.Tires
domains
Two closed registry
applications — one open
It's interesting
to analyse a specific product domain string like "tires" as
compared to category generics like "store" and "beauty"
as examined on other pages.
There are
two applications for closed registries for the valuable .tires
domain names. Unsurprisingly, they are from two of the world's largest
tire companies — Bridgestone (#1) and Goodyear
(#3).
There is
just one application for an open registry — from Donuts LLC
— and this contrasting application is covered in the column at
left. Despite their name, Donuts is not a tire company.
 Every
single tire domain illustrated by the chrome buttons on this page is
very likely to be owned in exclusivity by just one company. Whichever
company becomes the dot tires registry will then control every
conceivable dot tires domain in the world.
Despite
their repeated claims to be committed to competition as shown on the
ICANN Claims page, ICANN has accepted
the $185,000 application fees from Bridgestone and Goodyear for "walled
garden" registries. So one wealthy company will most likely own
the following websites (and hundreds more) with all its competitors
conveniently locked out from the tire channel:
SPECIAL
NOTE: Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) also owns Firestone
and The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company owns Dunlop, Kelly,
Debica, Sava and Fulda.
Asymmetric Domain
Applications
The problem
with this three way contest — as with some other domain contests
— is the fact that it is very unequal.
For the
two closed registry applicants, the .tires string is a "must
have". The potential income and future business flowing from exclusive
ownership of the string could run into the billions. No-one knows exactly
how successful the new domain names will be, but the $350 million already
collected by ICANN merely in application fees from many of the world's
most successful and innovative corporations gives an indication of the
anticipated scope.
If the
.tires extension goes to auction between Bridgestone and Goodyear,
there is no real reason it won't go for hundreds of millions of dollars.
Because a monopoly in the lucrative tire market would be worth that
much. But it would be bad luck for the unfortunate tire companies and
tire dealers who aren't affiliated with the winning bidder.
The key
point is — the rewards for Goodyear or Bridgestone to win possession
of .tires could be quite massive, looking ahead 20 years and
beyond at the next generation of the web. In contrast, the benefits
for Donuts in owning the .tires string would be relatively modest, a
fraction of the value that could accrue for the giant tire companies.
In any case, Donuts have raised only about $100m to be spread around
their 300 or so applications for domain strings. Their budget for the
.tires domains will surely be vastly exceeded by Goodyear or Bridgestone.
And so
Donuts will almost certainly be outbid for the extension by one of the
tire conglomerates. So much for competition, so much for ICANN's
commitment with the US Department of Commerce.
Over time,
through powerful advertising of the extension .tires, it's likely
that Bridgestone or Goodyear will seem to be synonymous with the word
"tires" — a powerful way to dramatically increase market
share. Read more about this type of "virtual trademark" on
the Brands page... I wish I could express
this principle as well as Parminder Jeet Singh does on the Beauty
String page.
 So
how does all this affect Joe Shmoe? Let's say Joe has
a gas station in Santa Monica. He will be prohibited from owning Joes.tires
and he will be able to blame ICANN policies as authorized by the US
Department of Commerce. Francois.tires won't be permitted in
Paris. Wangs.tires won't be permitted in Shanghai. Paddys.tires
won't be permitted in Ireland.
There are
almost 30,000 independent tire dealers in the US alone. All these dealers
will likely be blocked from any use of .tires domain names.
SPECIAL
NOTE: Tire is spelt "tyre" in some countries such as Australia.
Bridgestone closed
.tires application
Bridgestone
is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. Edited excerpts
from their .tires application follow:
"The
.tires gTLD will create a new generation gTLD serving the interests
of end users by providing an authoritative Internet space where information
regarding Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC (BATO), its Bridgestone
and Firestone tires brands, maintenance information & services
will be closely controlled by BATO.
"BATO’s
mission and purpose of the proposed .tires gTLD share ICANN’s
initiatives to promote public interest. BATO is committed to contribute
towards achieving such initiatives in line with ICANN’s Affirmation
of Commitments, which includes:
"-
consumer trust: the .tires gTLD registry will be operated in a centralised
manner with a restrictive registration policy. Registration of domain
names will only be available to BATO, at this stage, which will provide
added consumer trust that .tires domain names are trustworthy...
"-
competition: the proposed new gTLD is not intended to instigate competition
and consumer choice at the level of registration of domain names among
prospective registrants...
 "-
consumer choice: the proposed new gTLD will enable user-driven improvements
and innovations assisting BATO’s marketing efforts through its
ability to create new second and third level domain names on demand.
These names will provide the consumers with more choices for interacting
with BATO. As BATO has effective control over the registration and
use of domain names under .tires domain space, this will also contribute
towards general service innovations on the internet...
"The
key goals of the proposed new .tires gTLD are in line with ICANN’s
Affirmation of Commitments: to promote consumer trust, competition
and consumer choice.
"18(B)II.
WHAT DO YOU ANTICIPATE YOUR PROPOSED gTLD WILL ADD TO THE CURRENT
SPACE, IN TERMS OF COMPETITION, DIFFERENTIATION, OR INNOVATION?
"It
is anticipated that the proposed .tires gTLD will make positive contributions
to the wider internet community by providing:
"COMPETITION:
"The
differentiation of .tires gTLD as a trusted site for BATO will drive
existing and new TLD registry operators to make improvements in mechanisms
to improve consumer trust of their TLDs. Internet users will be encouraged
to interact with domain names under .tires domain space. As a result,
.tires will have a flow on effect to enable increased competition.
Therefore, the benefits of the proposed .tires will be distributed
not only to its direct customers, but to the internet community at
large forcing improved services and competitive pricing in the
market place."
STRATEGIC
INSIGHT: Here is Bridgestone's explanation for wanting .tires
to be a private internet with their competitors locked out — by
owning all the tire domain names, Bridgestone says competition will
actually increase due to a "flow on effect".
The added advantage for internet users is that other tire companies
will be forced to improve services and offer more competitive pricing.
That's not the only advantage for web users, they will also have hundreds
of new ways to interact with Bridgestone & Firestone websites.
Will ICANN
fall for this?
Excerpts
source: Pool.com, Bridgestone's
.tire application
Goodyear closed
.tires application
Goodyear
has 53 factories in 22 countries serving 40,000 outlets.
"The
proposed .tires gTLD will be a restricted, exclusively-controlled
TLD where Goodyear will have exclusive control.
"Question
18(b):...
"ii.
What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current
space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
 "...Goodyear
plans to operate the proposed .tires gTLD as a restricted, exclusively-controlled
TLD and as such will not be commercially offered for registration/use
by the general public. Thus, Goodyear will have exclusive ownership
and control over all second-level registrations within the TLD and
their use...
"...Competition
– As technology advances, so too do consumer and reseller expectations
of companies online. They expect that companies will utilize the latest
and greatest technology and online practices to improve the user experience,
protect their information and deliver quality service. Goodyear anticipates
that the proposed .tires gTLD will enable it to communicate, interact
and protect data in ways and under conditions not possible under the
existing namespace, thus enabling Goodyear to meet future client
expectations and competitive market demands.
"...Differentiation
– ...The proposed .tires gTLD will enable clients, authorized
retailers, other business partners and Internet users to distinguish
on the face of the domain name alone whether the site is an authorized
company site because the gTLD will be a restricted, exclusively-controlled
online environment where only authorized company web properties and
e-mail will exist and operate online.
"Innovation
- The proposed .tires gTLD as a restricted, exclusively-controlled
TLD will provide Goodyear with a new platform on which to build future
innovation of its online brand presence."
STRATEGIC
INSIGHT: In its application for the .tires string, Goodyear is
asked how its bid adds competitiveness to the web. Goodyear's response
is to say that by operating a closed registry it will hence be enabled
to meet "competitive market demands."
Source:
Pool.com, Goodyear's
.tire application
Michelin Weighs
In
In March
2013 Michelin sent an important post to the ICANN
forum on closed registries entitled: Michelin Comment on Closed
Generic TLDs
Michelin,
the world's second largest tire group, has 115,000 employees whose livelihoods
depend on the continuing prosperity of the company. They have been using
the word "tire" in their communications since 1889.
In its
objection, Michelin first stresses the significant and growing importance
of the internet channel to its customers for research and purchase and
makes this statement: "According to the website Modern Tire
Dealer, online retail sales in the US would reach $200 billion in
2012 and $279 billion in 2015."
Michelin
then expresses its extreme concern about the potential exclusive use
of the .tires string by either Bridgestone or Goodyear with reference
to their closed applications:
"6.
Monopoly situations are detrimental to consumers
"The
main risk of delegating of theses TLDs under the rules requested by
the applicants is the capture of the whole tire online sales channel
by one of these two operators.
"This
would surely have anticompetitive consequences and limit consumer
choice across the Internet:
"—
competitors will be prevented from using those generic TLDs to compete
with the string owner;
"—
consumers will have access to offers coming from one single player,
which means that they will be captive of one single tire manufacturer.
"Monopoly
situations are tackled by legislation or regulations because they
are detrimental to consumers. A monopoly on a TLD would probably be
in breach of antitrust regulations including the Sherman Antitrust
Act in the United-States or the antitrust provisions of articles 101
and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union."
Read Michelin's
complete post about the .tires applications by Bridgestone
and Goodyear.
(Emphases
by SuperMonopolies.)
The new
domains are on the horizon. For years, ICANN has been preaching its
commitment to competition. Unfortunately, with reference to multiple
applications for closed gTLDs, its actions speak otherwise and ICANN
will have to be held to account for this.
You can
read ICANN's full list of domain string applications here.
SPECIAL
NOTE: The author has not read all individual applications in their
entirety and does not necessarily authoritatively know which applicants
if any are applying for exclusive ownership of these domains. The
author does not state or imply that any of the applicants is seeking
to establish a monopoly in the wide-ranging field of "tires".
Only that it is not expressly prohibited by ICANN's application process,
and that some of the world's largest corporations intend to acquire
and implement various gTLDs privately and exclusively as described
in various application documents. The consequences of this are quite
unknown since there is no precedent for the scale of the rollout.
Speculation on this page also applies in principle to many other domain
string applications, and as stated elsewhere, this website is not
comprehensive and if you have an interest in any specific industry
you should conduct your own careful research.
|
If
either Goodyear or Bridgestone succeed
in their exclusive walled garden domain applications, one of them
will control every variation of the .tires string with
obvious and significant benefits for their own market share. With
further huge residual benefits in terms of excluding their competitors
from the space. And not just competitors — no consumer rights
group (or even Dave Letterman) will be permitted to register Exploding.tires
for example.
