DSTI/ICCP/TISP(2004)2/FINAL
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MAIN POINTS................................................................................................................................................ 4
TOP LEVEL DOMAIN NAME GROWTH IN OECD COUNTRIES ........................................................... 6
Introducing Top Level Domain Names........................................................................................................ 6
TLD market size........................................................................................................................................... 7
TOP LEVEL DOMAIN MARKET STRUCTURE....................................................................................... 10
ICANN ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
Registries.................................................................................................................................................... 10
Unsponsored gTLD registries................................................................................................................. 11
Sponsored gTLD registries..................................................................................................................... 11
ccTLD registries ..................................................................................................................................... 13
Market share of gTLD registries............................................................................................................. 13
Market share of gTLD registries and OECD ccTLD registries .............................................................. 14
TLD registry market share...................................................................................................................... 15
Registrar market share................................................................................................................................ 16
EXPERIENCE WITH THE INITIAL NEW GENERIC TLDS AND OTHER MARKET REFORM......... 19
Geographical distribution of the take up of new gTLDs............................................................................ 19
Impact of the introduction of new gTLDs.................................................................................................. 21
Trends in prices and services in the TLD market....................................................................................... 25
Price trends ............................................................................................................................................. 25
New registrar services ............................................................................................................................ 27
Demand for new gTLDs............................................................................................................................. 28
The Pros and Cons of new Domain Names................................................................................................ 34
Disadvantages of new generic Top Level Domain names...................................................................... 34
Advantages of new generic Top Level Domain names .......................................................................... 36
ALLOCATION MECHANISMS FOR GENERIC TLDS ............................................................................ 38
What resource is being allocated? .......................................................................................................... 39
Is the gTLD resource scarce? ................................................................................................................. 40
Allocation procedures ................................................................................................................................ 41
Auctions: Pros and cons ............................................................................................................................. 42
Advantages ............................................................................................................................................. 42
Disadvantages......................................................................................................................................... 45
Comparative selection: Pros and Cons....................................................................................................... 48
Advantages ............................................................................................................................................. 48
Disadvantages......................................................................................................................................... 50
Summing up: Allocation procedures.......................................................................................................... 51
NOTES .......................................................................................................................................................... 53
Boxes
The challenges of forecasting demand ....................................................................................................... 32
The experience of domain name auctions in Australia .............................................................................. 44
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