November 3 has a curious place in domain name history. From selling domains in nonexistent extensions to experimenting with multilingual names and retiring corporate TLDs, the domain industry has never lacked surprises.
2000 – ICANN Warns About Nonexistent TLDs
On November 3, 2000, ICANN responded to a lawsuit filed by Regland, a company accepting payments for pre-registrations in proposed domain extensions that had not been approved.
ICANN warned that no company was authorized to sell registrations in those new TLDs.
Buy your domain today. We’ll invent the extension later. 😂
2000 – VeriSign Prepares Multilingual Domain Registrations
On the same day, ICANN announced details of VeriSign’s experimental Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) testbed.
Registrations using Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters were scheduled to begin on November 10, 2000.
It was an early step toward making domain names accessible in more of the world’s languages.
The Internet was learning new languages. Domain investors were probably already looking for keywords.
2017 – McDonald’s Says Goodbye to Two TLDs
On November 3, 2017, ICANN formally terminated the registry agreements for .mcd and .mcdonalds, following McDonald’s voluntary termination requests.
Even one of the world’s most recognizable brands decided it didn’t need its own domain extensions.
Would you like a .MCD with that?
No thanks. I’ll stick with .COM. 🍔
2017 – .MONTBLANC and .PAMPEREDCHEF Also Leave
On the same day, ICANN issued termination notices for two more corporate TLDs: .montblanc and .pamperedchef.
Four branded extensions reached the end of their registry agreements on November 3, 2017.
Apparently, even luxury brands sometimes decide they have too many extensions in their collection.
The Bigger Picture
In 2000, companies were taking money for TLDs that didn’t exist.
By 2017, major brands were voluntarily giving up TLDs that did.
Domain names come and go. The renewal reminders are forever.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
— Philip K. Dick, How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later (1978).
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