City delays action on supporting new .vegas domain name

By Dave Toplikar (contact)

Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010 | 10:30 a.m.

Using some new Internet rules, a local company is hoping to cash in on Las Vegas' name — and promises to let the city of Las Vegas in on some of the profits, too.

The company, Dot Vegas Inc., had hoped today to get the city's blessing to go forward with its efforts to create, operate and manage a new suffix - .vegas - that could be used in addition to the common .com, .net, .gov or .org suffixes that end most Web addresses.

However, the Las Vegas City Council this morning decided to delay acting until Feb. 3 on a resolution to support the firm's application for the .vegas Top Level Domain from ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

Councilman Steve Wolfson asked that the item be pulled from the agenda. Wolfson explained that Mayor Oscar Goodman, who is this week attending the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., requested the delay so he could comment and vote on the matter.

Last year, ICANN approved opening up the topic of creating generic Top Level Domains and was expecting to start receiving applications for "gTLD" names this year.

James Trevino, CEO and president of Dot Vegas Inc., 10161 Park Run Drive, Suite 150, Las Vegas, says he had planned to send the city's resolution to ICANN soon while ICANN is considering other gTLD proposals. Asked if he needs the city's approval, Trevino said "it definitely helps us."

Trevino said he didn't know how long it might be to get such a new top level domain approved. However, once .vegas is approved, the city would be able to begin joining in on the profits from the venture, Trevino said. He's expecting the city to approve a revenue sharing agreement with Dot Vegas Inc. that would give the city whichever is greater:

— Fifty cents per registration year for each second-level domain name registered in the .vegas TLD for which Dot Vegas Inc. collects domain name registration or renewal revenue,

— Or 10 percent of the gross profits Dot Vegas Inc. makes from domain name registrations or renewals.

Trevino estimated that between 300,000 and 500,000 Web addresses would be registered in the first year the .vegas suffix is approved, which would provide the city with $150,000 to $250,000 under the revenue sharing agreement.

The resolution also sets aside 234 Web addresses with .vegas domain names for the city to use at no cost for a period of five years from the launch of the .vegas top level domain. Among those are LasVegasCityCouncil.vegas, NeonMuseum.vegas and KCLV.vegas.

As part of the resolution Las Vegas City Manager Betsy Fretwell wrote a letter of support to the company's president, James E. Trevino, which will accompany the application to ICANN.

In it, she says, "Las Vegas or 'Vegas', as the City is referred to around the world, is rightfully recognized as one of the world's foremost holiday and convention destinations. This designation has not occurred by accident but through hard work and the dedication of many local agencies. As such, these efforts will continue to be a top priority of the Las Vegas community. The establishment and development of a .vegas TLD will make an invaluable contribution to the community's efforts.

"We look forward to working with you as you move the application forward to a successful approval by ICANN. The City is firmly behind you in this endeavor."

Besides Trevino, Dot Vegas Inc.'s principals are Bart P. Mackay, executive vice president, director, Mackay & Associates, 1193 S. 2100 E., Springville, Utah 84663, and Joseph W. Brown, director, Jones Vargas, 3773 Howard Hughes Parkway, Third Floor South, Las Vegas, NV 89109.