i2Coalition Member Spotlight: it.com

it.com offers affordable access within the .COM namespace through its third-level zone, .it.com. For example, if YOURNAME.COM is unavailable, you can register YOURNAME.IT.COM instead—setting up your or your company’s home on the Internet and making it searchable like any other website.

IT.COM is a member of the i2Coalition, taking part in the Domain Name Association and the DNA Issues working groups to examine policy issues that are important to the domain name industry.

We caught up with it.com advisor Joe Alagna about Internet democracy, as well as expanded namespaces for everyday people and businesses.

i2Coalition: Can you give us the elevator pitch for it.com?

Joe Alagna, Advisor for it.com: We want to expand the namespace in the domain name world. What we’ve done is set up a domain name to become a registry. 

Jon Postel, who co-authored the DNS, had written that naming on the Internet should consist of a few top-level domains that are divided into subdomains, which can then be further subdivided, and so on. What it.com does is to carry that idea out in practice. Today there are thousands of new strings, of which about six-hundred are meant for end-users. Basically, the namespace has gone wider rather than deeper. We’re using the DNS’ original functionality to enable more naming in an already-popular TLD [top-level domain] zone.

i2Coalition: Did Intis Telecom already have it.com as a domain name, or did the company acquire it to launch get.it.com?

JA: Intis Telecom was already a well-established business before getting into the domain name industry. The domain name was acquired around three years ago for the express purpose of launching it as its own registry. I worked with CentralNic, 101domain, and Afilias, so I’m familiar with nTLDs. I had been out of the industry for over a year, but when I heard that it.com wanted help, that just pulled me right back in!

i2Coalition: How is your growth outlook so far? 

JA: The launch is underway as we speak. This is the middle of our sunrise period. We’ll then see a short “land rush” in early February 2023, and then go to general availability. We have 10 registrars already on board, out of around 50 we’ve identified as actively selling domains to end users. 

i2Coalition: Where is the interest in .it.com names coming from? End users? Domain investors? Brands?

JA: Right now, we’ve had plenty of interest from brands. A few FAANG companies which I can’t disclose right now are already registering .it.com domains—for live usage or defensive purposes, we’re not sure. 

[Note: “FAANG” refers to America’s top-performing tech companies: Meta (formerly known as Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Alphabet (formerly known as Google).]

i2Coalition: Why did your team find it important to join i2Coalition?

JA: We’re a company who cares about the democratization of the Internet. We want to promote the idea of using the third-level space for the purpose of naming, more than is the case today. You mostly see it used by companies like WordPress or Wix as an upsell avenue, but we want to use that third-level space as its own end-user-friendly product. 

i2Coalition: Which i2Coalition initiatives connect most deeply with the ethos behind it.com?

JA: I was a board member of the Domain Name Association before its merger with i2Coalition, and I’m on the DNA Issues working group as well. The whole it.com team wants to be part of something bigger.

i2Coalition: Where does government policy interface with your work?

JA: We believe it’s important for governments to understand what’s happening in the third-level space, that it is a unique and useful asset. We want to be sure that the dynamics around third-level naming are understood by everyone.