CIF welcomes positive step in cloud domain controversy

Cloud body optimistic that ICANN will not exclusively sell off '.cloud' domain after internal body advised against it

The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) has welcomed a decision which could see the exclusive sale of new web domains such as ".cloud" scrapped.

Earlier this year, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) revealed plans to sell off closed-registry web domain names such as ".book." ".app" and ".jewellery".

CIF and a wave of other cloud bodies contested the plans, claiming that if ".cloud" were sold to a single company such as Amazon, Symantec or Google, the industry could be monopolised, leaving smaller cloud vendors out of pocket.

This week, ICANN has been in talks about the plans, and its Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) ruled that generic terms such as ".cloud" should "only have exclusive access if that exclusivity serves the public interest" – a move welcomed by the CIF.

The cloud body's chairman Andy Burton, who has campaigned against the move since its announcement, said the decision is a victory for common sense, but that the fight is still not over.

"By identifying ‘.cloud' as a generic term, the GAC has effectively made it clear that it does not support commercial applications for a closed-registry [domain]," he said, adding that such a move would be more likely to confuse the industry than serve its best interests.

"While we are not assuming the matter closed, we are happy to see common sense prevail. We believe that a closed registry would be disastrous for the industry at large, making smaller cloud providers beholden to the demands imposed by the owner of ‘.cloud'.

"We also believe it will be difficult for Amazon, Google or Symantec to demonstrate that exclusive access to this domain credibly serves the public interest, and so we are more optimistic that we will see the agenda move to being one about an open registry where the industry and community at large can get behind it," he said.