Eurid, the registry operator for .eu, have released a report in relation to how registrants register their .eu domain names ie. if you are based in country X, are you more likely to use a registrar based "in country" or go overseas? The results show that 65% of registrants stay with a domestic registrar, 18% choose another registrar in the EU, while 17% choose a registrar from … [Read more...] about Eurid Report Shows Registrants Prefer Local Registrars
registrants
ICANN Board – Vertical Integration
The board has put forward a motion to decide vertical integration once and for all. There will no cross-ownership allowed. The board's decision is very interesting. They are, to quote Dennis Jennings, setting a baseline, but will bow to any policy decision that comes from the GNSO. There is now a GNSO PDP (Policy Development Process) to discuss vertical integration. … [Read more...] about ICANN Board – Vertical Integration
ICANN Seeking Feedback on Registrar Disqualification Process
ICANN is looking for public feedback and comment on a proposed policy / process for disqualifying registrars.The idea behind the process is to put in place a policy to deal with "bad actors", however in its current form the document is far from ready.You can download the document here (pdf) and see existing comments here. … [Read more...] about ICANN Seeking Feedback on Registrar Disqualification Process
Crazy ccTLD Price Hikes?
Image via Wikipedia Jackie Liu's post on CircleID raises some very interesting questions, though whether or not any answers will be forthcoming or not is a totally different matter.While a lot of ccTLDs are dropping their wholesale rates others are raising them (or have raised them).The problem, as Liu points out, is that registrants aren't consulted about the price hikes or … [Read more...] about Crazy ccTLD Price Hikes?
Unreasonable Charges From Registrars? Releasing Domains
While everyone should accept that hosting and domain registration is a business I've always felt that some companies employ quite questionable tactics to retain customers.The charge that stands out is that some companies levy to "release" a domain name.While the entire debate about locks and restrictions for inter-registrar transfers has been discussed at some length at the … [Read more...] about Unreasonable Charges From Registrars? Releasing Domains
Nominet Expanding Online Services To Include Registrant Transfers
Nominet has been working on developing and improving their "online services" over the past year.The "online services" are available to both registrants and registrars and allow both user types to manage various aspects of their interactions with the UK registry.Next month the registry plans to take the domain transfers / trades online.The announcement may be found on their site … [Read more...] about Nominet Expanding Online Services To Include Registrant Transfers
IEDR Adds More Information to Whois
The IE Domain Registry made some changes to their whois output before Christmas, though I didn't get a chance to mention it until now.As some of you may know the IE registration system involves manual validation of each and every application request. Each application is valid for 30 days, however previously it was impossible for a member of the public to know when an … [Read more...] about IEDR Adds More Information to Whois
ICANN – Data Escrow Implementation
I've mentioned some of the concerns that have been raised in the ICANN community over the past year.One of the areas that was of particular concern in the aftermath of the RegisterFly meltdown was registrant data. In simple terms, if a registrar fails there could be a serious issue gaining access to the information linking registrants to their domain names. For some registries … [Read more...] about ICANN – Data Escrow Implementation