In January, with some good friends, I formed Minds + Machines, which combines new TLD consulting (Minds) with the most versatile, widely-deployed registry software on the planet (Machines). So far, a resounding success. Most of my blog posts will now be found on the Minds + Machines blog.

A top-level domain idea for indigenous peoples — .indigi. There are many indigenous groups of people — American Indian tribes, for instance, or Australian aboriginal people — who would be great candidates for a new TLD, but can't afford the steep ICANN fees. To give them at least some identity on the Internet,

More than 8 years after we first proposed to New York City to start .NYC, the top-level domain for New York City, I got some satisfaction today when months of work with various NYC governmental agencies and affiliates paid off as New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced her strong support for .NYC

Bart Lieben is the world's expert in trademark verification for the Sunrise Periods of new top-level domains. I conduct an extensive interview about his services, and he reveals a plan to make trademark verification cheap and easy.

A letter to ICANN from the NTIA, the part of the Department of Commerce that watches ICANN, has caused a lot of speculation about whether the new TLD process would be stopped, or significantly slowed. I don't see that happening.

The French government is asking for bids to run their top-level domain, .FR, along with all the other ccTLDs that France controls.

I've put together a timeline for getting a new TLD from ICANN, along with associated costs, both likely and contingent. Downloadable PDF.

ICANN received an "Independent Report" containing recommendations for changing the membership of the Board of Directors and and other matters. Personally I found the report completely toxic and so I told them what I thought.

ICANN has announced two public meeting to gather opinion about the split between registries and registrars. The short notice (two days) is occasioning howls from those with something better to do.

The Nigerian Internet Registration Authority (NIRA) is planning to auction off premium names directly under .ng, as well as under .com.ng, according to Computerworld Kenya. NIRA's plan is to use the proceeds to keep other prices low. Tags: .ng, dot ng, Nigeria domain names, NIRA

A report known as the CRAI Report, which recommends keeping most of the registry-registrar split now required of all gTLDs, doesn't address the legitimate need of many potential registries for a business model that registrars are unlikely to implement -- leaving these registries in the cold.

I've put together a permanent page of materials related to ICANN new TLD applications, both from ICANN and from other sources. These are hard to find on the ICANN site, and I'm hosting them so they should be quick to download.

I've read through all the ICANN materials twice. If you're having trouble sleeping…. Overall, the process is understandable, is fairly straightforward, and best of all, it looks as if new TLDs will actually happen. It's about time. BUT I find four big problems, any one of which could be a show-stopper for

CoCCA has announced auctions of valuable keywords from various of its ccTLD members, bundled together across different TLDs. The auction will be held in November on the Sedo platform.

ICANN's Explanatory Memo on Morality and Public Order is a brave, expensive, and failed attempt to provide some justification for a concept that has little meaning in an international context.