.gold

Status:	Active
Date Implemented:	24 March 2015
Type:	Commerce
Category:	Commerce
More information:

.gold is an active TLD in ICANN's New gTLD Program. The proposed application succeeded and was delegated to the Root Zone on 24 March, 2015 and is managed by Donuts (June Edge, LLC). The TLD reached General Availability July 08, 2015.

Applicants

1. Donuts (June Edge, LLC)- This is one of the 307 new domain name string applications submitted by the company to the Internet governing body. Donuts filed for .gold TLD through its subsidiary June Edge, LLC. It is financially stable with $100 million available capital to support its domain name registry operations. The company plans to operate the .gold domain name space in accordance with the purpose of the New gTLD Program, that is to promote competition, innovation and provide Internet users the opportunity to establish their own online identity under a safe and secure Internet environment. Donuts also plans to implement 8 mechanisms to protect intellectual property rights. It has strategic partnership with Demand Media to provide back-end registry services and AusRegistry for DNS services and DNSSEC Exstension. This applicant submitted a Public Interest Commitment, which can be downloaded here.

Community Objection

Rival applicant The World Gold Council filed a community objection against this application. The objection failed in Jan. 2014 after an ICC panelist decided that "gold" was not a clearly delineated community.

1. WGC (IOM) Limited- The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of the World Gold Council (WGC), a non-profit organization responsible for the growth and development of the gold industry. Its membership is composed of 23 leading gold mining companies worldwide. Its primary purpose in applying for the TLD is to protect the "GOLD" brand and to provide a trusted, secure and online space for all stakeholders in the gold industry to present objective and factual information about gold. The company admits that it has no relevant experience in managing and operating a domain name registry, however it is confident that the technical and operational expertise of both ARI Registry Services and NetNames will be able to help the company to successfully operate the .gold domain name space.

Top-Level Domain