[ga] New Research: "Registrations in Open ccTLDs"

["Ben Edelman" <edelman@law.harvard.edu>]

GA members have on multiple occasions discussed registrations in open
ccTLDs -- remarking on ccTLDs like .CC, .TV, and .WS which have opened their
registration systems to anyone interested, worldwide.  In recent research, I
have investigated the ways that these ccTLDs are used, placing particular
emphasis on their apparent use and non-use, on defensive registrations, on
warehousing, and on cybersquatting.  In my recent "Registrations in Open
ccTLDs," I attempt to quantify each of these behaviors.

I first report the number of open ccTLD web pages indexed by Google, finding
open ccTLDs to be less than one one-hundredth as large as .COM when measured
in this way.

I next consider registration of commonly-used dictionary nouns; while many
such domains have been registered in the tested ccTLDs, more than 80% lead
only to placeholders or to no web content at all.

Finally, I investigate open ccTLD registrations that use the same
second-level strings as the primary .COM domains of major corporations
worldwide (including the Fortune 1000 and Forbes International 500).  Again,
many such domains have been registered, and more than two thirds of such
registrations are by registrants other than the registrant of the
corresponding .COM.  Indeed, the web content and WHOIS data of sampled
domains provide evidence both of substantial defensive registrations and of
substantial cybersquatting.

My full report is available at
  <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/people/edelman/open-cctlds/>.


Ben Edelman
Berkman Center for Internet & Society
Harvard Law School
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/edelman

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