If new gTLDs like .web become
a reality, then no one registrar should have a monopoly, certainly not a company
like IOdesigns that some previous posts have mentioned. Getting us away from monopoly
was the primary reason for the push to create new TLDs in the first place, way back
in 1996 or even earlier.I did a cursory check on IOdesigns, and, from what I saw,
it is questionable whether they should even be able to register initially. IANA is
not the body in power now; ICANN is. And I don't think the company is a member of
CORE or an ICANN-accredited registry. A brief check with the USPTO trademarks database
did not reveal a ".web" trademark. Perhaps they do have a trademark, but it is on
"The.WEB" or on some graphical design, not on the words themselves.
In any case,
if and when new TLDs arrive, the best, safest, and fairest way is by lottery. Preregistration
has been done on the first-come, first-served basis for years. Some companies charge
for preregistrations, while some do not. Competition should keep the costs low or
nonexistent. Without an orderly way of allocating the new names, there will be a
crush of users on the first day that registration is available. The dramatic flood
of new registrations will be anything but fair compared to the allocation-by-lottery
system that CORE has developed for years.