Circle Dance: June 2012

un. 13, 2012 - The NEW Internet Landscape: A Primer for Realtors and MLSs

The Big News

By now the news is out: earlier today the names of applicants for new top level domains (or TLD, the name that follows the dot in an internet address) was released. Over 1900 applicants hope to gain a branded domain name where previously only 26 TLDs existed.

This release date was long anticipated by US Multiple Listing Services, many of whom have banded together to form the MLS Domains Association, a non-profit group which exists to make application for the .MLS domain name and restrict its use only to recognized MLS organizations. The group recruited members, collected funds, gained non-profit status, conducted a feasibility study among consumers and MLS members, and completed the application process with a partner, the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Round One of the process had an application deadline of May 30 and— at long last—the names of the applicants were revealed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The Washington Post says, “The list’s release marks the latest phase of ICANN’s long process to remake the landscape of the Internet.” Companies who applied for new addresses include Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft as well as prominent firms such as Macy’s and Wal-Mart and Associations such as NAR and AARP. Each application carried a hefty price tag of $185,000.

Also at issue in the domain allocation process is a segment known as the ‘community TLD’. The ICANN wiki defines this as follows: The “Community gTLD is one of the different categories of generic top level domain names (gTLDs) created by the ICANN, which is intended for cohesive, community groups that are interested in operating their own TLD Registry... A good example of community group that represents a clearly defined group of people that maybe qualified to apply for a community gTLD is the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), as this group is well-established and it can demonstrate that it has a continuous relationship with its members. “

The community TLDs is intended to identify a group which is united in a cause or commonality which extends beyond commercial branding, and which can serve as a uniting force for a shared mission. The US-based MLS Domains Association and the Canadian Real Estate Association have filed a community based TLD, and have also filed a second application for a standard TLD, should the strict community-based requirements not be met.

Obviously, the TLD process, which has been publicly ignored by the real estate community outside of MLSs, is big news in the internet and online advertising worlds. For a perspective on what the Top Level Domain applications mean to the world of online business, read this article from C/NET News: “Here Comes the Greatest Internet Land Grab in History.”

The Applicants

Now obviously you aren’t going to want to read a list of all 1930 applicants, but here are the ones relevant to real estate:

Applied for HOME

HOME REGISTRY INC.

DotHome Inc. (http://www.radixregistry.com)

Go Daddy East, LLC (http://www.godaddy.com)

Charleston Road Registry Inc.

Lifestyle Domain Holdings, Inc.

Baxter Pike, LLC

DotHome / CGR E-Commerce Ltd http://dothome.net

Uniregistry, Corp. http://www.uniregistry.com

Merchant Law Group LLP

Dot Home LLC US

Top Level Domain Holdings Limited http://www.tldh.org

Applied for HOMES

DotHome, LLC

Applied for REALESTATE

New North, LLC

Uniregistry, Corp. http://www.uniregistry.com

dotRealEstate LLC

Top Level Domain Holdings Limited http://www.tldh.org

Applied for REALTOR

Real Estate Domains LLC

Applied for REALTY

Dash Bloom, LLC

Fegistry, LLC

Applied for MLS

CREA (2 applications—community, and commercial)

Afilias LTD IE/EUR

Applied for PROPERTIES

Big Pass, LLC

Applied for PROPERTY

Steel Goodbye, LLC

Uniregistry, Corp. http://www.uniregistry.com

Top Level Domain Holdings Limited http://www.tldh.org

NAR Applications

NAR members received notice this week that their association has indeed made application for three top level domains. The press release states that “NAR, through Real Estate Domains LLC (RED), has filed with ICANN for the .REALTOR TLD. RED was created for the sole purpose of applying for and operating the .REALTOR TLD. NAR has also submitted applications for the .realestate and .home top level domains through a partnership of its wholly owned subsidiary, the REALTORS® Information Network (RIN) and DotHome, LLC.” (Press Release, 6/12/2012)

“NAR has also entered into an exclusive marketing partnership with The Canadian Real Estate

Association (CREA), the exclusive licensors of the REALTOR® mark in Canada. REALTOR®

members of CREA will also be able to use the domain, making .REALTOR truly North American

in scope.” (Press Release, 6/12/2012)

Multiple Applications

NAR has applied for three TLDs in partnership with CREA. The US MLS organization (MLS Domains Association) has joined with CREA to apply for one TLD but in two different categories.

And several requested real estate-related TLDs have contenders.

Multiple applications, by the way, aren’t unusual: several companies have announced intentions of filing for many domain names—Amazon has filed for 76 domains, and Afilias Limited (which has filed a competing request for the MLS domain), has filed 26 applications.

In the case of multiple qualified requests for names, the conflicts will be resolved either through partnerships, negotiations or bidding.

What’s Next?

Government Computer News summarizes the process: ICANN plans to publish the names applied for on June 13, which it is calling "Reveal Day," on its icann.org website, which will initiate a number of processes. It will open a 60-day public comment period and a seven-month period to file formal objections to a requested name. An initial review of applicants and their requested names will begin in July. If there are no formal objections, no problems with the name are found in the initial evaluation, and the applicant has the operational, technical and financial capabilities to operate a gTLD registry, the new domain could be allocated in December or January.

How successful applicants will administer their domains will vary.

NARs plans for the REALTOR TLD: from the press release and Q and A on NAR’s website, one must assume that NAR plans to offer the TLDs to Realtor associations and their MLSs, the ISCs, and NAR approved licensees. NAR says, “This opportunity to use .REALTOR will be available to 500,000 members at no charge for one year.”

The press release continues, “Once approved, NAR plans to distribute additional information on how and when domains in the new extensions will be made available….Domains in the new extensions would be available for registration to REALTOR® members (agents and brokers); local and state REALTOR® associations; association multiple listing services; affiliated institutes, societies and councils; and other NAR-approved licensees.

“NAR is currently planning to provide the first 500,000 members who register with a complimentary 1st year subscription to one domain name. Members would be able to secure a .REALTOR domain using their name on a first come first served basis. Further details, including pricing for additional domains and other related products will be announced at a later date.”

If the .MLS domain is awarded to the CREA and the MLS Domains association, US MLSs who belong to the MLS Domains Association will be awarded their requested domain names. There are three points to note, however: (1) a small group of requested names will have to be adjusted to reflect the international nature of the .MLS gTLD, (2) the MLS Domains Association effort will cover broker-owned MLSs while the NAR domains will be limited to 'NAR-approved' organizations, and (3) the duplicate application from Afilias for the .MLS gTLD must be resolved. (Afilias is the second largest domain services provider in existence today and in June of this year announced that it will be applying for a total of 305 top level domains.)

Disclaimer

It’s no secret that I’ve been an advocate of the MLS Domains Association from the beginning, and that I currently serve as its Vice President. To my mind, it doesn’t take much to see that a ‘dot MLS’ domain with usage limited to MLS operations only is one of the simplest and most effective ways to reach out to real estate industry professionals and to home buyers and sellers, and unite behind a branded product, the MLS. There are, of course, many schemes being proposed to capitalize on the MLS as a reliable data source, but having a recognized domain name that carries with it the reputation of integrity and completeness—there can be no better marketing tool.

MLS organizations that haven’t joined the MLS Domains Association and reserved their space in the new internet landscape should pay an immediate visit to the MLS Domains Association website and join its efforts!