.mobi - The Next Frontier, err, TLD
As of September 26th, 2006, the general public can have a go at purchasing the newest Top-Level Domain, .mobi. As the name implies, .mobi is restricted for sites that adhere to mobile-compatibility style guidelines. So what’s all the fuss about .mobi? Well for me at least, I find it to be an opportunity to buy out a bunch of popular domains first. I just purchased the .mobi’s for some popular mobile sites.
It only makes sense that we should organize mobile sites as mobile computing and cell phones become faster, cheaper and more usable online. However, considering that the TLD is going to be for mobile sites I think that they should have made the TLD a bit shorter - 4 letters is a bit much for a mobile TLD. Since .mobi is a sponsored TLD from a consortium of corporations like Google, Microsoft and Nokia, the use of .mobi will be enforced by “challenge process”. I’m curious to see how that plays out because there will indubitably be more than a few people that use .mobi for regular, non-mobile friendly sites.
The restrictions set forth on the new .mobi domain will set it apart from other domians.
.mobi is more than a domain; it is a set of standards that ensure that content delivered to mobile phones is appropriate to those devices — in short, content that is quick to download and does not incur above-average data download costs.
dotMobi blog
Godaddy has a landrush deal where they will attempt to secure a .mobi for you at a price of $29.99; fairly expensive for a domain. They also require that you purchase the domain for 2 years, so the charges will rack up. September 26th to October 10th is the landrush period, whereas regular .mobi registrations are from October 11th and on. It is likely that the domain registration price will go down to something more reasonable after the landrush period. If you’ve got a burning desire to secure that popular .mobi domain, acting on the landrush period is probably your best bet, if you can cope with the high cost.
If you take only one thing from this article, the most important part is that the new .mobi top-level domain sets a precedent by requiring that sites follow certain standards. Imagine if similar restrictions were held on all TLDs such as .com, and that ICANN had the ability to revoke your domain if you ran a splog. So much for my Utopian reverie.
What about http://moby.com/ - good for ringtones?
Awesome! This has such great implications for the future of mobile applications (and their developers). A set of standards is the first step towards widespread use of a particular technology (mobile online apps in this case). I am extremely excited about this. Thanks for the heads up.
Microsoft part of a consortium that is trying to enforce adherence to web standards?
Now that’s a laugh…
http://www.rooftopsolutions.nl/resources/images/posts/ie7_acid_1.png
did you really buy the .mobi addys for nytimes river? haha?
Yup brad, they’re both mine. =)
haha. THAT takes some balls. to bad i own paulstamatiou.mobi… man that would be great.
Yes, I’d agree on the balls comment.
“Under Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act policy, successful complainants can have the names deleted (which often just means someone else will register it) or transferred to their ownership (which means paying regular renewal fees on all the names or risk them being registered by someone else). Under the ACPA the cybersquatter can be held liable for actual damages or statutory damages in the amount of a maximum of $100,000 for each name found to be in violation.”
I wouldn’t like to be on the wrong end of that.
“The key element that must be proven is that the defendant has a “bad faith intent to profit from the mark.” ”Traffics in” refers to transactions that include, but are not limited to, sales, purchases, loans, pledges, licenses, exchanges of currency, and any other transfer for consideration or receipt in exchange for consideration.”
Squatters are not liable if they don’t do anything with the domains.
Hi Paul,
Thanks just bought this :)
jozango.mobi
mobilemonday.mobi
mobiletheme.mobi
mozango.mobi
mozomo.mobi