Oh my, Verisign is actually scared of fresh top level domains!

Firm sues .XYZ and claims its marketing is hurting .com.

If you listen to any of Verisign’s quarterly investor calls, you’ll often hear analysts asking what fresh TLDs are doing to .com.

Well, fresh TLDs are creating confusion, the firm states. That confusion isn’t really hurting .com. Maybe .net gets caught up in the confusion, but that’s regarding it.

Actions speak louder than words, though, and Kevin Murphy wrote regarding proof today that Verisign must actually be a bit concerned regarding .com in the wake of fresh TLDs.

Verisign has sued .XYZ and its founder, Daniel Negari, for disparaging .com and allegedly falsely inflating the firm’s success.

Verisign takes issue with Negari stating that it’s impossible to find the .com consumers want, that .xyz is the next .com, and a whole bunch of other marketing hyperbole.

It seems to be particularly insulted by a video that seeks to show that .com is old and .xyz is the fresh cool thing.

I thought it was April Fools’ Day when I first read the Domain Incite article.

Does Verisign really think .XYZ poses a threat? Why else would it file suit?

By filing this lawsuit, Verisign must be concerned that people saying .com is old and stale is actually resonating with consumers.

Verisign itself is a fan of marketing that leaves out the big picture. It pitches that over 95% of five character .com domains are available, and over 99% of six character domains. While true, it leaves out the notable part that this includes silly combinations of numbers, letters and hyphens. Remove the digits and hyphens and the number of available .com domains drops precipitously, a fact Verisign conveniently leaves out.

I’m a bit dumbfounded by Verisign’s move here. Now that it’s out in the open, I don’t think Verisign can plausibly deny that it’s concerned regarding fresh TLDs. Verisign is alleging that Negari’s .xyz marketing has actually harmed Verisign and .com. You can’t backtrack on that.