Friday, 11 November 2011 05:33 David Goldstein
It seems like a plethora of American advertising agency associations in recent weeks have just woken up to the fact that new generic Top Level Domains are coming. Individually groups such as American Association of Advertising Agencies and the Association of National Advertisers have been complaining to ICANN with letters strewn with errors.
Since this has not worked, the organisations have banded together with 87 of their co-conspirators to wail that the world will end with the introduction of new gTLDs and formed the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight (CRIDO).
Showing that they either display a lack of knowledge of the process, or are not of afraid of hyperbole, the organisation claims the new gTLD programme is deeply flawed, will lead to excessive cost and harm to brand owners, lead to the likelihood of predatory cyber harm to consumers and failure to act in the public interest, which they note is a core requirement of ICANN’s commitment to the U.S. Department of Commerce."This unprecedented, united opposition to ICANN’s top-level domain expansion program clearly demonstrates the enormity of the dissatisfaction across the Internet stakeholder community," Bob Liodice, President and CEO of the ANA moans in the news release announcing CRIDO, giving a bizarre definition of the "internet stakeholder community.""The major global industries represented by CRIDO foresee immense damage to their constituents, consumers and the economy. We implore ICANN to discontinue its efforts to roll out this ill-conceived, unwanted and destructive program."Members of CRIDO include the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Society of Association Executives, the National Restaurant Association, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, the American Council of Life Insurers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). The WFA represents a global network of 51 advertiser associations representing some 90 per cent of global marketing communications spending, equivalent to $700 billion annually.
To date, the following 47 associations have joined CRIDO and signed a petition that will be sent to the US Department of Commerce publicly stating their opposition to new gTLDs:
AAF-Amarillo
AAF-Dallas
AAF-Fort Worth
AAF Hampton Roads
AdClub Cincinnati
American Advertising Federation (AAF)
American Advertising Federation of Des Moines
American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA)
American Association of Advertising Agencies (4As)
American Beverage Association (ABA)
American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI)
American Health Care Association (AHCA)
American Insurance Association (AIA)
American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA)
American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
Association of Canadian Advertisers (ACA)
Association of National Advertisers (ANA)
Austin Advertising Federation
Boise Advertising Federation
Cable Advertising Bureau (CAB)
Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)
Direct Marketing Association (DMA)
European Association of Communications Agencies (EACA)
European Publishers Council (EPC)
Food Marketing Institute (FMI)
Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA)
Idaho Advertising Federation
Idaho Falls Advertising Federation
Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO)
Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB)
IAB Europe
Lewis-Clark Valley Advertising Federation
Magic Valley Advertising Federation
Mobile Marketing Association (MMA)
MPA – the Association of Magazine Media
National Association of Broadcasters (NAB)
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
National Confectioners Association (NCA)
National Council of Chain Restaurants (NCCR)
National Restaurant Association (NRA)
Pocatello Advertising Federation
Promotion Marketing Association (PMA)
Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB)
Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA)
Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB)
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) – Which includes fifty independent federations throughout the world
Additionally, the following 40 companies have joined CRIDO and signed their petition:
Acxiom
Adobe Systems Incorporated
Allstate Insurance Company
American Express
Brinker International
Burger King Corporation
The Coca-Cola Company
Combe Incorporated
ConAgra Foods
Costco Wholesale Corporation
Darden Restaurants, Inc.
Dell Inc.
Dunkin Brands, Inc.
Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Fidelity Investments
Ford Motor Company
General Electric Company
Hack Creative
Hewlett-Packard Company
Hunter Douglas NA
J.C. Penney Company, Inc.
Johnson & Johnson
Kellogg Company
La Quinta
Liberty Mutual
MillerCoors
Money Mailer of Amarillo
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
Neon Sun Tanning Salon
Nestle USA
ORCI
OSI Restaurant Partners, LLC
Papa John’s
Procter & Gamble
Publicis Groupe
Pulte Group
Samsung
US Bank
Vanguard
Verge.
