Rights to .NYC, .Movies, and More — Man Claims

Fresh Yorker states he by now uses 118 top level domains.

I thought I had heard it all regarding fresh TLDs until I read this article in The Villager. Now that a fresh process for top level domain names is underway, Paul Garrin and his firm Name.Space claims that it by now “owns” many top level domain names counting .nyc, .food, .sex, .movies, and .hotel.

Garrin and his firm wanted to launch over nearly 500 top level domain names ahead of ICANN even existed. He then tried to get 118 of them approved by ICANN in 2000, but couldn’t get ICANN to budge. Name.Space states it has an alternate root computer system where these top level domain names are used. (Practically speaking, it’s easy for anyone to set up an alternate root that supersedes existing top level domains on the network.)

Jobs, cash flow and tax revenues would all rise when — and if — these domain names are given the official O.K., he stated; his firm, NAME.SPACE would become a billion-dollar business pouring millions into Fresh York’s economy.

Although it’s easy to laugh this off, I wonder if other alternate route and non-ICANN approved top level domain services, such as Fresh.net, will challenge the issuance of fresh TLDs.