Entries tagged with “registries” from Domains / Internet Technology News - DNS News

Alexa Raad has announced that she will be leaving PIR at the end of next month to "seek new challenges".

In a press release issued yesterday the registry operator highlighted some of the achievements under Ms Raad's leadership, such as the growth of the registration base and the deployment of DNSSEC.

Maarten Botterman will be interim CEO while the registry seeks a replacement for Ms Raad.

Over the last couple of years several of the gTLD registry operators have requested contractual changes with ICANN.

In many cases the change was small enough that it fit into what is called the Registry Services Evaluation Process (RSEP), which is the case of "new services" such as Verisign's Registry Lock.

In other cases, however, the requested change is much bigger and requires that ICANN open it up to public comment.

Such was the case with the proposed "Phased Allocation Program in .JOBS". which has been open to public comment.

You can read the proposal here (PDF), but in essence it broadens the usage scenarios and the possible registrants of .jobs domains quite significantly. Under the current regime companies are restricted to registering their company name or a close derivative. Under the proposal all those restrictions are gone out the window. From a registrant perspective that may seem appealing at first, but the way that this is being pitched could lead to only a very narrow number of registrants actually gaining at any level. Ultimately, however, the only entity that stands to gain would be the registry.

If you have the time take a read over some of the comments - they are quite revealing!

Switch, the registry operator for the Swiss ccTLD (.ch), has been the target of a scammer judging by emails they sent to registrants.

In the email the company underlines their stable position as registry operator and explains that another company has been trying to undermine them:

Email below:

You are receiving this e-mail because you have registered one or more .ch or .li domain names with SWITCH. At the moment, customers of SWITCH are being asked by third parties to transfer their domain name from SWITCH to a different supplier. The reason given for this is that it will soon no longer be possible to register domain names with SWITCH.

In order to prevent any misunderstandings and uncertainty, we would like to correct this misinformation as follows:

SWITCH registers and administers the .ch domain names on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM). The contract between SWITCH and OFCOM runs until 2015. It is possible for the contract to be renewed. You are thus in good hands with SWITCH and do not need to take any action.

With the setting up of our subsidiary switchplus, we have laid the foundations for the future - independently of our contract with OFCOM and its renewal. switchplus already offers e-mail and web hosting in addition to the registration of domain names.

As an independent foundation, SWITCH has established the internet for the Swiss universities in Switzerland. We make a key contribution to the stability of the internet and offer high-quality services for universities and third parties.

If you have any questions, our helpdesk will always be pleased to assist you.

With kind regards,

SWITCH Internet Domains

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 "win' in the post-Nairobi world.

The Board's statement is still being debated, but on the face of it they are blocking any form of relationship between registries and registrars:

5. New gTLDs Implementation – Vertical Integration

Whereas, decisions about industry structure affect many aspects of the public interest – prices, service offerings, sources and uses of data, and more;

Whereas, ICANN has obtained several studies, and heard from Industry participants about the possible benefits and detriments of choices related to ownership integration or non-integration;\

Whereas, the market for new gTLDs will be dynamic, and has yet to emerge. In particular, there are concerns about how industry structure could affect consumer data protection;

Whereas, the GNSO is in an active policy development process on the issue of Vertical Integration, and the Board does not want to create an environment in which it would be difficult to later harmonize the new gTLD marketplace with the GNSO policy result; and

Whereas, it is important to establish a baseline approach to registry-registrar separation for the new gTLD process to move ahead.

Resolved (2010.03.12.17), within the context of the new gTLD process, there will be strict separation of entities offering registry services and those acting as registrars. No co-ownership will be allowed.

Resolved (2010.03.12.18), if a policy becomes available from the GNSO, and approved by the Board prior to the launch of the new gTLD program, that policy will be considered by the Board for adoption as part of the New gTLD Program.

The second last line includes an incredibly vague reference to "registry services" without offering any definition. So is providing DNS to a registry covered? What about if I buy shares in a company that already owns shares in another company? Where do you draw the line?

The last sentence is the "opening", but based on the interactions on the mailing list so far I'd suspect that there will be a lot of squabbling ..

Hopefully, however, there will be some progress, as it is now an issue of importance to a lot of parties

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.

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 become available have not been decided, which is why the registry is now conducting a consultation period with the public.

The current proposal is not drastically different to the kind of methodology used by several of the gTLD registry operators to handle similar scenarios, although there are a few extra twists. To start with Nominet is speaking of the entire project in terms of "cost recovery", whereas other registries have used this kind of release as a revenue generator. The other thing which is quite interesting is how they plan to differentiate based on the second level ie. org.uk domains, according to their proposal, should be given to charities and not for profits, while co.uk should go to business users. While this is very logical it's still interesting to note that they've "gone back to basics" in some respects.

You can view full details of what Nominet are planning on their site and share your thoughts.

It will be interesting to see how the Nominet registrars and the public react to this news.

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..

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.

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 constantly being updated. Every time a .nl URL is added to the
database, an e-mail message is automatically sent to the relevant
registrar's administrative contact e-mail address. In other words, the
system does not rely on periodic reporting, but on almost immediate
individualised e-mail contact. It therefore provides a basis for very
rapid intervention. The service is due to enter use on February 15,
2010.

Message content
The e-mail sent to draw a registrar's attention to the fact that a
client is running a website that may be fraudulent will include the
following information:

- Suspected phishing site URL
- Host: the IP address of the system running the website
- Country: the country of origin of the IP address
- Date: the date and time that the suspect site was detected
- Target: the name of the company that seems to be targeted

SIDN are conscious of the danger of such a service and warn registrars that there may be false alarms.

It will be interesting to see how registrars and the wider internet community react to the introduction of this service.

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 via email to supplement their existing RSS feeds.

On Twitter they are using:

@Nominet - seems to be general Nominet news and interaction
@NominetTech - technical service announcements

You can find their facebook presence here.

Obviously both the Facebook and Twitter presences are accessible to both Nominet members and members of the public, while other fora, such as the private member forum, are not.

Hopefully these new efforts towards public engagement will have a positive impact on the registry.

AFNIC's latest online and TV campaign to promote .fr may not be the most amusing thing you'll ever see, but it's still amusing to a point.

Here's the long version of their advert:



In French - sorry ! Subtitles available!

The "go live" for .cm has been announced (again!)

This time round the date and time are:

September 18, 2009 at 08:00am UTC

According to an email sent out earlier this morning Netcom, who run .cm, have moved the registry platform outside COCCA and are running their own version. Whether they have managed to resolve the stability issues that were of concern to COCCA is not clear.

The Swiss ccTLD operator, Switch, has announced the launch of a new company and service called "SwitchPlus".

The new entity is a wholly owned subsidiary of Switch and is aimed at providing a range of services that would, essentially, compete against the registry operator's clientele - namely registrar, hosting providers and IT service companies.

The Swiss operator claims that this move is to protect its staff:

In launching switchplus, SWITCH is also making a key contribution towards securing its own future in the field of internet domains. The contract with the Swiss Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) for the registration of domain names runs until 2015. It is uncertain whether a follow-on contract will come into being at all - and, if so, what form it will take. This situation constitutes a substantial risk for SWITCH - firstly in terms of its revenues and secondly as regards the jobs of its employees working in this area. For that reason, SWITCH must take steps today already to secure the future of its Internet Domains business.

If I were based in Switzerland I would not be overly impressed by this move.

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In the lead up to Nominet's AGM earlier this year I mentioned some of the squabbling.

While we may have had a respite, it's now "open season" once again.

The latest news is that some people are pushing a vote of no confidence in the current Nominet board and demanding that an EGM be called.

What exactly happened?

As usual trying to make sense of any debacles that breakout on the Nominet member lists is awkward, as a lot of the issues seem to have historical backgrounds that mere mortals struggle to comprehend (ie. I am as confused by it all as the next person)

What is known is that two things happened.

First off the board's October communique (pdf) referenced issues surrounding one of the board's non-executive directors, a Mr Jim Davies:

Following a formal complaint against one of Nominet's non-executive Directors, Jim Davies, which was upheld in August 2008, the Board was disappointed to receive two more formal complaints concerning Jim Davies (who withdrew from all discussions and decisions about the complaints).
The first complaint was by one of our largest member/registrars, which alleged that Jim Davies had a conflict of interest and had brought the Nominet Board and company into disrepute by acting as a solicitor against them on behalf of another large member/registrar. In investigating the complaint, it emerged that Jim Davies had failed to disclose specifically - either to the Board, or to the membership prior to his election - that he had been on a retainer with the second large member/registrar since March 2008. Jim Davies stated that all relevant disclosures had been made.
The Board upheld the complaint. Angus Hanton abstained from this decision.
The second complaint was from a litigant in a domain name dispute, which alleged that Jim Davies had an interest in a contract between Nominet and a third party, and that he was in breach of his fiduciary duties to the company. In investigating this complaint, it emerged that Jim Davies had personally given a statement to the Court indicating that Nominet was in breach of contract or other duties to the third party. Jim Davies stated that all relevant disclosures had been made.
The Board upheld the complaint. Angus Hanton abstained from this decision.
The Board noted that, as advised by leading counsel, all directors have a legal duty to avoid situations of conflict and possible conflict. The Board requested that Mr Davies urgently sign written undertakings that he will not breach his duties in future.
•
The Board continued to press for Jim Davies to sign the standard Non Executive Director contract, outstanding since his election in May 2008.
•
Following the recent changes to the Companies Act, the Board reviewed a draft Conflicts of Interest Policy. The Board unanimously agreed to update the register of Directors' interests in the light of the new legislation.

Then, on 12 November, Angus Hanton, who had abstained from the votes surrounding Mr Davies, tendered his resignation from the board citing issues with how Nominet was being run and who was running it.

So what now?

I suspect that this debacle will keep growing, so the upcoming registrar conference should feature some interesting interactions between the delegates, though whether or not the current debacle will spill over into the conference proper or not remains to be seen

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Stephane has an interesting post on the possible end of domain tasting.

While the debate around domain tasting has been going on for quite some time ICANN can be a very slow moving beast. In some ways it moves far too slow, but when you consider the range of different opinions that have to be taken into consideration for such a significant policy change to come into effect it's a different story.

Domain tasting grew out of a loophole. Like so many things involving the internet and governance policies, the goalposts move over time. A big issue 10 years ago may have vanished completely, but a whole new range of issues will have taken its place, so nobody could expect policy makers to "second guess" every change.

The AGP (Add Grace Period) is an important function for any registrar. It allows a registrar to delete a domain that is less than 5 days old.
Why was this needed? Is it still needed?

There are a lot of very valid reasons why a registrar might need to delete a domain shortly after its creation.
Obvious reasons would include things like credit card fraud and purely abusive registrations (eg. spammers / phishers registering domains for purely abusive usage).

Of course the entire debacle was sparked off when some registrars realised that they could use the AGP in way that ICANN and the registries had never intended.

A lot has been written about how tasting was abused, so there's no point repeating it. Suffice to say that there are some very valid reasons for blocking abuse, but whether the proposed change that is on the table will negatively impact registrars or not is another question.

Hopefully the change will lead to an improved experience for end users.

According to a press release I got earlier this afternoon, Telnic is launching a beta of its vip.tel program. Unfortunately the press release was a bit vague on the details.

I've had demos of the .tel system from various members of the Telnic team and I love the idea. I really really think .tel could be huge!

The text of today's press release is below - maybe you'll have more success deciphering it than I did!

SAN DIEGO - DEMOfall, September 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Telnic, the Registry
Operator for the .tel top level domain (TLD) today announced its vip.tel
beta program would be available shortly. Customers wishing to trial .tel in
advance of its commercial availability can apply for a personal domain name
by emailing vip@telnic.org.
 
    .tel enables you to store, update and publish all your contact
information, Web links and keywords directly on the Internet under your own
unique domain name without the need for Web sites. Simple, fast and
accessible from any device, .tel provides a new Internet standard to take
full control over how and where people reach you.
 
    Henri Asseily, chief strategist and CTO at Telnic, who demonstrated the
functionality of .tel to the DEMOfall audience, said, "Previously,
companies have used the DNS to have computers talk to computers. .tel puts
the human being directly in the DNS, storing all types of contact
information in NAPTR, TXT and LOC records. .tel will drive a revolution in
communications, search and directory services."
 
    Chris Shipley, executive producer of DEMO, added, "Telnic is delivering
a game-changing service that puts every person in complete control of his
contact information, Internet persona and Web services. This rich, yet
elegantly simple, DNS-based publishing platform will fire up the developer
community."
 

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 given any other options for their existing domains. End result. They either "bite the bullet" on the new pricing or simply let their domains expire.

Of course, if the price increase were only a matter of a couple of dollars it wouldn't be much of an issue. You could argue that a price increase might bring a better level of service of stability to registrants and registrars alike.

But what about price increases of several hundred percent?

Is that reasonable?

Liu has contacted ICANN about the situation, but I doubt that this will have much impact, as ICANN's role in relation to ccTLDs is very different compared to its role (and mandate) with respect to gTLDs. Of course I could be completely mistaken...

The UK registry has now hit the seven million names registered.

You may recall them hitting six million names in July of last year, which means (obviously) that they've added over one million names in just over a year.

tootsdrivingschool.co.uk was the 7 millionth domain.

More on this story on the Nominet site