Friday, July 27, 2012

The Battle for Dot-Radio: Part I

by Alexis Hauk
 
Who will manage “dot-radio?” This is a question currently gaining traction. If you haven't heard it yet, you soon will.

Last month, Radio World reported that four organizations — European Broadcasting Union, BRS Media Inc., Tin Dale LLC and Afilias Ltd. — have applied for the registry of that new generic top-level domain, as part of a planned dramatic expansion in the Internet’s domain name system.

Who are these four, and what are their plans for “dot-radio?” Radio World takes a closer look.

The first up is EBU, a confederation of 85 broadcasting organizations from 56 countries, and 37 associate broadcasters from a further 22 countries. Among prominent members are the British Broadcasting Company, Italy’s RAI and Radio France Internationale.

EBU recently came under some criticism from its dot-radio competitor BRS Media for what BRS cites as a conflict of interest in its application. EBU currently sits on the Governmental Advisory Committee for ICANN, and ICANN is the governing body that will decide who gets to manage dot-radio. Last week, BRS Media chairman and CEO George Bundy sent a letter to chair of the GAC, Heather Dryden, requesting that EBU withdraw its application to manage dot-radio, citing an unfair advantage.

The following answers were excerpted from a longer company-released statement from EBU, which was released prior to the BRS complaint and sent as a response to specific Radio World questions about their application. Some spelling has been modified.

Stay tuned for profiles of the three other dot-radio applicants, and more response from EBU about its place on the GAC.


(Source : Radio World)

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