BITS
 | |
| Type: | Non-Profit Corporation |
| Founded: | 1996 |
| Country: | USA |
| Website: | BITS.org |
| Key People | |
| Paul Smocer, President | |
BITS is the technology policy division of the Financial Services Roundtable. It represents 100 of the largest financial services companies that provide insurance, investment products or banking services.[1]
It was created in 1996 by the Financial Services Roundtable to better help its members understand and collaborate on new technologies.[2]
.Bank and .Insurance Financial TLD Initiative
BITS in partnership with the American Bankers Association confirmed their application for the .bank and .insurance top level domain names (TLDs) with ICANN's New gTLD Program to provide a safe and secure online space for the banking and insurance industry and its millions of consumers. Craig Schwartz, former chief gTLD registry liaison of ICANN serves as the head of operation for the BITS and ABA Financial TLD Initiative. [3] The partnership also formed the fTLD Registry Services, LLC to handle the applications for both domain name strings and to manage its operations once approved by ICANN.[4]
Possible Objection
The application for both financial domain name strings is expected to be strongly objected by the European Banking Authority. The organization already sent a warning letter to ICANN arguing that financially-oriented gTLDs are "dangerous and should be banned". [5]
Competitor
The BITS and ABA's application for .bank and .insurance domain name string will compete with Radix, a subsidiary business of Directi Group which also confirmed its application for 31 new gTLDs including .bank and .insurance. [6]
BITS and ICANN
BITS has sent letters to ICANN following the publication of many of the organization's new gTLD programs, including the first, second, third and fourth versions.[7][8][9][10] In late 2010, BITS threatened legal action against ICANN should it not defer the delegation of any financial TLD.[11] Since that time, BITS has announced that it is working with the American Bankers Association to apply for financial TLDs. It has chosen to work with Verisign's registry services to provide technical back-end services to those extensions.[12] Its gTLD application plans include a bid for .bank, and it will likely apply for a number of other financial related TLDs.[13]
BITS has been vocal about what it deems as mandatory secuirty measure for any financially related gTLD. There are no specific measures stipulated in ICANN's Applicant Guidebook. BITS' Security Standards Working Group has made its own set of suggestions to ICANN on such requirements.[14]
External Links
References
- ↑ BITS official website
- ↑ A short history about the creation of BITS
- ↑ ABA and The Financial Services Roundtable Apply for Financial Domains to Protect Consumers
- ↑ [http://www.bits.org/initiatives/fTLD.php Financial Top Level Domain Initiative]
- ↑ Europe to warn consumers about .bank “risks”
- ↑ Directi Invest Over $30 Million & Applies For 31 New gTLD’s: Including: .Law, .Web, .Bank, .Shop
- ↑ BITS Comment, v1, BITS.org
- ↑ BITS Comment, v2, BITS.org
- ↑ BITS Comments, v3, BITS.org
- ↑ BITS Comments, v4, BITS.org
- ↑ ICANN Told To Ban Bank or Get Sued, DomainIncite.com
- ↑ Press Release, American Bankers Association BITS Choose Verisign as Registry Operator Potential New, MarketWire.com
- ↑ BITS May Apply For Six Financial gTLDs, DomainIncite.com
- ↑ High Security Bank Spec Published, DomainIncite.com