Domain Names

Nominet Passes Governance Test With Flying Colours

The dot-uk registry Nominet has passed a crucial governance test with flying colours, voting yes on eight Board resolutions with more than 93 percent member support... The vote was a crucial test for both Nominet's Board and members: trust and confidence in the Board had been damaged by an acrimonious internal battle, which had subsequently led to the UK government threatening to end self-regulation of the UK's registry operations. more

Looking Ahead - UDRP Bad Faith Analysis and New gTLDs

The Internet, at nearly every stage of its evolution, has effected change in existing intellectual property industries as those industries struggle to keep up with the march of technological advancement. For example, the entertainment industry has seen widespread piracy and bootlegging of just and soon-to-be released movies as a result of the increased availability of broadband Internet access in the home, and efficient peer-to-peer file-sharing technologies online. In response the entertainment industry has backed a wave of proposed legislation including the maligned Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA). more

.xom, BrandJacking and Error-Search

BusinessWeek is running a column called 'Brandjacking' on the Web. In summary, nobody likes deliberate cybersquatting or typosquatting. But if Typo domain-names did not exist, the traffic would continue to flow to Microsoft or Google via the browser's error search where those very large companies would make money in the same manner as the 'evil cybersquatters'... more

WHOIS Inaccuracy Could Mean Noncompliance with GDPR

The European Commission recently released technical input on ICANN's proposed GDPR-compliant WHOIS models that underscores the GDPR's "Accuracy" principle - making clear that reasonable steps should be taken to ensure the accuracy of any personal data obtained for WHOIS databases and that ICANN should be sure to incorporate this requirement in whatever model it adopts. Contracted parties concerned with GDPR compliance should take note. more

New gTLDs’ Success Drivers

This post demonstrates that success factors differ across generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) depending on their implied signal/message. Success drivers can be grouped into four: community, location, generic keywords, and competitors to .com. I discuss their marketing implications... For community gTLDs, their success, as measured by profits, depends on whether the registrants are nonprofit or for-profit organizations. more

Important Changes in the Proposed Final New gTLD Applicant Guidebook

The new guidebook represents an enormous step forward for the new Top-Level Domain program for a number of key reasons. As we have commented previously, the naming convention as the 'Final' guidebook is of significant importance and reinforces the ICANN Board's intention to get to the finish line with the program. Of equal importance however, is that the number of changes from the previous version of the guidebook is relatively small and focus on a few key issues which shows that the end is indeed near. more

Registration Numbers Not the Only Success Measure for New TLDs

Like many, I've been watching the rollout of the first 150+ new Top-Level Domains (TLD) with interest. Since the delegation of ????. back in October, we've seen all sorts of TLDs launched -- from brands like .monash to generics like .build. There has been intense scrutiny within our industry on the zone file registration numbers of these delegated TLDs to measure whether or not they are successful. To be fair, this is not a surprise. We've been conditioned by past generic TLD launches to focus on registration numbers. more

Meta Lawsuit Leads to Significant Decline in Phishing Domains Tied to Freenom

A lawsuit filed by Meta has led to a significant decrease in phishing websites tied to the domain name registrar Freenom. Cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs in a report on Friday said that Freenom, which provides free domain name registration services, was a favored resource for cybercriminals due to its policy of protecting customer identities. more

When a UDRP Panel Infers Bad Faith from An Asking Price

In the Converse.co dispute, a three-member UDRP panel unanimously ordered the transfer of the disputed domain name to the Complainants, All Star C.V. and Converse, Inc., owners of the well-known brand CONVERSE for shoes and apparel. The panel drew the inference that the Respondent, by setting of an asking price of around $300,000 after having acquired the domain name for $306, was primarily motivated by a bad faith intent to target the Complaint. more

The IANA Stewardship Transition - Now Is the Time to Share Your Views

The IANA Stewardship Transition process may have started more than a year ago, but last week it reached its pinnacle with the publication of the compiled Proposal to Transition the Stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Functions from the US Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to the Global Multistakeholder Community" by the IANA Coordination Group (ICG). more

Registrars That Complied With “Shakedown” Requests May Now Be in Violation of ICANN Transfers Policy

At the time we posted 'Whatever Happened To Due Process,' we were unaware that we were just one of many registrars receiving these notices from the London (UK) Police. We have since been made aware that this was part of a larger initiative against the BitTorrent space as a whole, and that most if not all of the other registrars in receipt of the same email as us folded rather quickly and acquiesced to the shakedown orders. more

Dot Travel Still Isn’t Dead Yet

I've writen several blog entries about the continued downward swirling motion of Tralliance, the company that runs the registry for .TRAVEL. In this month's installment, as told in their quarterly 10-Q SEC filing, they flirt with bankruptcy but may well end up more stable than before. One of the more eye-catching paragraphs says... more

Undone! Failure of Persuasion in UDRP Proceedings

A split Panel in an early decision under the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) held that parties deserve more than "[i]t depends [on] what panelist you draw." Time Inc. v. Chip Cooper, D2000-1342 (WIPO February 13, 2001). That's one side of the paradigm; the other side makes demands on the parties to prove their contentions, either of cybersquatting (one element of which is proving that respondent lacks rights or legitimate interests) or rebutting the claim (one element of which is respondent demonstrating it has rights or legitimate interests). more

The Window of Opportunity for ccTLDs

The announcement that .co has already achieved over 450,000 new registrations since the opening up of the second level a month ago demonstrates that there is strong demand in the global domain name marketplace for quality new domain spaces. Though .co is the country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) for Colombia, the second-level registrations (i.e. company.co) are available on a global basis and it is being pitched as a direct competitor to the dominant .com gTLD. Google has altered its algorithm to increase the relevance of search results in the .co domain by treating .co as a gTLD... more

New Domain Conference Coming to South America - Domaining Americas

Veteran domain investor Abner Duarte from PremiumDomains.com.br is featuring a new event called Domaining Americas, to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in October 2018. He is puting together a major domain conference for South America. The debut edition of Domaining Americas will be held at the five-star Grand Hyatt Rio De Janiero on Saturday and Sunday, October 6-7, 2018. more