ICANN, the organization that oversees domain names, has authorized a new top level domain targeted at mobile devices. The new top level domain (or TLD) is .mobi and will be open for general use and registrations on August 28, 2006. There is alreadly limited registrations allowed for those that can prove they have a trademark in the domain (i.e. hopefully for Microsoft, they have already grabbed Microsoft.mobi).

Even though early registration is being allowed for trademark holders, I am sure that many big brands will fail to grab their trademarks for .mobi and will be quickly filing domain arbitration complaints to recover “their” domains. WIPO and the National Arbitration Forum should be ramping up staff to handle the inevitable increase in filings.

AOL to move towards free services I saw this article this morning which discusses anticipated moves by America Online to offer access to users that obtain their Internet access from a third party (most commonly through broadband I would say) provider for services and features for which they have previously charged a fee. Given the dramatic exodus of their dial up subscibers over the last couple of years, this move is not surprising (they’ve lost more than a third of their customer base in the last three years).

I’m sure the underlying strategy is that AOL can still capture ad revenue from users that will prevent dramatic decreases in revenue from dial up defectors. I would also assume that AOL will focus more on leveraging Time Warner content properties in premium-access-for-a-fee packages. If you’re a content provider it’s probably a good time to approach AOL for a deal – just be aware that they’ll probably be looking for some level of exclusivity.

Welcome to the Internet Law Blog! This blog is intended for Internet entrepreneurs and web business owners that are interested in Internet legal issues and information regarding Internet deal-making. I am a lawyer that specializes in representing Internet businesses. I negotiate and draft Internet contracts and website agreements that protect my clients while helping them grow their businesses. I have been handling Internet legal issues for more than a decade and was involved with Internet businesses from the very early days of the commercialization of the Web. For more information about my background, check out the About Us section of my law firm website at www.Internet-Legal.com.

I enjoy helping companies and entrepreneurs craft and close stategic partnerships that boost business dramatically and I have extensive experience negotiating with partners of all sizes to make deals that are advantageous for everyone involved. I have negotiated and closed deals with almost every major Internet company out there, including AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, Intuit, Amazon.com, and more.