Last September 17th, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held an auction for 3 new generic top level domains (gTLDs); namely .BUY, .TECH, and .VIP.
The results of the auction are as follows:
- .buy was won by Amazon-EU S.a.r.l for $4,588,888, beating out 3 other applicants
- .tech was won by Dot Tech LLC for $6,760,000, beating out 5 other applicants and
- .vip was won by Top Level Domain Holdings for $3,000,888, beating out 4 other applicants.
There are no details on what Amazon plans to do with the .buy gTLD yet, but they can enforce strict requirements for new registrants if they want, such as restricting it for use by online merchants or web stores.
Currently, there are many active sponsored TLDs that are strictly regulated. For instance, you won’t be able to get a “.gov” address unless you’re going to use it for a site that will represent a U.S. government entity at the federal, state, or local levels. You can’t get a “.aero” TLD either unless you’re going to use it on a site related to the air-transport industry.
Many gTLDs that are “restricted open” tend to belong to highly regulated industries such as .pharma (pharmaceutical industry) and .bank (banking industry, apparently launching in 2015).
The very fact that there was an auction explains why the bids reached the current numbers. ICANN auctions are usually considered as a last resort – even by ICANN itself – in case the group of applicants weren’t able to resolve the matter through community priority evaluation, direct negotiation, or a private auction not affiliated with ICANN. The auction indicates the parties were not able to reach a private arrangement.
Other auctions are scheduled on a monthly basis until early 2015. ICANN, a non-profit organization, has not yet provided details on where the proceeds will go. President of ICANN’s global domains division Akram Atallah has so far stated that the proceeds will be separated and reserved until the board comes up with a plan for the appropriate use of the funds through consultation with the community.