Guess Who Dominates Upcoming "Dot Book" Domain Auction?

Once upon a time, the Internet was a place where paywalls did not exist, where activity tracking profoundly violated individual rights and online privacy, and where obtaining domain names required a brief registration and maybe a couple of bucks.

That "Internet Spring," with its enticing promise, is long gone. The Internet now increasingly functions as a "monetization" arena, with profit often characterized as the greatest possible good human activity can produce. A prime example of this degradation of the Internet is ICANN's (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) current auction of the "dot book" (.book) domain name.

According to a piece in mediabistro.com, the market for .book is sizzling. One contender for the domain is Amazon, which is bidding to own the entire domain. No sharing, which is in keeping with the Seattle firm's M.O. Another player is Google, which went to some lengths to obscure its interest in the auction. A surprise entry is Bowker, the firm that provides ISBN numbers and other data for the book biz.

For better or worse, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) has publicly objected to Amazon's Darth Vader-style grasp for dominance. Apparently, AAP wasn't quite as concerned with the folks from Mountain Valley, California. The organization didn't seem to mind Bowker's desire to seize the domain day, either. Keep in mind publishers work closely with Bowker. The Big Five and the other members of publishing's solar system may not be so strongly motivated to challenge the provider of the industry's data lifeblood.

Amazon, for those of you keeping score at home, prefers to use its own data management system. They don't want Bowker, or anyone else, for that matter, to intrude on its data juggernaut. As in old movies in which secret police play a prominent role, Amazon only needs your information. Content may yearn to be free, but data cries out for control.

PS. A March 24, 2013 article in the Financial Times follows up on this topic and provides a brief summary of the stakes for trademark holders in the domain auction scenario.

The Second Screen, TV, Tablets, and Smart Phones

"The Second Screen"
(image from BBC)

The simultaneous use of multiple electronic devices, such as cell phones and tablets, is something I like to observe in public areas. Recently, while waiting to board a plane at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, I noted someone talking on his smart phone. That took care of one hand. In his other hand was another device to which he frequently referred. I couldn't determine if the gadget was another phone, a music player, or some sort of storage gadget. He was pretty adept with all of his equipment, and was clearly comfortable with them.

I'm not quite so skilled at this sort of gadget juggling. I do have two cell phones, and now and then I use them simultaneously. At home, there's a variation to the story. I might be online via my computer, while using one of my cell phones for some other activity. This dual device environment is becoming, for me, my daily expectation rather than a geeky exception.

Media minds have given considerable thought to personal users' multi-gadget worlds. A concept that's gained some traction in the past few months is "the second screen." The notion is that TV viewers are also actively using another device -- the second screen -- while watching God only knows what on television. Unsurprisingly, advertisers and data miners are quite interested in this concept. The linkage of the small screen with the second screen is already being explored on branded TV experiences, such as the Oscars and the Super Bowl. My guess is that the NCAA basketball tournament will serve as another petri dish for this merging of TV and the online experience.

A September, 2011 Media Bistro article noted how The New York Times was working hard to produce a formula aimed at the second screen crowd. The initiative rather dramatically shaped the newspaper's approach to "reporting" the Oscars, notably in the Times' attempt to engage social media "conversations" to create maximum media impact. Pieces in the Financial Times and venture-savvy vator.tv noted how venture capital firms were beginning to kick the second screen's tires. You get the feeling this could be the Next Big Thing.

Stay tuned.