The move, technically entering into negotiations relating to proposed commercial and technical terms for the registry contracts, does not mean that the two TLDs will be approved, though it now seems likely that they both will in some form.
The .mobi domain, backed by Microsoft, Nokia, Vodafone, 3, the GSM Association, HP, Orange, Samsung and Sun, would be marketed for use by Internet services accessible primarily by mobile device users. It would be run by Afilias Ltd, the .info registry.
The .jobs domain is backed by the Virginia-based Society for Human Resource Management and would have its technical back-end operated by VeriSign Inc, the current guardian of .com and .net and others.
The Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is looking for sponsored top-level domains or sTLDs, domains that serve a specific base of registrants. Earlier examples include .aero, which sells to airlines and airports, and .museum, which sells to museums.
ICANN has previously moved forward .post and .travel to the same stage of negotiations. Ten applications to run new TLDs were submitted in March. Remaining applications include .mail (for spam filtering), .cat (for Catalonia), .xxx and .asia.
Two applications to map telephone numbers into the domain name system under a .tel domain are believed to have run foul of objections from the International Telecommunications Union, though ICANN says nobody has been rejected officially yet.
The board resolutions contain wording that suggests ICANN wants to make sure .mobi will not permit telephone numbers. The board asks for confirmation that .mobi will not conflict with the current telephone numbering systems.
In the case of .mobi, the board also mysteriously asks that special consideration be taken as to confirm the sTLD applicant’s proposed community of content providers for mobile phones users.
An ICANN spokesperson declined to comment beyond the text of the resolution, but the wording suggests there’s a possibility that ICANN’s directors are concerned that the .mobi proposal is not technically an sTLD.
The sTLD request for proposals asked that new TLDs serve precisely defined communities, comprised of persons that have needs and interests in common but which are differentiated from those of the general global Internet community.
Microsoft told ComputerWire back in March that .mobi would have an unrestricted base of registrants. The content would be restricted to mobile-friendly services, but the customer base would not.
Another possibility is that ICANN is concerned that .mobi would be adequately available to all mobile content providers, rather than being a walled garden for .mobi’s participant companies.
The .mobi coalition plans to reserve a number of common nouns for auction, rather than releasing them to the public for registration. Anyone planning to snap up taxis.mobi or restaurants.mobi had better have a fat wallet.
