billgates.tel domain could be yours for the asking

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 06 March 2007 05:11

Your IT - Home IT

A new top level domain, .tel, will be launched next year designed to enable organisations and individuals to consolidate all their contact information in one place. Its backers have confirmed that individuals' domain names will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

However, if Mr Gates has trademarked his name, you won't be so lucky. Owners of registered trademarks will have first right to their trademark name. But companies that do not have global trademarks will still have to get in first to secure their .tel name.

In May 2006, six years after lodging its initial application, UK based Telnic finally gained ICANN approval for the new top level domain, .tel, which it proposes to use as a one-stop shop where individuals and organisations will be able to provide a range of contact information.

Telnic's was one of two proposals for .tel submitted to ICANN in 2000, and both were initially rejected. Over the following several years Telnic worked to satisfy ICANN's requirements. The other proposal came from US company Pulver.com.

According to Telnic, "by leveraging innovative DNS (domain name system) technology, the .tel domain will allow anyone to publish and control, in real time, how they can be reached. The .tel domain will enable people to reach a business from any Internet enabled device (computer or mobile) simply by typing, for example, 'Hertz.tel'. The user will then be able to connect directly to a Hertz representative or navigate through a list of services that Hertz may offer."

Users of registered trademarks will be able to apply for their .tel domain name during the sunrise period, expected during the fourth quarter of 2007. The general availability landrush will take place early in  2008.