Who owns these gTLD companies?

5 points·simonlast··5 comments

http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings

This page is full of bogus names like "Spring Falls", "Storm Orchard", and "Holly Hill". Who owns these companies?

Those companies are usually Donuts Group companies. (www.donuts.co). If you look them up here:

https://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applications...

You'll see the contact listed has a donuts.co email address. For example, try .exchange

It looks like these companies may have been set up specifically to hide who owns them (sort of like what patent trolls do).

Here's some information about "Storm Orchard, LLC", incorporated in Delaware in 2012:

http://www.bizapedia.com/de/STORM-ORCHARD-LLC.html

That is why the campaign by Global Witness to end anonymous companies is so important.

It is really a bummer that ICANN accepts just any legal corporation. Without knowing who they really are or without disclosing this information to the public.

Why? Why is it that important that we know who owns those gTLDs?

For the same reason why it is important to know who owns the house you are are living in or the company for who you work. Or the company who runs a factory across town.

It is a question of accountability and also stability.

When you start a business on a domain and you rely on that domain it is important to know that this domain is well maintained. What if the company is giving your domain to someone else. And you can't do anything about it because the company is gone.

Top level domains are a key to the infrastructure of the internet, there should be transparency and accountability. Otherwise this market will fail.

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