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While most attention here is on global governance, I thought you
might be interested in what it's sometimes like at the bottom.
Here's a post we made today reviewing the first 6 months of the .nyc
TLD's operation: <a href="http://connectingnyc.org">http://connectingnyc.org</a>.
(I've copied it below for the convenience of some.)<br>
<br>
While I entitled it <i>Digital.nyc - A Status Report</i>, with the
.nyc TLD's operation lacking transparency, accountability, or a
governance process it might better be called Cigar Box Governance.<br>
<br>
Best,<br>
<br>
Tom Lowenhaupt<span class="tools-bottom"></span>
<div class="post_title">
<h2 class="entry-title"><a
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/digital-nyc/"
title="Digital.nyc – A Status Report">Digital.nyc – A Status
Report</a></h2>
<p class="posted-by-text"><span>Posted by:</span> <span
class="vcard author"><span class="fn"><a
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/author/editor/"
title="Posts by Editor" rel="author">Editor</a></span></span></p>
</div>
<p style="text-align: left;"><a
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/digital-nyc/half-candle/"
rel="attachment wp-att-2096"><img class="wp-image-2096
alignright"
src="cid:part4.03010209.07070800@communisphere.com" alt=""
height="218" width="187"></a>Jackson Hts., New York, February
24, 2015 – We’re a 1/2 candle into the life of our city’s TLD and
an appropriate time for an evaluation. But with .nyc’s success
metrics undefined, an assessment is challenging. Hoping that we
might contribute to a long term analytical framework, we decided
to undertake this first review.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Fundamentally, there are two competing
perspectives on a TLD’s success, the standard and community. The
metric used for assessing standard TLDs such as .com, .net, and
.org is based on the number of names sold. We honor that tradition
by presenting a statistical review.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">For community TLDs, the operational
approach we’ve advocated, success comprises a positive impact on
the delivery of city services, economic enhancement, and an
improved quality of life. We took a first stroke at identifying
community metrics <a title="Metrics Checklist"
href="http://www.coactivate.org/projects/campaign-for.nyc/city-tld-metrics-checklist"
target="_blank">on our wiki</a> some time ago. With community
enhancements emerging from long term development efforts, an
assessment at this early stage is challenging. What we do here is
look at some early actions and how they might influence those long
term goals.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Traditional Metrics</h3>
<p style="text-align: left;">Let’s start with some stats on the
number of .nyc domain names sold.</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>As of February 22, the city’s contractor reported 72,103 names
sold with sales at a rate of about 90 registrations per day. (<a
href="https://ntldstats.com/tld/nyc" target="_blank">See more
current stats here</a><a href="https://ntldstats.com/tld/nyc"
target="_blank">.</a>)</li>
<li>Of those, 74.27% or 52,672 were “parked.” A parked domain is
one purchased but without any meaningful content (see <a
href="http://keys.nyc/">keys.nyc</a> for an example). Names
purchased for speculative purposes might be parked. And with
.nyc being a new TLD, many are surely parked while under
development.</li>
<li>That 74% of parked domains has been inching down over the
months. For comparison .berlin has 73% parked, .london 36%,
.paris 48%, and .tokyo 55%. (Might we induce a level of
speculative purchases from these?)</li>
<li>Doing some subtraction (72,103 – 52,672) one might conclude
that 19,431 .nyc domain names are providing some level of
content. But…</li>
<li>A February 21 Google search using the “Site:.nyc” command
revealed only 458 websites. (Google reported a total of 940
finds, a number consisting of both primary names and their
duplicates.) We’re looking for an explanation for this
discrepancy.</li>
<li>We looked at the first 100 of those 458 “Site:.nyc” sites and
found 40% used the .nyc domain name to present content. The
other 60% merely linked to a .com or .org site.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: left;">In addition to these 72,103 sold names,
21,000 names have been created but not allocated. The unallocated
fall into three categories.</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a
href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZXMFe-C2PU6KIRPbZKfLkk63i2k5u7Uz2wDikqWPeZg/edit?usp=sharing"
target="_blank">800 Reserved Names</a> – Names set aside to
serve the public’s benefit. Three fourths of these names are
those of neighborhoods or Business Improvement Districts (BIDs),
e.g., see <a href="http://125thstreet.nyc">125thstreet.nyc</a>.
Included also are some generic and category names, e.g.,
taxi.nyc, tours.nyc, and digital.nyc, about which we have more
to say below.</li>
<li><a
href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1qeEPuuPQ3MxzDtUjNpWZy5milRVISvt-4QqBmHRgENQ/edit?usp=sharing"
target="_blank">3,092 Premium Names</a> – These names were set
aside for distribution through high-bid auctions, scheduled to
begin in early 2015. We’ve advocated for attaching Public
Interest Commitments (PICs) to many of these names, believing
social and economic equity and a stronger TLD will result. A
recent <a
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/report-premium-nyc-domain-names-public-interest-commitments-12-18-2014/">panel
report</a> detailed these recommendations.</li>
<li><a
href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YYFOrvpZzwpb-gHHAzxBPhEa7etN6EiHomNASTSgH1A&authuser=0"
target="_blank">17,000 Collision Names</a> – The “Collision”
names were excluded from allocation pending a review of their
impact on the operation of existing networks. Mayor.nyc and our
own connecting.nyc are two of the good names stuck in this
batch. The vast majority of collision names are of little
consequence, but all are expected to become available in mid
2015.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: left;">While we have some statistics to guide
our Traditional Metrics evaluation, doing so for the Community-TLD
perspective is a bit more challenging.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">The Community View</h3>
<p style="text-align: left;">Early in 2014 Mayor de Blasio announced
that it had reserved nearly 400 neighborhood names for development
by entities representing the public interest. And it created a
path for their allocation – <a href="http://neighborhoods.nyc">see
neighborhoods.nyc</a>. We tested the proposed allocation process
recently by encouraging local civic entities to apply for the
JacksonHeights.nyc name. We chose Jackson Heights because it
represented the home team – we’re based there – and it has a young
entrepreneurial population engaged with tech.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The response was lukewarm at best. Only
one organization indicated it might take on the site’s
development. And that commitment was on an “as time allows” basis.
Also, no existing organization matched the proposed governance
standard.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">We concluded that if a suitable
application was to be filed for JacksonHeights.nyc, it would best
be submitted by a new entity, one having the website as its
primary mission. And we concluded that the neighborhood names
might best be issued to contracted parties, committed to the
principals set out on neighborhoods.nyc, with periodic reviews to
establish compliance. A scenario of this sort would require an
investment for start up and oversight.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The adoption of a resident-focused
nexus policy was another positive action by de Blasio. Properly
administered and enforced nexus can foster a range of benefits
from civic pride to security and economic development. Our review
of registrations revealed some questionable registrant addresses
and we look forward to the initiation of planned random audits and
for a public reporting of results.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">A key sign of community success will
arrive when .nyc names are being used to create new civic and
business connections. Over the last several months we’ve sought to
understand who is registering the domain names. Are names being
registered to make new connections and new markets? Are New
Yorkers shifting their registrations to .nyc from .com, .net, .org
and other foreign TLDs? While we await a sophisticated analysis,
an associate has reviewed the daily log of new registrants. The
dominant impression is that registrations are largely for generic
names, as opposed to those of existing businesses. Looked at in
concert with the high rate of parked names, this might indicate a
multitude of speculative purchases. But one might see a positive
side to this: the names of existing businesses are apparently not
being squatted upon and remain available.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Community Opportunities</h3>
<p style="text-align: left;">One of the key benefits we foresaw for
New Yorkers and visitors alike was an intuitive Internet where our
everyday language would be our guide. Using the <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commissioners%27_Plan_of_1811"
target="_blank">Commissioners’ Plan of 1811</a> as inspiration,
we advanced the model of viewing .nyc as a digital grid where
ease-of-use and clarity would result from the thoughtful
allocation of names – bikes.nyc, bakeries.nyc, drugstores.nyc,
schools.nyc, etc. But the city opted for the speed and simplicity
of a <a
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/the-nyc-landrush-auctions-adding-injury-to-insult/">Land
Rush</a> distribution process (first-come first-served), which
released thousands of intuitive names for unknown uses. The
results are trickling in.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Today, New Yorkers typing <a
href="http://hardwarestores.nyc/">hardwarestores.nyc</a> will be
presented with the services offered by a single locksmith, not an
organized presentation of the desired stores. They’ll need to sift
through Google’s global results to locate their local hardware
store. The local hardware store will need to pay Google if it
hopes to be found there. And a job will not be created for the
local operator of hardwarestores.nyc. It’s a loose-loose-loose
situation for New York.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">But there’s still an opportunity to
foster an intuitive .nyc, where language holds its traditional
meaning. Within the 21,000 unallocated Reserved, Premium, and
Collision names the city can identify widely understood names
(words would be a better descriptive) and require Public Interest
Commitments (<a
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/report-premium-nyc-domain-names-public-interest-commitments-12-18-2014/">see
our recommendations</a>) by the developers of these domain
names.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">If .nyc is to gain a reputation as a
reliable and useful TLD – where people are confident that typing a
domain name will deliver the desired result, names like pizza.nyc
and hotels.nyc can’t simply market traditional brands. That is,
pizza.nyc can’t lead to Pizza Hut and hotels.nyc can’t provide the
choice of all the city’s Hilton Hotels. This will be the likely
consequence if a high bid auction determiners development rights.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">For .nyc to succeed these domain names
need to aide residents and visitors alike in learning about the
history, variety, and depth of our pizza and hospitality
industries. This can only be achieved via contractual Public
Interest Commitments.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Additionally, Mayor de Blasio can
select a few of the unallocated names and provide those on the
other side of the digital divide with the opportunity to apply
their entrepreneurial talents to developing the .nyc TLD.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">Concerns</h3>
<p>Since 2009, when the city announced its intent to acquire .nyc,
there have been few meaningful opportunities for public engagement
in .nyc’s planning and oversight process. Access was virtually
nonexistent during the Bloomberg years. Initially the de Blasio
Administration was more receptive to public engagement, indeed,
during 2014 a .NYC Community Advisory Board met on a monthly
basis, with two from our organization appointed as members.
However, when that Board ceased operating in December, public
access to the oversight process ceased.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The importance of governance and access
was brought to mind recently when we received an invitation to
attend a <a
href="http://www.digital.nyc/events/digital-dot-nyc-five-borough-tour-number-bronx">Digital.nyc
Five Borough Tour</a>. Curious about the event and its genesis
we visited the digital.nyc website where the sponsors were
described:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: left;">Digital.NYC is the
official online hub of the New York City startup and technology
ecosystem, bringing together every company, startup, investor,
event, job, class, blog, video, workspace, accelerator, incubator,
resource and organization in the five boroughs. It is the result
of a unique public/private partnership between the office of Mayor
Bill de Blasio, the New York City Economic Development
Corporation, IBM, Gust, and over a dozen leading NYC-based
technology and media companies.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Curious, we reviewed the Reserved Names
and found digital.nyc listed. Not having been privy to this
development while on the Advisory Board, we wondered about the
process by which they had obtained the domain name. With this in
mind we recalled a recent conversation predicting that fashion.nyc
would be developed in a similar manner to digital.nyc. Some
research revealed fashion.nyc to be on the Premium Names list and
as having been registered to Neustar, the contractor overseeing
.nyc’s marketing and operation, last week.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Without transparency and a governance
process, people may begin to think the city’s TLD is being
operated out of cigar box, or worse. And with public trust central
to its becoming a grid for our digital resources, such perceptions
can be highly detrimental.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">City Hall needs to add transparency and
accountability to the operation of the .nyc TLD. And it needs a
representative and accessible governance process that informs the
public about how allocation decisions are made, for what purpose,
and by whom. And we need a process and timetable for evaluating
these allocations of the public’s resources.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Soap Box: Our view is that a
thoughtfully developed TLD provides the infrastructure for a
secure local Internet. That upon that base one can build privacy,
identity, and community. And that these will speed economic growth
and the creation of a more prosperous and livable city.</p>
<h3>A Hollywood Ending</h3>
<p>This review turned out to be far longer than we anticipated.
Those who’ve stuck with it to the end get 7 .nyc treats. Enjoy.</p>
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://archives.nyc" target="_blank">Archives.nyc</a>
– This site shows city information presented in an esthetically
pleasing manner. Congratulations to the Municipal Archives.</li>
<li><a href="http://MurdersIn.nyc" target="_blank">MurdersIn.nyc</a>
– If we were giving awards this one would get the Bagel for
creative use of a .nyc domain name.</li>
<li><a href="http://Greenestreet.nyc" target="_blank">Greenestreet.nyc</a>
– A wonderful presentation of the 400 year history of one small
section of a city street. But we do have some qualms about
ownership of this resource as detailed <a
href="http://www.connectingnyc.org/of-master-plans-greenstreet-nyc/">here</a>.</li>
<li><a href="http://Straphangers.nyc" target="_blank">Straphangers.nyc</a>
– We love this organization and as one might expect its an early
occupant of the .nyc domain.</li>
<li><a
href="http://visualizing.nyc/bus-riding-the-best-kept-secret-of-nyc-transit/"
target="_blank">Visualizing.nyc</a> – Be patient while this
one loads. For map lovers.</li>
<li><a href="http://Mammamia.nyc" target="_blank">Mammamia.nyc</a>
– Broadway’s first play to make it to the big time.</li>
<li><a href="http://prty.nyc/sperm-visualizer/" target="_blank">Prty.nyc</a>
– Dancing like you’ve never seen it before.</li>
</ul>
<br>
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