New York—The Association of National Advertisers continues to advance its support of a “Do Not Sell” registry as part of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' new generic top-level domain program, which would enable marketers to secure such domain names as .cisco or .insurance. The ANA has led a coalition of companies and organizations that fear the gTLD program will increase cybersquatting and add unnecessary fees for marketers.

The ANA said a coalition of 166 companies and industry groups has notified ICANN of its support for a “Do Not Sell” registry designed to limit the potential of cybersquatting in ICANN's gTLD program. The proposed “Do Not Sell” registry would enable marketers to protect their brands—at no cost—during the first application round for the new program, which began Jan. 12.

In its letter to ICANN, the coalition wrote: “We are asking ICANN to do nothing more than maintain the status quo for critical groups that have established serious concerns for a limited period of time while the parties work together in good faith and avoid further conflict. It remains our sincere hope that ICANN will accept this simple, temporary solution or propose an alternative one.”