At T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Tina Dam, Senior Director of IDNs at ICANN spoke on gTLDs in general and on IDN gTLDs. She noted yesterday’s success with 4 .IDN ccTLDs moving forward in the Fast Track process.

Greg McNair, another panelist, provocatively said that going to an ICANN meeting is “like watching paint dry”, though he joked that he would show up to every meeting if everyone looked like Tina. Greg continued on a more serious note, when he said rhetorically, “in the context of our industry . . . is it [gTLDs] really important? I’m struggling with this.” He went on to mention that few care much about .pro, .aero and other forthcoming gTLDs. And he scolded ICANN for allowing non-viable gTLDs to be released. Tina said that it isn’t ICANN’s job to vet the viability of individuals’ business plans.

When pressed as to when the first gTLD will be released, Tina said that she has no explicit timetable. Also, when asked about the marketing of IDN gTLDs and IDN ccTLDs, Tina was of the opinion that we will see a large amount of marketing from registries and registrars.

I asked whether there will be a Fast Track gTLD process, and Tina said that it has been discussed at length but she doesn’t see it happening.

Note: Happy birthday to Tina Dam, and thank you for engaging with the domaining community here at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.