Online addresses ending in .wine and .vin are set to be uncorked soon, despite objections from European governments and several wine industry groups.
The Internet’s chief regulator has reaffirmed its plan to allow the new “top-level domains” ending in “wine” and its French language equivalent, vin.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) said that, following a 60-day review, it found no problems with the process that gave preliminary approval in March to the new domains.
An ICANN statement said that in the process for launching new domain names that began in 2011, “parties with standing were afforded the opportunity to file formal objections... In this case, no such objections were filed against .vin or .wine.”
The board also said there was no basis to claims that ICANN violated its bylaws in the process.
In recent months, several European governments and wine industry groups have protested the plan, while the US government has stood in favor.
Wine industry groups in Europe, California and elsewhere keen on defending appellations with valuable reputations, such as Bordeaux or Napa, have complained the new domains could harm them.
Winemakers also fear having to pay to register their names at Web sites in the new online terrain solely to stop online addresses from being used by imposters or in ways that could spoil reputations.
Three French government officials last week asked the European Commission to block any new .wine and .vin extension without protection for geographical origins such as Bordeaux or Napa.
The letter said the process has become “emblematic of Internet governance that is out of control.”
However, US officials earlier this year said giving special rights to the domains to wine groups or regions could set a dangerous precedent and that ICANN was in no position to determine if a Web site was operating in “bad faith” with respect to wine designations.
Assigning new Web sites for wine could still take some months.
Because three companies have applied as the registrar for .wine, they will be given until January next year to reach an agreement on a joint effort or to make financial arrangements before ICANN sets an auction.
For .vin, only one company has applied to be the registrar, US-based Donuts Inc, which will now be allowed to move forward with ICANN in a process that typically takes several months.
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
RSS