ICANN, the organization responsible for regulating top-level domains such as .com and .gov, will be deciding soon on new TLD applications, and the long-awaited “.eco” is on the auction block. California-based Dot Eco LLC, a company whose board includes members such as An Inconvenient Truth director Davis Guggenheim and actor Geoffrey Moore, have long held dominion over the future of this important domain, promising to donate 57 percent of the proceeds to environmental causes. In March, former Vice President Al Gore and his Alliance for Climate Protection joined up with Dot Eco, stating “This is truly an exciting opportunity for the environmental movement and for the Internet as a whole.”
However Big Room Inc., a Vancouver-based environmental solutions firm known for eco-labeling and consumer protection, announced a competing bid for control of the .eco domain with an entirely different business plan.
“Big Room’s Dot Eco is the right bid by the right team at the right time,” said Big Room co-founder Trevor Bowden in a June press release.”Individuals and organizations want to cut through all the eco-claims out there so they can make better choices. Our Dot Eco will help them do that.”
After the auction, not just anyone will be eligible for an .eco domain for their business. Both Dot Eco and Big Room have pledged to set environmental performance standards for .eco applicants. Currently, Dot Eco LLC seems to have the more concrete plan for the domain, and it issued a green paper last week with finite intentions for the domain, including free use for nonprofits. But in the end, these are businesses with bottom line interests, and the higher bid, not earnest intentions, will decide who gets control. And anyway, barraged with huge opposition to adding any new domains to an already flooded Internet galaxy, ICANN may decide against approving .eco altogether. Knowing it may take some convincing, both Big Room and Dot Eco have launched lobbying efforts where Internet users can get involved in convincing ICANN of the domain’s importance. Cast your vote. Be heard. Shazam!
