Three ISPs Team Up With Controversial Registrar

New.net will sell domain names in TLDs not approved by ICANN. However, these speculative TLDs are recognized by Earthlink, NetZero, and Excite@Home, and their 16 million users.

by Gretchen Hyman of la.internet.com [March 6, 2001]

In a bold move today, idealab! launched domain registry New.net, a service that will make 20 additional top-level domain names (TLDs) available to businesses and individuals not currently available under the system regulated by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

The business concept for New.net was originally announced in May of 2000, and officially set sail at dawn this morning. The new selection of domain names includes .mp3, .med, .tech, .club, .sport, .family, .chat, .game, .kids, .travel, .video, and the controversial .xxx.

Due to the fact that idealab! went forward with its pet project without ICANN's consent, businesses and individuals interested in purchasing one of the new domain names for a $25 fee must download a plug-in and activate their browser to recognize the new selection of TLDs.

Here are the ISPs
However, in what appears to be a significant industry alliance between New.net and heavyweight Internet service providers Earthlink, NetZero, and Excite@Home, the new list of domain names can be recognized through these service providers without the download, and are currently available to 16 million users worldwide.

In a news conference this morning, New.net CEO David Hernand said that calls from other Internet service providers were pouring in.

According to Hernand, each of New.net's TLDs were chosen to enable organizations and individuals to create web addresses that more clearly describe their product, service offering, group activity, or passion.

Hernand called the introduction of New.net's domain names a far more useful gesture to members of the Internet community than ICANN'sNovember 2000 confirmation of seven new domain suffixes, which included .aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, and .pro.

ICANN talk
The activation of the ICANN-approved TLD's have been delayed by contract negotiations. ICANN has said the new domain names will be available by July.

"ICANN has its own agenda which we respect," said Hernand. "We believe there exists room for a system that sits side by side with the ICANN administered system to offer consumers greater choice." Hernand added that representatives from New.net would be meeting with ICANN members next week at the Melbourne, Australia, conference.

"New.net will dramatically broaden the scope of available domain names," said Hernand,. "Our research has indicated a tremendous market demand to move beyond .com and .net. We believe these new extensions will make it far easier for companies and individuals to market their web sites using more intuitive addresses and for Internet users to navigate the web."

—End