Why just 60 seconds? Because you’re busy but you need to know if you want to invest time in commenting or caring about this issue. Here’s the 60 second rundown:
In 2004, SHRM and EmployMedia wanted to add a .jobs top level domain. The stated goal was to essentially legitimize the process of distributing .jobs domains only to a company’s name (so, for example, Google could get google.jobs but not sanfrancisco.jobs or technology.jobs). SHRM regulated policies for the .jobs domains while EmployMedia handled the business end (sort of a checks and balances thing).
Five years later, there are about 15k .jobs domains sold. EmployMedia attempted to use domains outside of the agreed upon policies (i.e. company name only) and opened beta sites like atlanta.jobs and boston.jobs, directing all of that traffic to sites owned by DirectEmployers. Being that this wasn’t agreed upon policy, an amendment had to be made and approved along with a public comment period that was supposedly directed by both SHRM and EmployMedia.
Nobody knew about it until this last Wednesday. Not even the folks at SHRM. The public comment period ends today (Friday).
Three issues at play:
- Where was the solicitation of public comment and should that period be extended?
- Should .jobs be restricted to company use only or should it be allowed to expand beyond company-only use?
- And if .jobs should be allowed to be used outside of companies, who should control and delegate the use of those domains? How should those domains ultimately be handled?
I believe these issues all warrant serious consideration even though I don’t personally believe anything sinister is going on here. My hope is that the council will react to the sentiments already shared and add a layer of transparency to the process, seek more legitimate public comment on the matter and give consideration to alternatives to the proposed amendment offered by EmployMedia.
Want to comment on these actions? Here is the public comment board. Get your comment in soon.
Got more than 60 seconds? Check out these takes:
- SHRM to Decide on Allowing Non-Company Name for .jobs by John Zappe
- .Jobs Domains and the Impact on You by Laurie Ruettimann
- SHRM Council to Consider .jobs Friday by John Zappe
- An Open Letter to the SHRM .jobs Advisory Board by Gerry Crispin
- Why SHRM Must Reject the .jobs Amendment by David Manaster
There is a lot of information out there about these changes. I hope you’ll take the time and understand how it can impact your organization.
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