TODAY YOU USE .COM. WHAT WILL YOU USE TOMORROW??
January 15, 2014
By jbourne
We at FairWinds Partners are abuzz about an industry-defining conference we will host in Washington D.C. on February 19, 2014, at the Newseum. The conference is a chance to examine how new top-level Internet domain names will change the way users navigate, search, shop, brand themselves, target customers, protect trademarks, and remain safe online.
We’re calling the conference Beyond the Dot 2014 – a catchy name that mirrors our new top-level domain educational microsite. The conference will bring together innovators, policymakers, business leaders, academics, and students to explore what lies beyond .COM, .NET, .BIZ and the other top-level domains now in common use.
This will be the first industry conference to address what new top-level domains will mean to the average Internet user.
A top-level domain is the text to the right of the dot. Twenty-two exist now, including .COM, .GOV, .EDU (but not including extensions for different countries such as .FR). That number will expand by 2,500 percent to 1,400 over the next few years, bringing massive change to our Internet behavior.
“Today, the Internet is undergoing the largest expansion in its 40-plus year history,” said FairWinds Partners’ founders Phil Lodico and Josh Bourne. “The Internet of the future will be far more intuitive and will open vast opportunities for businesses and consumers, alike. We believe bringing together leading thinkers on this subject will help explain to the average Internet user the implications of this titanic change in the Internet domain name space and broaden the conversation beyond the domain name industry.”
Confirmed speakers at the conference so far include Former Ambassador John Negroponte; Akram Atallah, President, Global Domains Division at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); Dr. Laura DeNardis,
Internet governance scholar and Professor in the School of Communication at American University, the owners of .ECO, .GOP, .GAY, .NYC, .UNO, and many, many more.
We are psyched for this event and to broaden the conversation. Hope to see you there!
Register for the event here. Media, non-profits, student, and congressional staff are entitled to discounts. If you fall into those categories, email info@beyondthedot.com to receive your promo code.
