Top Level Design was founded in 2012 by Portland entrepreneur Ray King after he stepped down as CEO of AboutUs, a company he founded in 2006. King partnered with his brother-in-law and investor Peter Brual, who served as an advisor to AboutUs. Top Level Design was created to become a domain name registry for multiple generic top-level domains. In 2012, domain industry websites reported that the company had applied for ten gTLDs:.art,.blog,.design,.gay,.group,.ink,.llc,.photography,.style and.wiki. King later revealed that, because the company began as a family project, the gTLDs applied to by Top Level Design reflect both personal and business interests. Industry sources also confirmed that CentralNic would serve as Top Level Design's backend registry provider and Iron Mountain Incorporated would provide escrow services. The company's applications were further confirmed by The Oregonian and Portland Business Journal in April 2013. In an interview published by The Oregonian, King expressed his hope that Top Level Design would "help shape new era" of top-level domains, saying they were "going to change the complexion of the Internet, at least the naming complexion of the Internet, quite a bit." Top Level Design is the domain name registry for.wiki,.ink and.design. It is no longer in contention for.group, or.style, following private auctions. As of November 2014, the company is still in contention for the gTLDs.art,.blog,.gay and.llc.
.wiki
On November 7, 2013, ICANN and Top Level Design entered into a "Registry Agreement", officially allowing the company to operate as the registry for.wiki. ICANN and Top Level Design entered into a "Registry Agreement" for the.ink gTLD on December 5, 2013. Both gTLDs were uncontested. Following the acquisitions, King told CMSWire, "You can generalize that neither will be one of the biggest TLDs because strings like.art,.music and.blog all received multiple applications". However, he continued, many people "from within industry tell me that.wiki is their dark horse for a successful TLD," because ".wiki" describes the site format. "So, when I go to craftbeer.wiki, I can expect a vibrant site with passionate folks discussing all things relevant to brewing beer. This is not the case with craftbeer.com or craftbeer.guru, where you could be accessing a storefront, a blog, a brewery tourguide or any number of things." In January 2014,.wiki was named one of the "Top 10 gTLDs to Watch in 2014" by ClickZ for having the "potential to provide great secure, shared workspaces for companies large and small". By mid-March, Top Level Design had signed agreements with more than 120 domain name registrars to retail.wiki names. It was announced in May that the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization which hosts Wikipedia and other projects, would use "w.wiki" as a URL shortener. The Foundation also endorsed Top Level Design's proposal to ICANN's Registry Services Evaluation Process to unblock 179 two-letter strings representing language codes. wiki domain registrations were available to only trademark holders until May 5; they became available to the general public on May 26, 2014. According to Domain Name Wire, more than 3,000.wiki domains were registered on the first day of general availability.
.ink
The.ink gTLD caters to the printing, publishing and tattoo industries, and individuals in involved with ink, including typographers and artists. It has been called a "niche name with multiple connotations". King has said of the extension, which he believes will also appeal to bloggers, design studios and writers: "Any of those companies or people that are using ink to put their message out in the work. It’s signifying permanence. There is no reason not to get a name that more accurately describes your business, including of course ink makers." The gTLD launched on June 23, 2014. King, with assistance from two heavily tattooed models, literally “pressed the launch button” to promote.ink at the ICANN 50 conference in London. In August, the Daily Star included the.ink extension in their list of "Top 10 tattoo trends". In April 2015, The Domains reported that less than 50% of.ink domains were parked.
.design
In September 2014, Top Level Design outbid six other applicants in a private auction for the domain.design.
.gay
In October 2013, King revealed in a guest column for PQ Monthly, an LGBT publication for Oregon and Southwest Washington, that he was inspired to apply for.gay by his late gay brother-in-law Clyde and other family members. In the column, King outlined why he wanted the gTLD to remain open in order to benefit the global LGBT community, using three main concepts: "Freedom of Choice", meaning the purpose of gTLDs like.gay and.lgbt should not be defined by gatekeepers; "Freedom of Speech", or not allowing censorship of content appearing on.gay domains; and the "Freedom to Register", suggesting there should not be a barrier to authenticate oneself as gay to register a.gay domain. In the latter concept, King argues against the need for domain purchasers to become a member of an "Authentication Partner", who would be required to create usernames and passwords for all of their members. According to King, "This means higher costs, disenfranchising many potential registrants such as youth and people in developing countries and also, forced identification, which to some may be anywhere from distasteful to outright dangerous. Further, there are many LGBTQ folks who simply do not wish to participate in formal organizations." The column concluded by asking community members to express their support or opposition of an open.gay gTLD. The following month, Q Center, an LGBT community center in Portland, published arguments by King on behalf of Top Level Design and Jamie Baxter on behalf of dotgay LLC; both groups expressed why they should be the registry for.gay, and were seeking community support. Slate magazine also covered the.gay contention. dotgay LLC's community application was denied by ICANN's Community Priority Evaluation committee in October 2014.
