FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Image Online Design Comments on ICANN Top Level Domains SAN LUIS OBISPO, March 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Image Online Design, Inc., the .Web Internet Domain Registry (tm) today expressed cautious optimism at the recent report presented to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) at its meeting in Cairo, Egypt. The report, presented by ICANN's Working Group on new top-level domains, presented consensus that ICANN should create six to ten new top-level domains (TLDs) as an initial test of competition for Network Solution's (NSOL) .com registry. "This is certainly a step forward," said John Frangie, CEO of Image Online Design, Inc., "We have been working with the Internet community for over four years now to introduce new top-level domains, and this is the first real progress we've seen in a very long time." Image Online Design has seen the entire history of this debate unfold over the years, from 1995, when it first proposed creating its .web registry, through 1996, when the Internet Assigned Numbering Authority (IANA) gave the go-ahead to create the registry as a proof-of-concept, prior to being made available to the Internet as a whole. Image Online Design has been providing domain name services for .Web for a segment of the Internet Community since 1996. "Perhaps this time we'll get the governance issue right," said Christopher Ambler, founder of Image Online Design, "and I look forward to seeing our .Web registry expanded to the whole of the Internet, along with other pioneering registries, in this first group." The selection criteria for the first group has yet to be determined, but Dr. Milton Mueller, Associate Professor at Syracuse University School of Information Studies and a member of ICANN's working group on new TLDs, said "If ICANN is serious about ending the domain name wars, its policies should not ignore or foreclose legitimate domain name registries that have already been operating new TLDs. Rather, ICANN should cooperate and coordinate with them to resolve naming conflicts and incorporate them into the new regime." ICANN has committed to moving forward on this issue at their next meeting, scheduled to be held this July in Japan. Image Online Design has pledged to assist the process in any way it can, and hopes that the initial timetable of adding the new registries by the end of the year can be met. "This is a complicated issue, and we acknowledge the need to be careful, but the ongoing delays have caused considerable difficulties for pioneering registries," added Frangie, noting, "I see no reason to delay any further when we are ready (and have been for over four years) to proceed with this testing phase." The .Web Internet Domain Registry may currently be found at http://webtld.com. Once .Web is available to the Internet, the registry will be located at http://nic.web. Registrations are currently being taken for .Web domains. See the Frequently Asked Questions section of the web site for more details. ABOUT IMAGE ONLINE DESIGN Image Online Design, Inc. was founded in 1995, and provides Internet consulting, domain name registration, and web design. Founded in 1996, the .Web Internet Domain Registry(tm) is the longest-standing new domain registry. Competing directly with Network Solutions (Nasdaq: NSOL) .com registry, the .Web registry currently has registrations from over 70 countries worldwide. Respectfully, Jay Fenello, New Media Relations ------------------------------------ http://www.fenello.com 770-392-9480 Aligning with Purpose(sm) ... for a Better World ------------------------------------------------ "The unexamined life isn't worth living" -- Socrates
