A2IM Wants .Music Domain Name For Artists And Labels

A2IM

The AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT MUSIC (A2IM) wants to retain control of the .MUSIC domain name for artists and labels, not Internet giants like GOOGLE and AMAZON.

The indie trade organization is lobbying THE INTERNET CORP. FOR ASSIGNED NAMES AND NUMBERS (ICANN) for ownership. ICANN has already assigned specialized identifiers in the domain space like .diet, .hotel and .vodka.

A2IM insists awarding it the ability to manage the domain site "will be a step in protecting against copyright infringement and ensuring fair compensation for the artists and labels behind the new .MUSIC webpages."

A2IM is urging interested parties to contact ICANN and insist the music creator community, and not digital services with less regard for music creators or companies which would be strictly investor entities looking to maximize revenues without regard for copyright ownership protections, to manage the coming .music Internet domain name.

ICANN is the not-for profit organization responsible for the coordination of maintenance and methodology of unique identifiers related to the namespaces of the Internet and ensuring the network’s stable and secure operation. In JUNE 2011 the ICANN board voted to end most restrictions on the names of generic top-level domains (gTLD) companies and ICANN is in the process of expanding Internet domain names.

The dot.MUSIC concept incorporates both property rights and the concept of the “seal of approval” to produce relatively inexpensive information for fans, artists and labels. This initiative could result in domains names like BONIVER.MUSIC, JAGJAGUWAR.MUSIC and A2IM.MUSIC, etc., being used as alternative website addresses for promotion or commerce.

A2IM has been supporting bids by members of the music creator community (DOT MUSIC and FAR FURTHER) to own and control the .MUSIC domain name to ensure that only legitimate music labels/publishers and their recording artists/songwriters get the rights to use the .MUSIC gTLD for the names for which they own the property rights.

The evaluation to determine who gets control over the domain name is now being decided. A letter has already gone out to ICANN outlining the reasons A2IM feels the music community should control it, rather than profit-motivated companies like GOOGLE or AMAZON, with little regard for copyright protection and intellectual property.

« see more Net News