A very well known expert Rod Rasmussen in a press release predicted very grim future for the new gTLDs. He is Internet Identity’s CTO, the company specializes in cyber security and is one of the key members of the Anti-Phishing Working Group. It is also a member of ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee. According to him, the majority of the new domains “have failed to take off and many have already been riddled with so many fraudulent and junk registrations that they are being blocked wholesale.” Rasmussen warns that this undermines user confidence and destroys the very ecosystem of domain registrations. He points out that the registries will find it impossible to sell failed domains since no one will want to invest in them. This is why within several years there will be hundreds of “dying” domains.
Famous domain blogger and the creator of Domain Incite webpage Kevin Murphy disagrees and believes that Rasmussen is exaggerating. Murphy reminds that there is a special ICANN program called EBERO (Emergency Back-End Registry Operator). It envisages the support of a domain zone for three years in case its registry suffers fiasco and can no longer fulfill it’s obligations. Kevin Murphy believes that three years is more than enough. During this time the registry will find a buyer for the domain or registrants will manage to move their domain names to more successful zones. In any case, the threat of the failure of hundreds of new gTLDs seems greatly exaggerated.
