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The reporting on the new .sucks domain has been terrible, so here's what's going on. The new gTLD Program from ICANN did more than just instantiate new domains

The reporting on the new .sucks domain has been terrible, so here's what's going on. The new gTLD Program from ICANN did more than just instantiate new domains. It created new processes and most importantly the Trademark Clearinghouse(TMCH). The TMCH is a database of validated trademarks from around the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark_Clearinghouse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trademark_Clearinghouse Along with the TMCH ICANN also created the Domain Protected Marks List(DPML). When registries open up a new gTLD for registrations they must start with a sunrise period. During this sunrise period a registry can allow trademark holders whose trademark is registered in the TMCH early access to their trademark.gTLD. This special sunrise price is set by the registry and can basically be anything. Initially .sucks was talking about charging $25,000, but they lowered it to $2,500. After the sunrise period anyone can register a .sucks domain on a first-come, first-serve basis. The important thing to remember is that after the sunrise period the price discrimination goes away and both trademark holders and the general public pay the same amount for domain names. I'm a grad student at UC Berkeley who researches this stuff so AMA. I also wrote the Wikipedia page for the Trademark Clearinghouse so I can vouch for its correctness.

snowwrestler 12y ago
Are you sure? My understanding is that the $2,500 price tag is not just during the sunrise period, that is the fee for TMCH-listed domains. I was told by my registrar to budget $2,500 annually for each TMCH-listed domain, into perpetuity. (We declined.) If a domain is not TMCH-listed, it will be $250 after the domain launches--unless you can prove you're an unaffiliated individual, and then you can access a special $10 registration. But for that price you can't run your own website--instead the domain must redirect to a web forum that the registrar will run (and no doubt put ads on). It looks a lot like a shakedown to me... edit: speling
- smutticus 12y ago
  I don't think you're wrong describing it as a shakedown. It is a shakedown. It's the specifics of the shakedown that interest me. The DPML is a weird beast in that each registry chooses how they will run their program individually. For example, if you pay for DPML service for a TMCH listed mark from the Donuts registry your mark cannot be registered on any of Donut's gTLDs for the duration of your DPML block. You're also correct in that a DPML block is not the same as a domain registration. A DPML block simply prevents others from registering a domain which contains your TMCH registered mark. If your trademark is not in the TMCH then you gain no special rights to either defensively register, or DPML block others from registering it, during the sunrise period. I doubt Vox Populi can limit .sucks to a specific class of registrants. This does happen, but I haven't heard of it happening with .sucks. Most recently ICANN ruled that .doctors must limit registrants to registered physicians. This pissed off a lot of people. Without limiting registrants by class .sucks registry operator Vox Populi cannot charge one price to trademark holders, and another price to non-trademark holders. All they can do is offer sunrise period special rights to TMCH registrants. I can think of no other TLD in the history of the Internet that has enforced price discrimination. TLDs can have class restrictions placed on registrants(.doctor, .edu, .gov), but they cannot price discriminate AFAIK. Vox Populi was able to introduce price discrimination by essentially abusing the sunrise period and the DPML procedure. Have a listen to this. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-226-pilots-and-mental-illness-dot-sucks-and-pregnant-in-limbo-1.3009231/are-dot-sucks-domain-names-a-cash-grab-1.3009263 http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-226-pilots-and-mental-i...
- smutticus 12y ago
  I stand somewhat corrected. It looks like Vox Populi has created a class they're calling "Sunrise Premium Names" and will price discriminate even after the sunrise period ends. http://domainincite.com/18246-halt-perverted-sucks-shakedown-now-demands-ipc http://domainincite.com/18246-halt-perverted-sucks-shakedown... "Sunrise Premium names will always cost $2,500, even after sunrise, when registered by the trademark owner." This is basically without precedent, so it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.
  - snowwrestler 12y ago
    There's an argument to be made that the purpose of trademark protection is to protect against confusion, not against criticism. It's hard to imagine that many consumers would confuse a website called ford.sucks for the real actual Ford Motor Company. If it goes to litigation, I could see a U.S. federal judge deciding that the entire .sucks TLD is basically immune to the consumer confusion argument, with possibly a few exceptions for vacuum cleaner companies, sump pump manufacturers, and others who might "professionally suck." Personally I think it's foolish to try to preemptively register every nasty domain name. It's a big language out there, and crowdsourcing seems to work really well when it comes to insults. But, a lot of companies are super sensitive to criticism, and Vox Populi is obviously trying to profit off of that.

snowwrestler 12y ago

Are you sure? My understanding is that the $2,500 price tag is not just during the sunrise period, that is the fee for TMCH-listed domains. I was told by my registrar to budget $2,500 annually for each TMCH-listed domain, into perpetuity. (We declined.) If a domain is not TMCH-listed, it will be $250 after the domain launches--unless you can prove you're an unaffiliated individual, and then you can access a special $10 registration. But for that price you can't run your own website--instead the domain must redirect to a web forum that the registrar will run (and no doubt put ads on). It looks a lot like a shakedown to me... edit: speling

smutticus 12y ago
I don't think you're wrong describing it as a shakedown. It is a shakedown. It's the specifics of the shakedown that interest me. The DPML is a weird beast in that each registry chooses how they will run their program individually. For example, if you pay for DPML service for a TMCH listed mark from the Donuts registry your mark cannot be registered on any of Donut's gTLDs for the duration of your DPML block. You're also correct in that a DPML block is not the same as a domain registration. A DPML block simply prevents others from registering a domain which contains your TMCH registered mark. If your trademark is not in the TMCH then you gain no special rights to either defensively register, or DPML block others from registering it, during the sunrise period. I doubt Vox Populi can limit .sucks to a specific class of registrants. This does happen, but I haven't heard of it happening with .sucks. Most recently ICANN ruled that .doctors must limit registrants to registered physicians. This pissed off a lot of people. Without limiting registrants by class .sucks registry operator Vox Populi cannot charge one price to trademark holders, and another price to non-trademark holders. All they can do is offer sunrise period special rights to TMCH registrants. I can think of no other TLD in the history of the Internet that has enforced price discrimination. TLDs can have class restrictions placed on registrants(.doctor, .edu, .gov), but they cannot price discriminate AFAIK. Vox Populi was able to introduce price discrimination by essentially abusing the sunrise period and the DPML procedure. Have a listen to this. http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-226-pilots-and-mental-illness-dot-sucks-and-pregnant-in-limbo-1.3009231/are-dot-sucks-domain-names-a-cash-grab-1.3009263 http://www.cbc.ca/radio/day6/episode-226-pilots-and-mental-i...
smutticus 12y ago
I stand somewhat corrected. It looks like Vox Populi has created a class they're calling "Sunrise Premium Names" and will price discriminate even after the sunrise period ends. http://domainincite.com/18246-halt-perverted-sucks-shakedown-now-demands-ipc http://domainincite.com/18246-halt-perverted-sucks-shakedown... "Sunrise Premium names will always cost $2,500, even after sunrise, when registered by the trademark owner." This is basically without precedent, so it will be interesting to see how this shakes out.
- snowwrestler 12y ago
  There's an argument to be made that the purpose of trademark protection is to protect against confusion, not against criticism. It's hard to imagine that many consumers would confuse a website called ford.sucks for the real actual Ford Motor Company. If it goes to litigation, I could see a U.S. federal judge deciding that the entire .sucks TLD is basically immune to the consumer confusion argument, with possibly a few exceptions for vacuum cleaner companies, sump pump manufacturers, and others who might "professionally suck." Personally I think it's foolish to try to preemptively register every nasty domain name. It's a big language out there, and crowdsourcing seems to work really well when it comes to insults. But, a lot of companies are super sensitive to criticism, and Vox Populi is obviously trying to profit off of that.