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Minds and Machines, LLC

Revision as of 21:07, 13 January 2011 by Andrew (talk | contribs) (→History)
Type: Private
Industry: Registry Service Provider
Founded: USA (2008)
Headquarters: 3100 Donald Douglas Loop North
Hangar 7,
Santa Monica,
CA 90405
USA
Website: http://www.mindsandmachines.com
Key People
Antony Van Couvering, CEO
Elaine Pruis, VP of Client Services
Clark Landry, VP of Business Development
Robin Jonas, Director of Corporate Partnerships
Ilona Margolis, Director of International Business
Caspar von Veltheim, Director of European Operation
Levente (Levi) Ferencz, Accounting Manager

Minds + Machines is a TLD registry service provider. They are known for offering the "Espresso" registry services technology platform for new TLD applicants. [1] According to Minds + Machines' official website, the CoCCA platform on which Espresso is based is integrated with more than 20 TLDs and over 150 registrars, including many major ICANN registars. [2]

Founded in 2008, this Santa Monica, CA based company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Top Level Domains Holdings Ltd., TLDH.[3]

History edit

  • In 2008, Minds + Machines was founded by IT and domain expert Antony Van Couvering (CEO), and Jothan Frakes (COO). [4]. Prior to Minds + Machines, Antony Van Couvering had been the Director of Marketing & Technology at VeriSign and the founder and CEO at NameEngine and NetNames;[5] Jothan Frakes had been the ICANN Registrar Representative for Top Level Domain Holdings and the Vice President at Name Intelligence, Inc., among other IT and domain industry related jobs[6].In November 2010, Antony Van Couvering was appointed as the CEO of Minds + Machines parent company, TLDH.[7]
  • On February 28, 2009,[8] Minds + Machines was launched during the ICANN meeting in Mexico, with an aim to assist companies and organizations navigate the new gTLD application process.[9]
  • In March, 2009, Minds + Machines signed an exclusive agreement with CoCCA, a widely deployed open-source registry platform for country-code extension, thereby granting the rights to the CoCCA registry software and the CoCCA brand for gTLDs to Minds + Machines.[10]
  • In June, 2009, Minds + Machines signed a long-term agreement with Packet Clearing House (PCH), a DNS service provider company, to provide DNS services for Minds + Machines. [11]
  • In June, 2009, Wolfgang Puck, the internationally renowned chef, author, and entrepreneur, announced partnership with Minds + Machines to create the .food web address. [12]. Minds + Machines subsequently sued Wolfgang Puck and his wife, in September, for $5 million over "Failed .food Deal".[13]. In October, Minds + Machines was reported to have settled the "food fight" with Wolfgang Puck, though the nature of the settlement was undisclosed.[14]
  • In August, 2009, TLDH (Top Level Domain Holdings}, Ltd, a publicly-traded holding company from London AIM, announced that it had completed a merger with Minds + Machines. Minds + Machines has been acting as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TLDH since. [15]
  • In September, 2010, Minds + Machines migrated all domain names ending in .FM to its newly opened network operations center at One Wilshire in Los Angeles, California.[16]
  • On November 5, 2010 ICANN passed the resolution that enables registries can buy registrars and allow registrars to apply for and run new top-level domains.[17] To help finance the new TLDs for Minds + Machines, Top Level Domain Holdings was reported to be planning to raise $4.7m (£3 million). [18] Antony van Couvering is quoted as saying, "Having reviewed ICANN’s Final Proposed Applicant Guidebook, and in view of the ICANN Board’s historic decision to do away with cross-ownership restrictions between registries and registrars, we believe that the timing is right for additional investment by TLDH." [19]

Products and Services edit

Minds + Machines mainly provides TLD (top-level domain) registry service. According to the official website, the company also helps with the business plan, funding, application writing, business networking, staffing, sales and marketing etc.

Minds + Machines also has an extensive list of partners who provide options for registration services, DNS services, auction services, escrow services, network security, Trademark and Validation, public relation, web design, business and finance, dispute arbitration providers etc.

References edit

External links edit

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