In the past 24 hours both the .nl domain registry and .be domain registry have been attacked. The .be registry's public facing website was defaced, though the defacement had no impact on the registry data. As would be expected the registry data is not linked to the public facing website. DNS.be informed registrars that they are still investigating the incident but weren't … [Read more...] about ccTLD Registries Under Attack?
ccTLDs
French Domains Popular With Individuals
According to the .fr registry's latest report .fr domain names are popular with private individuals. One in two new .fr domain names is registered to a private individual. Currently over about 40% of .fr domains are registered to individuals, compared to approximately 20% 6 years ago. AFNIC's latest report is available here. … [Read more...] about French Domains Popular With Individuals
Nominet Registrar Conference Video
Nominet have made available the video of their registrar conference: The consultation on "Direct UK" is still ongoing … [Read more...] about Nominet Registrar Conference Video
Icelandic Registry To Introduce “Very Important Domains”
The Icelandic registry (.is) plans on introducing extra levels of protection to some domains and their registrants. The new program is called "Very Important Domains" or VID for short (yes another acronym and you'll have to excuse my childish snigger when I misread it as VDS) It's not clear from the registry's announcement how exactly this service will work, though it's … [Read more...] about Icelandic Registry To Introduce “Very Important Domains”
Nic MX Rebrands Registrar Division
The .mx registry, Nic MX, has rebranded its registrar division as "Akky" and sports a new logo and corporate image. They've adopted the hare as their new image stating that it symbolises agility, speed and warmth (or maybe I messed up the translation!) The new site doesn't have any additional information on what exactly they're doing, and currently is just a Flash … [Read more...] about Nic MX Rebrands Registrar Division
Denic Breaks 15 Million Names
Denic, the registry operator for .de, the country code for Germany, has now got over 15 million domain names registered. The registry operator is currently showing 15,000,530 names in total, so the 15 million milestone was probably hit in the last couple of hours. I suspect they'll make an official announcement in the next day or two. Related … [Read more...] about Denic Breaks 15 Million Names
UK Registry Opens Consultation on Registration Periods
Nominet, the registry for the .uk namespace, has opened a consultation on domain name registration periods. At present *.uk domain names can only be registered and renewed for a period of 2 years. You cannot register a .co.uk domain name for more than 2 years (or for less than 2 years - even though some companies sell them yearly!) Nominet has agreed to consider how … [Read more...] about UK Registry Opens Consultation on Registration Periods
AFNIC To Hold Webcast On Registry Changes
AFNIC's CEO Mathieu Wiell and Isabel Toutaud will be holding a webcast this Friday from 11am to 12 (CET). The session will cover a number of topics including: the change in procedure for registering listed terms (banned words, reserved words), the new dispute resolution procedure, access to the list of domain names registered under the .fr TLD, the opening up of … [Read more...] about AFNIC To Hold Webcast On Registry Changes
Irish Registrar Suggests Alternate Father’s Day Gift
Irish domain name registrar and hosting provider Blacknight is pushing discounted .me domain names as an alternative to the more traditional Father's Day gifts. Blacknight (http://www.blacknight.com) are helping to make your Father’s Day a success by offering .Me domains at €4.99. Surprise your father by registering a “Dadsname.me” (http://dadsname.me/) domain name. … [Read more...] about Irish Registrar Suggests Alternate Father’s Day Gift
Why Won’t ICANN Answer Questions?
During the last public ICANN meeting in San Francisco there was a public forum. This is quite normal. Several people asked questions of the ICANN board, some were answered, others weren't. Why not? Nigel Roberts from the Channel Isles registry asked the following (for the sake of clarity I'm republishing the entire section of the transcript): >>NIGEL ROBERTS: … [Read more...] about Why Won’t ICANN Answer Questions?