PR: Demand Media (NYSE: DMD), today announced its Domain Name Services business has been awarded the contracts necessary for its Registry and Registrar subsidiaries to participate in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) historic new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program. Demand Media’s United TLD has entered into its first registry agreements, becoming an ICANN accredited registry for new gTLDs. Additionally, Demand Media’s subsidiaries, eNom and Name have officially signed the 2013 ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). Today’s announcement underscores the company’s leading position to sell and support new gTLDs as they begin to launch this month. “The speculation is over. New gTLDs are coming to market before the year ends and, with these ICANN contracts, Demand Media is ready to go as both a platform through which these names will be available, as well as bringing specific new gTLDs such as .DANCE and .DEMOCRAT to market” “The speculation is over. New gTLDs are coming to market before the year ends and, with these ICANN contracts, Demand Media is ready to go as both a platform through which these names will be available, as well as bringing specific new gTLDs such as .DANCE and .DEMOCRAT to market,” Taryn Naidu, executive vice president of Domain Services for Demand Media, commented. “We made a commitment to our business partners and customers that we would lead the way in opening up a new form of expression on the web – and we are delivering.” In 2011, ICANN initiated the process for creating new domain extensions as a way to increase domain name choices for memorable or descriptive web addresses and help better organize websites and information. Following the application deadline, ICANN has moved forward in approving applicants, including entrepreneurs, businesses, and communities around the world looking to operate a TLD registry of their own choosing. These new domain extensions will begin to come online next month. United TLD, based in Dublin, Ireland, is a subsidiary of Demand Media and has been investing to become a world-class registry and leader in new gTLDs. Today, the company signed registry agreements for .DANCE and .DEMOCRAT, two of the sixteen uncontested applications that the company filed with ICANN. United TLD’s full portfolio of new gTLD applications features some of the most interesting and desirable extensions to come from this historic internet expansion including .ACTOR, .ARMY, .ENGINEER, .NINJA, .PUB and .SOCIAL. Demand Media’s subsidiaries eNom – the world’s largest wholesale domain name registrar – and Name – one of the domain industry’s most innovative retail registrars – have also officially signed the 2013 ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). This new form of agreement is required for any Registrar to sell the new gTLDs. Demand Media was one of many industry participants – including the Government Advisory Committee, law enforcement agencies, Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) and other registrars – who worked closely with ICANN over the past two years to define and finalize the 2013 RAA. The agreement is a result of a period of negotiations between ICANN and the Registrar community with the goal of raising industry standards for the benefit of the registrant. “This process was truly community driven and collectively organized; we worked to ensure that everything we did would better serve the customer – the person or organization registering a domain name,” explained Jeff Eckhaus, Demand Media senior vice president and vice-chair of ICANN’s Registrar Stakeholder Group. “By signing on to the RAA, both eNom and Name have proven that they are fully prepared to support new gTLDs as they come to market in the months ahead.” About Demand Media Demand Media, Inc. (DMD) is a leading digital media and domain services company that informs and entertains one of the internet’s largest audiences, helps advertisers find innovative ways to engage with their customers and enables publishers, individuals and businesses to expand their online presence. Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Demand Media has offices in North America, South America and Europe. For more information about Demand Media, please visit demandmedia.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Oct 2013 13:22:05 +0000