According to a press release out this morning Top Level Domain Holdings Limited (AIM:TLDH.L), a wholly-owned subsidiary Minds and Machines Limited, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of London & Partners Limited (“London & Partners”), been exclusively appointed by Dot London Domains Limited (“DLDL”), to (i) assist with DLDL’s application to the Internet’s governing body, ICANN, for DLDL to be appointed registry operator of a new gTLD for London (“dot London”) and, (ii) if the application is successful, provide registry services for the dot London domain to DLDL and on its behalf (the “Contract”).
The Contract, won by Minds and Machines Limited through a competitive tender process, is for a seven year period (the “Term”), with a three year renewal period which is subject to certain conditions.
Gordon Innes, CEO at London & Partners, said:
“We are delighted to be working with Minds and Machines on the dot London Application and are confident that the initiative will bring important additional revenue and jobs to the capital. The dot London domain provides a tremendous opportunity to extend the global presence of London across the Internet, and likewise position it as a centre of digital innovation. We believe we are now excellently placed to benefit from the unprecedented opportunities provided by the de-regulation of the Internet naming system.”
ICANN’s application window for domain registrants closes on 12 April 2012. It is expected that ICANN will take up to 7 months to review applications with the first new gTLDs anticipated to come online in late 2012.
Peter Dengate Thrush, Chairman of TLDH, commented:
“We are proud to be partnering with one of the greatest cities in the world. We are committed to working with London & Partners and DLDL to ensure that dot London becomes a central part of the city’s promotion and a resource that is of real value to the people, businesses and communities of London. We are honored to have won this contract in the Olympic year which places London at the centre of a global audience.”
The Board expects that ICANN will publish those applications which ICANN considers complete and ready for evaluation by ICANN on or around 30 April, following which the Board will provide further information on those applications submitted by the Company on its own and clients’ behalf which have been approved for evaluation.
“
A huge get for Minds and Machines. Add that to .MIAMI, .MUMBAI and more. Can’t wait to see how many more cities TLDH is aligned with. CityTLDs have great long term potential.
Are people now going to endure thousands of cookie cutter “Press Releases” ?
“We are delighted” “Gets” “Exclusive” “We are proud” “The Contract, won by…”
.NYC – NO Yellow Crayons
$185,000 and no .CIGAR – give those .BOYS a T-Shirt and a big High.Five 🙂
By the way….
Where would you invest time and money ?
.LONDON or .GB .UK and .XX ?
and .ON with the hack LOND.ON 🙂 << Yellow.Face
Shocking that Peter Dengate Thrush’s new company would be awarded .london. It’s almost as if Peter Dengate Thrush knew someone at ICANN. Oh wait…..
completely misleading.
There’s no guarantee that .london will be awarded to that particular applicant… there are other cities named London you know.
@Cartoonz
Capital Cities get preference over all others.
Are there other recognized countries whose capital city is London?
best one is already taken dot BS
“Capital Cities get preference over all others.”
So much for .Miami then. There are multiple cities named Miami in the US, as well as an Indian tribe.
The one in Florida might be the biggest, but it is also not the capital.
Does a city trump the heritage of a group of people if they were to want the same extension?
Brad
Also, as far as Peter Dengate Thrush goes. He is the poster child of the ICANN conflict of interests.
He helped push through the new gTLD program, then left ICANN (June 2011) and immediately (July 2011) joined (Minds + Machines) a company dealing specifically in the new gTLD program that he helped create.
After he left ICANN knew they had a problem and ICANN voted to restrict employment opportunities –
“ICANN’s board of directors evidently voted to restrict their post-ICANN employment opportunities at the board meeting earlier today, if Pritz’s testimony is an accurate guide.
He said that directors will not be able to work for any new gTLD operator that they have voted to approve for 12 months after they leave ICANN.”
Brad
The only true winner in all this is
.Co
the one and only truly global recognized respected name you can have.
Bar none
@Brad
Yep, there could be issues for .MIAMI if another city applies, OR objects. Might have to piggyback. Consultant actually might do ok peddling objections to parties who might have standing.
As far as confict of interest – its spilt milk at this point. NTIA didn’t step in and aren’t going to.
This train has left the station.
What I find interesting is that dot LONDON is published everywhere with a registered trademark symbol. Registered only in Great Britain. I wonder how far that will get them. U.S. TTAB just affirmed a refusal for registration for .MUSIC in the U.S. despite a thorough argument that .MUSIC was not merely descriptive of a top level domain.
Bob Cline, most know that .CC will be the new king once new TLDs are made available.
In this hyper fast paced world shorter is better and simpler is key.
.CC can give businesses the competitive advantage they need. The milliseconds of time saved in keeping your finger on one key rather than selecting another just might mean the difference between closing the that sale or big deal and being overlooked. Time is a precious commodity and if you can save your clients time, you will be rewarded.
We’ll see, .CC and .CO will be big but .CC has the advantage.
.who ?
.cc, what is that.
You cannot compare
.Co
to a make believe extension.
cc stands for carbon copy, far from company.
Some will tell you that the new TLDs will make .CO names more valuable. But, .CC names are just as likely to increase in value and perhaps more so.
.CC is your new king. .CO is ok too.
CC is a palindrome extension, same frontwards and backwards. Easier to remember and harder to mistype.
cc misery loves still ain’t no company.