Speed-dating new TLD Registry Providers: NeuLevel
August 2nd, 2008
Note: you may want to read the Introduction and Part One of this series for a quick overview of the “speed-dating” process and some notes about the results presented here. Answers are from the registry operator, and don’t represent our independent evaluation.
[← Demand Media | Full list | AusRegistry International →]
Contestant #7 - NeuLevel
NeuLevel is the domain name registry wing of the giant NeuStar, which brought you the North American Numbering Plan that keeps track of all the phone numbers in the U.S. and Canada.
NeuLevel’s first baby was .biz, which has been the ugly stepsister (i.e., least popular) of the unrestricted generic top-level domains — due to the name itself, and not NeuLevel’s service, which is top-notch. NeuLevel designed and implemented an impressive two-tier registrar system for .CN (China), and serves as the interface for non-Chinese registrars. Just as impressive, given the touchy political situation, they have done a similar job for .TW (Taiwan).
As the registry operator for .US, NeuLevel was saddled with the Senate-mandated .KIDS.US, which is easily the stupidest functional top-level domain in the history of the DNS, and an object-lesson for those who think governments should have much to do with domain name registry management. As they must, NeuLevel manfully denies there’s anything wrong with .KIDS.US, and I have to admire their stiff upper lip. Obviously NeuLevel knows how to handle complicated business rules in their registries.
| Represented by | Ivor Sequeira, Eric Brown, Marco Bernardi |
| TLDs currently supported | Full registry operator for .BIZ, .US; back-end for .TRAVEL, .TEL, and 4U.com; registry gateway for .CN, .TW. |
| Provides marketing support | Yes |
| Hosts registry on their system | Yes |
| Open-source software all or in part | No |
| Subscription, per-unit, flat-fee pricing | Any |
| Invest money in TLD? | Yes |
| Can accommodate complicated business rules | Yes |
| DNS resolution services? | Yes |
| WhoIs services | Yes |
| Customer profile (registration volume) | Any |
| IDN support | Yes |
| DNSSEC support | Yes |
| IPv6 support | Yes |
| Help with application, lobbying | Yes |
| Registrar system included | Yes |
| Differentiating factors | 7 years of experience operating large TLD registries; experience with the ICANN bid process; public company on the NYSE; designated by the FCC as a trusted and neutral party; flexible and configurable software; secure, robust, HA (high-availability) infrastructure; flexible reporting and data warehouse solutions; 24X7 Network Operations Center and Customer Support; WHOIS implementation supports various privacy implementations, including through EPP tags; IDN implementation fully compliant with ICANN guidelines, supports character bundling |
Have anything to say about NeuLevel that people should know? Please leave a comment.
[← Demand Media | Full list | AusRegistry International →]
Tags: ICANN, ICANN application, new top-level domain, new TLD, new gTLD, NeuLevel, NeuStar, North American Numbering Plan, Ivor Sequeira, Marco Bernardi, Eric Brown, Dot CN, .CN, Dot TW, .TW, Dot US, .US, Dot Travel, .travel, Dot TEL, .TEL, 4U.com, Dot KIDS.US, .KIDS.US
Technically, Neulevel doesn’t really exist any longer. It was set up as a joint venture between Neustar (90%) and Melbourne IT (10%) to run just .biz. All other registry deals have been done directly by Neustar, and Melbourne IT sold its share of the JV to Neustar anyway, in about 2007. Therefore, you really should be referring to this lot as Neustar, not Neulevel.
Jon | March 20th, 2009 at 12:50 am
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User links about "sequeira" on iLinkShare | May 16th, 2009 at 7:48 am