'Paving paradise' with gTLDs

Just when you thought you knew your way around the Internet, ICANN is moving ahead with the expansion of generic Top Level Domains, or gTLDs. When this hits, driving on the Internet will be like tooling south on I-5 and then entering L.A. county. For those of you who have never had that experience for the first time, compare it to driving east on I-80 and landing in Boston without a precedent. May Google be with you.

The new gTLDs will allow organizations to turn their own brands into domains (.company) or create broad product groups in other gTLDS such as .car, .sports, or .bank. Outside of making it more difficult to find things on the Internet without a search engine, the new top-level domains will be a concern for companies out to protect their brands.

MarkMonitor has put up the dotBrand Resource Center to help brandholders develop or modify their Internet strategies. The Resource Center gathers information from a variety of sources, including ICANN, the International Trade Mark Association, the international media, and MarkMonitor with links to webinars, articles, and FAQs.