthcoming ICANN New TLD program, they may not consider all the possibilities for new TLDs. The "Afilias Global Innovation Contest for New TLD Ideas (http://www.afilias.info/newtldcontest" is designed to address that issue.

With this contest, Afilias is looking for unique new TLD ideas, whether that domain is a "dot Brand" (for a company) or a "dot Niche" (for a concept or community) or a "dot City" domain. The goal is to discover ideas for "right of the dot" domains that cannot be done today with any of the existing domains, like .com or .net.

To help participants generate ideas, Afilias has created a special downloadable e-book -- The Afilias New TLD Innovation e-book: Ideas to Stimulate Your Imagination -- available on the contest website at http://www.afilias.info/newtldcontest.
"Technology visionary Alan Kay once remarked, 'The best way to predict the future is to invent it,' and that is what our contest is helping to do: invent the future," said Roland LaPlante, CMO and Senior Vice President of Afilias. "We're excited to see what powerful ideas people have for new TLDs. The right TLD can change the Internet -- and the world -- as we know it."

To ensure the largest number of voices are heard through this contest, the only requirements are that ideas must be submitted by participants of 18 years or older, and are submitted in English via the official contest website at http://www.afilias.info/newtldcontest.But potential winners need to act quickly: the contest opened on October 3, 2011, and closes on Monday, October 17, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. UTC / 7:59 p.m. Eastern.

Participants will be eligible to win a $5,000 first prize, a $3,000 second prize or a $1,500 third prize.

Winners will be selected by a panel of expert judges. The judging panel will include Paul Twomey (Managing Director, Argo [email protected], former ICANN CEO), Matthew Quint (Associate Director, Center on Global Brand Leadership, Columbia Business School), David Rogers (Executive Director, BRITE, Columbia Business School) and Kevin Murphy (Editor, domainincite.com), along with senior executives from Afilias.

Several of these judges will also participate in a special global webinar on new dot Brand TLDs called, "Who Should Invest in a dot Brand? Evaluating the Business Case for a Top-Level Domain Name (http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/globalb...otBrandwebinar." This free webinar, hosted by the Columbia Business School's Center on Global Brand Leadership and sponsored by Afilias (Diamond Sponsor) and Glowpoint (Silver Sponsor), will be held at 2 p.m. UTC / 10:00 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011.

Afilias' Global Registry and DNS services power 20 million domain registrations across 16 TLDs, including six TLDs operating under ICANN contracts. Afilias' new TLD services include a state-of-the-art EPP registry, a globally diverse and redundant Anycast DNS network, 24x7 call-center and technical support, and links to the global distribution channel. In addition, Afilias provides other premium solutions to augment its registry offerings, including technology to enable mobile phone compatibility for websites and a unique IDN-capable email solution. All Afilias services are DNSSEC and IPv6 ready, and reflect more than 10 years of experience in supporting gTLDs operating under ICANN contracts.

----------------------------------------------

About Afilias
Afilias is a global provider of Internet infrastructure services that connect people to their data. Afilias' reliable, secure, scalable, and globally available technology supports a wide range of applications including Internet domain registry services and Managed DNS. For more information on Afilias' new gTLD services and "Global Innovation Contest for New TLD Ideas," visit http://www.afilias. info/newtldcontest.
Contact
Vance Hedderel
Afilias
Mobile: +1-703-485-5563
[email protected] afilias.info
Twitter: @Afilias

© Afilias Limited
afilias.info
Follow us!
http://www.twitter. com/Afiliashttp: //www.facebook.com/dotINFOhttp: //www.linkedin.com/companies/244355http: //www.youtube.com/user/AfiliasLimited

(Mods you may want to kill those links)

[jaybee]

http://blog.mobi/dotmobi/2010/02/ann...ownership.html

The change you will likely see, though, is an increased emphasis on the .mobi domain itself, along with dotMobi's award-winning services like Instant Mobilizer and DeviceAtlas.

Vance, can you please share what changes have been made since your blog.mobi post regarding the Afilias takeover?

[youmo]

Got this email yesterday:

Afilias launches international contest to explore innovative uses of new top-level domains

With this contest, Afilias is looking for unique new TLD ideas, whether that domain is a "dot Brand" (for a company) or a "dot Niche" (for a concept or community) or a "dot City" domain. The goal is to discover ideas for "right of the dot" domains that cannot be done today with any of the existing domains, like .com or .net.

A few ideas:

dot Junk
dot More-junk
dot $$$