.baby

Status:	Proposed
Type:	Generic
Category:	Lifestyle
More information:

.baby is a proposed TLD in ICANN's New gTLD Program.

Current Applicants

The applicants for the .baby domain name string include:

1. Radix (DotBaby Inc.), one of 31 applications submitted by the company
2. Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd., it is one of 68 applications that the company has filed for on its own behalf.
3. Donuts (Auburn Beach, LLC) represented by Daniel Schindler, EVP of Donuts, a start-up company that filed for 307 new gTLD applications.
4. Google (Charleston Road Registry Inc.), Sarah Falvey, Google's Senior Policy Analyst, is listed as contact person for the company.
5. Johnson & Johnson, the company is represented by Joshua Bourne, Managing Partner of FairWinds Partners, a domain name consultancy firm.
6. Famous Four Media (Compact Registry Limited), a registry service provider based in Gibraltar with 61 new gTLD applications.

Radix

Radix received a GAC Early Warning as an entire applicant, where each one of the applicants was flagged by the U.S. Government. This seems to be the only time a portfolio applicant had all of their applications warned. The issue does not deal with the technical capabilities or thematic content of their applications, but rather the inclusion of an email address associated with the US' Federal Bureau of Investigation. It seems that Radix included correspondence with this address as a recommendation with each of their applications.

TLDH & $15mm Auction Funding

On February 26 2013, Top Level Domain Holdings Ltd. announced that it had entered into a funding agreement worth $15 million to be used in the case of auction for a specific unnamed TLD. The investor will not receive ownership of the TLD but a share of future revenues. TLDH did not name the TLD that the funds are directed for, and it is in 11 head to head contentions and 12 featuring more than one contender.

Objection

Saudi Arabia's Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) filed an objection against the TLD, on the grounds that it might also be used by pornographic sites.

European Commission Communiqué

The European Commission flagged all .baby applications outside ICANN's defined remediation processes.

Just after ICANN's GAC issued its Early Warnings, which are advice given from one GAC member country to an applicant warning it of potential issues within its application, the European Commission issued a letter to all applicants within the new gTLD program. The letter highlights 58 applications that "could raise issues of compatibility with the existing legislation .. and/or with policy positions and objectives of the European Union." It notes a desire to open a dialogue with each offending applicant.

The Commission specifically notes that this objection is not a part of the GAC Early Warning process, and goes on to note that "the Commission does not consider itself legally bound to [ICANN] processes," given that there is not legal agreement between the two bodies.

Top-Level Domain

Governmental Advisory Committee. Considers and provides advice on the activities of ICANN as they relate to concerns of governments, particularly matters where there may be an interaction between ICANN's policies and various laws and international agreements or where they may affect public policy issues (ICANN Bylaws).