As we mentioned in a previous article, former Vice President Al Gore and his philanthropy, the Alliance for Climate Protection, are supporting the creation of a new .eco TLD to be managed by Dot Eco LLC. In addition to Gore, Dot Eco is also backed by the Sierra Club and other environmentally friendly organizations.
It looks like the former veep has some competition though as former Russian ex-President Mikhail Gorbachev and his philanthropy, Green Cross International, is supporting the creation of the same .eco TLD to be managed by Big Room, a Canadian group.
Dot Eco says they will donate 50% of all profits to green causes. Additionally, they say they may or may not develop a system for vetting those interested in registering .eco domains. According to Dot Eco, they are “committed to operating .eco as a tight, customer-focused, well-run business in order to use our revenues to help the environment.”
Big Room says it will donate 25% of generated revenues to green organizations. Additionally, they say they will have a thorough screening of all .eco applicants to confirm that they are truly “green” and that the vetting process will be open and all information about the potential registrant will be made available to the public. According to Big Room, “We are not going to take the position that we can judge who is green, especially as standards are constantly changing. We will let the consumer decide.”
Both companies are engaged in a battle with results to be determined by ICANN in 2010.