Thursday, April 4th, 2013

Google and Verisign file most objections (so far) against TLDs on string similarity grounds.

The International Centre for Dispute Resolution has published 33 of the string confusion objections it has received, representing about half of the total.

One of the biggest filers so far is Google, which has objected to at least 9 applications. All of the objections are against applications for the plural version of domains it has applied for.

ICANN’s String Similarity Panel (somewhat surprisingly) did not determine that a domain like .cars should be in contention with .car, which opened the door for companies to try to protect their singular or plural versions against domains off by a single “s” letter.

Google has objected to applications for .cars, .games, two for .kids, .homes, .pets, and .tours.

Plural vs. non-plural domains are sure to be one of the bigger areas of confusion when new TLDs find their way to the web.

The other big objector thus far is VeriSign, which is concerned about domains that may be similar to .com, .net, and .tv. It is objecting to .mnet, .bom, .nec (a brand application), .pet, .cam, .ecom, .company, .network, .vet, .dtv, .tvs, and .itv. The Centre has only published one of its objections against .now, so I suspect more are forthcoming.

SX Registry SA B.V., which runs the .sx country code, has objected to applications for .sex and .sexy.