[Hizonner]

They're not top-level domains until most people's clients resolve them as such. They're off to the side in a niche name space that most people don't know about, and to which you have provided a brittle gateway that doesn't even present them as top-level.

... and they have a million other little niche name spaces to compete with to reach the point of serving as "top-level domains". I can create my own alternate name space, too, and nobody will care about mine, either.

[troquerre]

They're top-level domains on an alternative root but that doesn't make them not top-level domains.

[miki123211]

What happens if your definition of a top-level domain disagrees with ICAN's? I mean, what happens if you sell .xyzzy to Bob, and then ICAN, without caring about your project, sells .xyzzy to Alice? How should the conflict be resolved?

[im3w1l]

What I see happening as a complete outsider is that "the community" (eg browsers, libraries) puts them under a tld against their wishes, to resolve this exact issue.