I’ve no doubt that on July 20, hordes of domain investors will attempt to secure a portion of the new ccTLD pie, .co
Staged as the new alternative to .com, the Colombian national TLD understandably launched an intense marketing campaign to ensure that it is not going to fall flat on its face, like other registries did in the past.
Highlighting a built-in provision that will protect the rights of trademark holders from ‘squatters‘, the .co Registry is also a proud sponsor of several domain events and conferences, including the upcoming ICANN meeting in Carthagena, Colombia.
As part of the .co marketing campaign – other than paying bloggers $80 /month for 125 x 125 square ads – the .co Registry decided to put on the chopping block one of its biggest assets: the domain e.co
Instead of waiting several years after the launch of the .co TLD, the .co Registry is actually doing something smart – at least from a marketing standpoint.
So e.co will go on auction, via Sedo and according to the web site at http://e.co the proceeds of the auction will go to a global charity of the winning bidder’s choice. The .co Registry does not shy away from stating the fact that the single letter plus the extension form the word “eco” – a term popular with today’s green-focused economy, the environment and ecology in general.
Sounds like an angelic world, with charities and good intentions.
However, at least 1,300 trademarks that contain the word “eco” exist in the USPTO database, all of which would most likely object to seeing their mark be used as a global URL. Several hundred of these trademarks are indeed of ecological focus which would bring them directly interested in both obtaining and objecting this unique match of URL/trademark.
If that weren’t big enough of a reason to be skeptical about the upcoming auction of e.co consider that there is also an active and rather large initiative about the gTLD .eco in the works.
Supported by no other than former US vice president and Nobel Peace prize winner, Al Gore, the Dot Eco initiative is the single largest force behind the launch of this generic TLD; promoting green energy, alternative power sources, the environment and a global policy against pollution.
A few questions arise:
- Is the .co Registry wrapping up the sellout of e.co as a “charity event” in order to avoid direct repercussions from the “eco” trademark holders?
- How is this going to affect the ICANN application for .eco by the Dot Eco initiative, especially since the Colombian TLD is the shortest possible form of the applied gTLD?
- Is there already an agreement between the .co Registry and Dot Eco and the auction is simply a trick to attract more attention to the launch a national TLD which will face several critical issues in the future?
One thing is certain: domain holders are witnessing their revenue drop constantly, all while large brokerage and PPC companies announce record profit and sales. As the Registries increase their profits by raising prices for the most commonly used TLDs, the cost of owning and monetizing a large number of domains is increasing.
Perhaps, it’s time for justice to begin at home instead of next door.
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Hi there. I wanted to quickly jump in to respond to your questions/concerns about the e.co charity auction. First, thanks for the positive comment about our marketing efforts. As the Director of Marketing for .CO Internet, I can tell you that we are all working very hard on our marketing and public outreach efforts — so I appreciate your thumbs up.
In response to your specific questions:
1) I can tell you for certain that there was no thought or consideration given to the relation between TMs that use the letters “eco” and the choice for “e.CO” in our charity auction. In fact, we considered several different single character .CO domain names for this initiative — and ultimately decided on “e” because we thought it had the broadest possible appeal. We simply wanted the best one letter .CO domain name that would inspire the greatest level of interest and participation for our charity auction.
2. I can’t imagine that the availability of the e.CO domain name would have any bearing on ICANN’s decision to potentially create the .eco TLD or not. Who knows if the buyer of e.CO will even be in the green/eco space?
3. There is no agreement between the .CO Registry and the proposed .Eco registry. In fact, no one on the .CO team has had any personal contact with any of the interested parties relating to .Eco — or anything remotely relating to it.
The fact is that e.CO goes well beyond the “eco / environmental” angle and can be used for anything “e” related. The likelihood is just as great that a buyer might be in the entertainment, electronics, education, e-commerce, event, or some other equally interested field or industry. As the promotional video on e.CO shows, the possibilities are endless!
Thanks, and crossing my fingers you will be a bidder!
Lori Anne Wardi
.CO Internet SAS
Hello Lori. First of all, it’s good to have the official .co Registry statement; one can only guess otherwise.
On the subject of the points I made, I sense that surely a domain Registry needs to perform a little more research on how the Internet functions these days, with regards to domains and URLs.
Domain hacks are often used nowadays as the shortest method to describe a URL that’d normally take a keyword and a TLD.
Therefore, about point #1 – the single letter plus the TLD form the word “eco”. It’s there and it’s impossible not to think of all things “eco” when typing those three letters.
On point #2 – I’m not saying that the .eco application would be denied due to the existence of e.co; I am stating that the .eco TLD (Dot Eco LLC) would have a strong interest when faced with a contender in the exact same namespace.
About #3 – In my opinion, it’d be beneficial for the .co Registry and for all parties that hold “eco” trademarks to have a preliminary introduction to the availability of the domain; this way, perhaps, a different approach would benefit both the .co Registry and the strongest contender for the acquisition of the domain.
Finally, on the subject of what “e” can stand for there are obviously numerous possibilities – every word that begins with the letter “e”; however, the visualization of these three letters together only stands for “eco”. This is an argument that has been used successfully at the WIPO, where the complainant was awarded the domain hack that matched their trademark.
I believe that I gave you plenty of “food for thought” and I am certain that you will pass my concerns on to your team.
I wonder if the http://www.doteco.info group will take an interest in this.
Thanks so much for your input – and yes, I have shared it with the team! You are correct, there have definitely been some instances where domain hacks have been the basis of WIPO decisions in favor of complainants. This said, these are more the exception than the rule. Typically what is to the “right of the dot” is not considered for purposes of trademark analysis.
To your point, we would absolutely welcome everyone with an eco related trademark to participate in the auction of e.CO. This said, any other “e” related brand or potential brand is equally welcome – whether from the entertainment, e-commerce, education or other interested communities.
As with any domain name acquisition, it is up to the buyer to ensure that its use of a domain name does not violate the trademark or other intellectual property rights of others. I suspect anyone making an investment of this nature will do their due diligence in advance to ensure that their intended use is legally viable. If not, the UDRP and various trademark laws are available remedies.
I think the broad point you are making is that trademark rights need to be considered in the context of domain name buying and selling. And on this point, I think we are in total agreement!
Thanks again for the advice and interest in the e.CO auction!
Lori Anne Wardi
Director of Marketing
.CO Internet S.A.S.