auDA Domain Name News - 25 January
25/Jan/2010
auDA Domain Name News is compiled by David Goldstein on auDA's behalf. The views expressed in the news items linked from auDA's website (Linked Documents), do not necessarily reflect the views of auDA. auDA does not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information contained in the Linked Documents, and assumes no liability to any person for any reliance placed upon any information contained in the Linked Documents.
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- ICANN
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ICANN Remains Committed to Nairobi and Africa by Rod Beckstrom
We have listened to the community. Many are looking forward to Nairobi, some expressed concerns, particularly in light of the events in downtown Nairobi on January 15. Accordingly, ICANN staff and board have reexamined the security situation
blog.icann.org/2010/01/icann-remains-committed-to-nairobi-and-africa/
First 4 IDN ccTLDs through String Evaulation by Tina Dam
The first four IDN ccTLD requests has just been announced as having completed the String Evaulation portion of the Fast Track Process.
blog.icann.org/2010/01/first-4-idn-cctlds-through-string-evaulation/
First Four Internationalized Domain Names Pass Key Approval Milestone
ICANN today approved the first four internationalised top-level domain names. Egypt, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have passed the language character (string) evaluation, intended to avoid confusion with other top level domain names. These countries may now request that their Internet names be included in the Internet domain names root system, so they can be accessed by all users globally by mid-2010.
icann.org/en/news/releases/release-21jan10-en.pdf
First IDN ccTLDs Requests Successfully Pass String Evaluation
ICANN is pleased to announce the successful completion of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track String Evaluation for four (4) proposed IDN ccTLDs. The requests are associated with: Egypt, the Russian Federation, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.
icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-21jan10-en.htm
Discussion Draft: Affirmation Reviews — Extension of Public Comment Period
As requested by Members of the Community, the public consultation on the discussion draft paper addressing the Affirmation review requirements has been extended from the end of January to the 10th February 2010.
icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-21jan10-en.htm
ICANN's Nairobi Meeting To Go Ahead Despite Security Concerns
Following a special meeting of the ICANN Board of Directors on Friday, Rod Beckstrom, ICANN’s CEO, has announced via a posting on the ICANN blog that the Nairobi meeting will go ahead as planned in March.
goldsteinreport.com/article.php?article=10167
www.domainpulse.com/2010/01/23/icanns-nairobi-meeting-to-go-ahead-despite-security-concerns/
www.domainnews.com/en/icann-s-nairobi-meeting-to-go-ahead-despite-security-concerns.html
Good news: Nairobi meeting confirmed
After much worrying, talking, arguing and hesitating, ICANN has gone and done the right thing. Despite certain security concerns from participants from countries like the United States or the UK, the Nairobi meeting is on.
stephanevangelder.com/archives/302-Good-news-Nairobi-meeting-confirmed.html
Safety Concerns Now Cast Doubt on Nairobi Internet Conference
Unease following the arrest of radical Islamic preacher Abdullah al-Faisal threatens to jeopardise Kenya's chances of hosting a key global meeting to discuss the future of the internet.
www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company Industry/-/539550/847166/-/t4k7a0z/-/index.html
www.businessdailyafrica.com/Company Industry/-/539550/847166/-/t4k7a0z/-/
allafrica.com/stories/201001210924.html
ICANN Meeting in Nairobi to Go Ahead Despite Safety Concerns
A special board meeting was held today by ICANN in order to address the upcoming meeting in Nairobi and security concerns raised by the community as a result of recent events in the city. ICANN has reaffirmed it's commitment to the meeting in Nairobi and an announcement was made via a blog post by Rod Beckstrom, ICANN's President and CEO:
www.circleid.com/posts/icann_meeting_in_nairobi_to_go_ahead_despite_safety_concerns/
ICANN Meeting #37 Will Take Place In Kenya
The ICANN board voted in a special meeting held today to keep the 37th ICANN meeting in Nairobi, Kenya from March 7-12, 2010.
www.domainnamenews.com/up-to-the-minute/icann-meeting-37-will-take-place-in-kenya/6979
Internationalized Domain Names Advance
The group that manages the Internet address system said Thursday that it has given preliminary approval to four countries to, for the first time, write Internet addresses entirely in their native languages. ICANN said Egypt, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have passed the language character evaluation, which is aimed at ensuring there is no confusion with other Internet top-level domains.
techdailydose.nationaljournal.com/2010/01/internationalized-domain-names.php
ICANN approves Internet addresses in Arabic, Cyrillic script [Relax News]
The global agency overseeing Internet domain names on Thursday said Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates can begin creating online addresses in their native languages.
www.independent.co.uk/news/media/icann-approves-internet-addresses-in-arabic-cyrillic-script-1877447.html
ICANN approves Internet addresses in Arabic script [AFP]
The global agency overseeing Internet domain names said Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates can begin creating online addresses in their native languages.
news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-technology/icann-approves-internet-addresses-in-arabic-script-20100122-mpz2.html
news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/icann-approves-internet-addresses-in-arabic-script-20100122-mpz2.html
Non-Latin web domain names get clearance [AP]
Egypt, Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the first countries to win preliminary approval for internet addresses written entirely in their native scripts.
www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/net-addresses-to-go-global/story-e6frg6so-1225822662896
news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/nonlatin-web-domain-names-get-clearance-20100122-moqu.html
www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-world/nonlatin-web-domain-names-get-clearance-20100122-moqu.html
news.theage.com.au/breaking-news-world/nonlatin-web-domain-names-get-clearance-20100122-moqu.html
Comment: Internet - New shot in the arm for US hegemony
The Internet originated on American soil. In 1969, the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the US Defense Department established the world's first testing packet-switched network (PSN) to connect four universities on US soil.
english.eastday.com/e/100123/u1a4972925.html
news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2010-01/22/c_13147269.htm
english.people.com.cn/90001/90780/91345/6876608.html
The At Large Board seat should represent the public by Milton Mueller
In August 2009 the ICANN board decided to give its At Large community a voting position on the board. This change was hailed by many advocates of democratizing ICANN as a small but significant step toward improving ICANN's accountability to the public. Ideally, the new board position would be democratically selected by the world's Internet users to represent the voice of the public in ICANN.
blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2010/1/22/4435548.html
The Internet is a better place – ICANN replaces policy head
Of the hundreds of people I have worked with, some of them very difficult, I have only truly disliked two. Not so much for their personalities but for the fact that they infected the whole work environment with destructive and negative behaviour. One was an incompetent bully of a news editor on a weekly PC magazine; the other was the head of policy at ICANN until yesterday.
kierenmccarthy.com/2010/01/23/the-internet-is-a-better-place-icann-replaces-policy-head/
Does a new ICANN policy chief make the Internet a better place?
Although unconfirmed at this stage, the ICANN grapevine has been buzzing the last few days with the news that ICANN's Vice President for policy development Denise Michel was about to be replaced.
stephanevangelder.com/archives/301-Does-a-new-ICANN-policy-chief-make-the-Internet-a-better-place.html
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- ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
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au: Bolton's cork pops at Bottle
Embattled domain name registrar Bottle Domains today apologised for a mistake that saw it send emails to customers yesterday alerting them that they had transferred their domain name to another registrar associated with owner Nicholas Bolton.
www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Bolton-s-cork-pops-at-Bottle/0,130061744,339300564,00.htm
Dot-ca registration to get easier later this year
CIRA, the non-profit corporation in charge of dishing out Canadian domains, is changing its registry system and streamlining the process that consumers and business go through to purchase a dot-ca address. Find out the motivation for the changes and what it will mean for Canadian Web site owners
www.itworldcanada.com/news/dot-ca-registration-to-get-easier-later-this-year/139766
.cn registry remains in gray zone
The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which is responsible for registering domain names, is under fire for what appears to be flip-flopping positions on whether sites that end with .cn could be used by private individuals.
news.alibaba.com/article/detail/technology/100237201-1-.cn-registry-remains-gray-zone.html
Record number of fi-domain names granted in 2009
A record number of fi-domain names were granted last year, 48 009 in all.
www.ficora.fi/en/index/viestintavirasto/uutiset/2010/P_3.html
Madrid Enters The Race for Top Level Domain
The growing list of contenders for new generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) has seen the Spanish city of Madrid enter the race with a proposal for .MADRID.
www.domainpulse.com/2010/01/25/madrid-top-level-domain/
www.domainnews.com/en/madrid-enters-the-race-for-top-level-domain.html
rs: Tender for the procurement of equipment
The Serbian National Register of Internet Domain Names has announced a public invitation for collecting offers for provisioning hardware and accompanying software. The deadline for obtaining documentation is 10 days and the deadline for submitting offers is 8 February 2010.
rnids.rs/en/node/67?lang=en
Nominet gives registrars right to cancel names on allegations of criminality
The body in charge of the UK's domain names, such as those ending in .co.uk, has given domain name registration companies the power to suspend any name if it is presented with evidence of suspected illegal activity.
out-law.com/default.aspx?page=10683
uk: Nominet renewal warning email
On 20 January our software release caused a delay to the renewal of some domain names that were set to automatically renew. As a result some customers may have received an email from us stating that their domain name had passed its expiry date and was due for renewal. In these cases the domain name has now been renewed.
www.nominet.org.uk/news/latest/?contentId=7045
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- DNS SECURITY
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Has DNSSEC Been Compromised Again?
The Domain Name System is supposed to have its own security system, but it looks like that system itself has been found vulnerable yet again.
www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3860301
www.linuxtoday.com/news_story.php3?ltsn=2010-01-22-009-35-NW-NT
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- DOMAIN DISPUTES
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Kentucky Supreme Court Still Silent on Internet Gambling Case
On Thursday, many in the online poker industry expected the Kentucky Supreme Court to hand down a decision in the case involving the seizure and potential forfeiture of 141 internet gambling domain names, including those belonging to PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
www.pocketfives.com/online-poker-scene/kentucky-supreme-court-still-silent-on-internet-gambling-case-5129472
Kentucky Supreme Court Ruling For Internet Case May Come In March
While Kentucky lawmakers debate expanded gambling at state racetracks, there still is a case pending before the Kentucky Supreme Court. The ruling on the Internet gambling domain name case was expected this past Thursday.
www.casinogamblingweb.com/gambling-news/gambling-law/kentucky_supreme_court_ruling_for_internet_case_may_come_in_march_53754.html
Kentucky Supreme Court – No Decision Reached
The online poker industry was waiting for a decision this past Thursday to come from the Kentucky Supreme Court but it didn’t happen. The case in question involved poker where 141 online gambling domain names were seized and subject to forfeiture. Included in the gambling domains were Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.
www.4flush.com/online-poker-news/kentucky-supreme-court-no-decision-reached/4462/
Utah Legislator Introduces State Anti-Cybersquatting Proposal
The state of Utah will soon be considering an interesting anti-cybersquatting proposal as part of a comprehensive bill to update the state's laws on phishing, pharming, spyware, and other online ills.
pblog.bna.com/techlaw/2010/01/utah-legislator-introduces-state-anticybersquatting-proposal.html
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- IPv4/IPv6
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ICANN Urges Adoption Of IPv6
The available number of unallocated Internet addresses using the older IPv4 protocol has dropped below 10 percent, according to ICANN.
www.webpronews.com/topnews/2010/01/21/icann-urges-adoption-of-ipv6
community.ecmta.org/blogs/news/archive/2010/01/21/icann-urges-adoption-of-ipv6.aspx
>90% of IPv4 address space used; IPv6 move looking messy
The Number Resource Organization warns that less than 10 percent of the IPv4 address space remains; it's time to start adopting IPv6. The warning comes after APNIC, the registry that hands out IP addresses in the Asia-Pacific region, obtained an additional 33.5 million IPv4 addresses from IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. This brings the size of IANA's global pool of free IPv4 address space down from 26 to 24 blocks of 16,777,216 addresses ("/8s").
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/01/90-of-ipv4-address-space-used-ipv6-move-looking-messy.ars
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- MISCELLANEOUS
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Video on How the DNS Works
CENTR, the Council of European National Top Level Domain Registries, has produced the following video to help explain the functioning of the Domain Name System (DNS).
www.circleid.com/posts/video_on_how_the_dns_works/
Internet 2009 in numbers
What happened with the Internet in 2009? How many websites were added? How many emails were sent? How many Internet users were there? This post will answer all of those questions and many more. Prepare for information overload, but in a good way.
royal.pingdom.com/2010/01/22/internet-2009-in-numbers/
Internet Commerce Association: September 2006 – January 2010 R.I.P Dead, Gone & We Are On Our Own?
Is The Internet Commerce Association (the “ICA) dead? Phil Corwin who’s Washington Law firm has represented the Association at ICANN meetings, and through its various committees and workshops, and represented domainers interests in matters from the Snowe Bill to the Kentucky Domain Seizure case, to the Uniform Rapid Suspension, contract with the ICA ended on December 31, 2009.
www.thedomains.com/2010/01/24/internet-commerce-association-september-2006-january-2010-r-i-p/
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- DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET
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Blockbuster French ccTLD Sale at Sedo Gets the 2010 Domain Sales Season Off on the Right Foot
The New Year's first full week of domain sales is now in the books. Sedo helped get 2010 off to a rousing start by closing a huge €587,500 ($851,875) sale of Credit.fr (French ccTLD). That sale also served notice that the surge in country code sales that we've seen over the past couple of years is not likely to subside any time soon. The Credit.fr sale is more than three times higher than the top ccTLD sale reported in all of 2009. That was Spel.se ("games" in Swedish), sold last June for $266,000 - also by Sedo.
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2010/20100120.htm
The State of the Industry January 2010: We Asked 16 Domain Experts If We Hit Bottom in 2009 and Will See a Rebound in the New Year
The severe global recession that started in 2008 and continued through 2009 hasn't been kind to many businesses, including our own. Yes, we have fared better than most others, especially the traditional media platforms with whom domain owners and developers directly compete for advertising revenue. However, this high flying industry has had to shoulder more than a little pain of its own.
dnjournal.com/cover/2010/january.htm
The Domain Name Business: Sedo's Jeremiah Johnston explains how entrepreneurs can acquire, improve, and sell domain names
During the early years of the Internet, there was furious competition for Web site domain names, accompanied by lawsuits and huge sums paid for well-known names. Last year the buying and selling of Web site domains amounted to a $77 million enterprise, says a recent study by Sedo.com, an international company that offers domain transfer and escrow services. At any given time, Sedo lists 12 million to 15 million domains for sale, says Chief Operating Officer Jeremiah Johnston, who runs the firm's Boston office. He spoke recently to Smart Answers columnist Karen E. Klein about the domain market and how entrepreneurs can acquire, improve, and sell domains. Edited excerpts of their conversation follow.
www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jul2009/sb20090717_925271.htm
DOMAINfest Adds Second PITCHfest Session
Due to an unexpectedly large number of good submissions for the PITCHfest session scheduled forTuesday, January 26, at DOMAINfest Global, a second PITCHfest session has been added. The submissions received have been extremely relevant to attendees and, accordingly, to accommodate all that deserve attention,it was decided to replace the LAUNCHfest session (scheduled for Thursday, January 28) with a second PITCHfest session.
www.domainpulse.com/2010/01/23/domainfest-adds-second-pitchfest-session-due-to-demand/
www.domainnews.com/en/domainfest-adds-second-pitchfest-session-due-to-demand.html