{"id":684,"date":"2010-05-26T17:11:58","date_gmt":"2010-05-26T21:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/?p=684"},"modified":"2010-05-26T17:45:15","modified_gmt":"2010-05-26T21:45:15","slug":"e-co-when-charity-begins-at-home-and-justice-begins-next-door","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acro.net\/blog\/e-co-when-charity-begins-at-home-and-justice-begins-next-door\/","title":{"rendered":"E.co – When charity begins at home and justice begins next door"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve no doubt that on July 20, hordes of domain investors will attempt to secure a portion of the new ccTLD pie, .co<\/strong><\/p>\n

Staged as the new alternative to .com, the Colombian national TLD<\/strong> understandably launched an intense marketing campaign to ensure that it is not going to fall flat on its face, like other registries<\/strong><\/a> did in the past.<\/p>\n

Highlighting a built-in provision that will protect the rights of trademark holders from ‘squatters<\/em>‘, the .co Registry is also a proud sponsor of several domain events and conferences, including the upcoming ICANN meeting in Carthagena, Colombia.<\/p>\n

As part of the .co marketing campaign – other than paying bloggers $80 \/month for 125 x 125 square ads<\/em> – the .co Registry decided to put on the chopping block one of its biggest assets: the domain e.co<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n

So e.co will go on auction, via Sedo and according to the web site at http:\/\/e.co<\/strong><\/a> 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<\/strong>” – a term popular with today’s green-focused economy, the environment and ecology in general.<\/p>\n

Sounds like an angelic world, with charities and good intentions.<\/p>\n

However, at least 1,300 trademarks<\/strong> 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<\/strong> are indeed of ecological focus which would bring them directly interested in both obtaining and objecting this unique match of URL\/trademark.<\/p>\n

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<\/strong> in the works.<\/p>\n

Supported by no other than former US vice president and Nobel Peace prize winner, Al Gore, the Dot Eco initiative<\/strong><\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

A few questions arise:<\/p>\n

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