Google, Our Patron Saint of the Closed Web
Of course ICANN cannot actually afford to manage the day-to-day operations of thousands of new TLDs. So they’ve opened the process up to anyone who wants to apply. So you fill out an application, you pay $185,000, there’s a convoluted evaluation process where they ask you questions like whether or not you’re a drug dealer and whether you’re technically qualified to run a TLD, and after a lengthy and bureaucratic review process you basically get your own TLD.
It came as no surprise that thousands of applicants came forward in some kind of crazed internet landrush. Many internet companies are placing bets. Amazon made some 76 applications, and Google made even more, with 101.
What people did not seem to expect (whether due to incompetence or malice is up for debate) is what they would be used for.
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Google opens with a “how-is-this-not-a-parody” argument that owning a TLD and not allowing anyone else to use it “lead[s] to diversified consumer choice”[…]
Update (2019-02-18): Drew Crawford:
So google straight up LIED to icann. They said when applying that .dev was internal-use-only, now that they have it they’re selling access
