ICM Registry, the company behind .xxx, are applying for 3 other adult strings in the new TLD round. The company has submitted applications for .adult, .porn and .sex. I may be mistaken, but I suspect that all three of the desired strings are going to prove problematic. If the debate and controversy around .xxx was heated at times, then any application for more overt … [Read more...] about ICM Submit Applications For More Adult Extensions
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EU Registry Suffers Serious Outage
Eurid, the operator of the .eu registry, has suffered a serious outage.According to official communications from the registry the systems were offline from last night until earlier today (though no official communication about the servers coming back online has been made)How long was the registry offline?By the looks of things it could be anything up to 12 hours, though I … [Read more...] about EU Registry Suffers Serious Outage
Vertical Integration – Post-Nairobi
The ICANN Board's statement on vertical integration at Nairobi has left pretty much everyone in an awkward position. Either it is: a masterful move by the board or an act of madness I'd hope it was the masterful move, as it essentially forces everyone to reach a consensus. Failure to do so will have a negative impact on both registrars and registries, as nobody can really … [Read more...] about Vertical Integration – Post-Nairobi
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
Nominet To Release 1 and 2 Character Domain Names
Nominet, the registry operator that manages *.uk, is planning on releasing both single and two character domain names. In common with a lot of other ccTLD registry operators, Nominet had blocked single and two character domain names from being registered. However they are now planning on releasing them to the public in a phased plan. The exact details of "how" the domains will … [Read more...] about Nominet To Release 1 and 2 Character Domain Names
.org Revamp Website
PIR, the registry operator for .org, has relaunched their website. The new site is currently "beta", though that seems like an odd way to label a public-facing site that has been live for years .. The area that interests me, of course, is the registrar list .. And I'm not overly impressed with the way it displays.. … [Read more...] about .org Revamp Website
SIDN Relaunch
SIDN, the registry operator for .nl (Netherlands) have launched their new site. The new look site gives the registry a complete visual facelift. You can find it here. … [Read more...] about SIDN Relaunch
NL Registry Introduces Phishing Alert Service
SIDN, the registry operator for .nl, has announced the introduction of a new service for its registrars. The new phishing alert service harnesses data provided by Netcraft and will automatically email the registrar of record of any .nl domain name that is flagged as being used in a phishing attack.Every five minutes or so, SIDN checks Netcraft's suspect URL database,which is … [Read more...] about NL Registry Introduces Phishing Alert Service
Afilias Acquires dotMobi
Afilias, which runs .info and provides registry services to a lot of other domains, has acquired the .mobi registry operator - mTLD Ltd.The acquisition was officially announced on February 11th 2010, with both Afilias and mTLD releasing press releases etc., as well as a message to pass on to any registrants who might be concerned by the acquisition.Is this good news or bad … [Read more...] about Afilias Acquires dotMobi
Nominet Goes Social
Nominet has joined the ranks of those registry operators who have embraced the much vaunted and possibly hyped, "social media".In the last few weeks the UK registry operator has started using two Twitter accounts and its Facebook page to interact with its members (and other interested parties).Based on member feedback they have also started sending out technical notifications … [Read more...] about Nominet Goes Social