Frank Schilling

Frank T. Schilling

Photograph of Schilling by Amy Strzalko, 2014
Born Frank Taylor Schilling
(1969-07-29) July 29, 1969
Tübingen, Germany
Occupation Internet Investor
Nationality Canadian
Notable works Uniregistry
Website
frankschilling.com

Frank T. Schilling (born July 29, 1969) is a Cayman Islands based Internet-investor and the founder of Uniregistry Corporation.[1] A generic top-level domain (gTLD) registry operator, Schilling has been a long-time participant in the evolution of the commercial domain name space. His registry, registrar, domain re-sale marketplace and assorted name holdings serve customers at every level of today's domain industry.[2]

Early years

The eldest son of German/Canadian immigrants, Schilling claims he was born in the right time to become an early Web adopter. He began registering single domain registrations at the turn of the millennium. The concept of trading generic names for financial gain was considered far fetched during that era. Today participants in this space are collectively known as domainers or 'commercial registrants'.[3]

Career

Schilling's bidding and investment activities (2004–2006) helped expand the expiring domain name auction houses; and later, other ICANN accredited registrars selling their registry connections as a drop registrar. Frank Schilling patented the "Generic Top Level Domain Rerouting System" in 2001.[4] He financed the Caribbean's first ICANN accredited domain name registrar in 2003, joined as a member of the ICANN business constituency and co-founded the non-profit Internet Commerce Association in 2006.[5] He began domain blogging on "Seven Mile" in 2007.[6]

David Kesmodel's 2008 book The Domain Game touches on the history of Schilling and the evolution of the industry in which he continues to participate.[7]

In 2012, Schilling was revealed by CNET as the backer behind Uniregistry and is now the operator of 25 new gTLDs. By 2015, Uniregistry had grown to become a top 20 registrar with more than 1.5 million domain names under management.

The result of a poll of industry participants, revealed August 20, 2014, voted Schilling the "Greatest Domain Investor of All Time",[8] and in March 2015 was feted as "the Most Influential Person in the Domain Name Industry."[9]

References

  1. ↑ Christopher Kompanek (2014-03-07). "Frank Schilling and the rise of the web domain name industry". Financial Times. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  2. ↑ Jackson, Ron (December 2007). "Nice Guy Finishes First: How Frank Schilling Won the Domain Race After Starting at the Back of the Pack". DN Journal. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  3. ↑ Sloan, Paul (1 December 2005). "Masters of their Domains". CNN Money. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "Generic top-level domain re-routing system". freepatentsonline. 2006-11-23. 20060265516. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  5. ↑ Jackson, Ron (November 2006). "T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East 2006: How Domain History was Made at the Westin Diplomat". DN Journal. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  6. ↑ "Frank Schilling's blog". self-published. Retrieved 2015-05-03.
  7. ↑ Kesmodel, David. "The Domain Game". Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Hackley, Raymond (20 August 2014). "The Results Are in Frank Schilling Tops our Poll "Greatest Domain Investor of All Time"". The Domains.com. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Allemann, Andrew (20 March 2015). "The most influential person in the domain name industry is…". domainnamewire.com. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
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