Domain Names |
Sponsored by |
A group of researchers from Belgian University of Leuven and US-based Stony Brook University have conducted a one of a kind content-based typosquatting experiment that studies the typosquatting phenomenon "longitudinally", i.e., in time. more
It's hard to believe that another year has come and gone and that I'm now publishing my 5th Annual Domain Name Year in Review. It's sort of fun to look back 5 years ago to see how much things have changed, especially as focus has shifted to issues related to the launch and use of new gTLDs. Of course, much has stayed the same too. Concerns related to domain name security and domain portfolio management are still important. more
The federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA) [15 U.S.C. 1125(d)] is a provision in U.S. law that gives trademark owners a cause of action against one who has wrongfully registered a domain name. In general, the ACPA gives rights to owners of trademarks that are either distinctive or famous at the time the defendant registered the offending domain name. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed the decision of a lower court that dismissed an ACPA claim... more
Implementing security requires attention to detail. Integrating security services with applications where neither the security service nor the application consider their counterpart in their design sometimes make plain that a fundamental change in existing practices is needed. Existing "standard" registrar business practices require revision before the benefits of the secure infrastructure foundation DNSSEC offers can be realized. more
The second quarter of 2014 closed with a base of 280 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs) -- an increase of four million domain names or 1.4 percent over the first quarter of 2014 -- according to Verisign in its latest issue Domain Name Industry Brief. Registrations have grown by 18.6 million, or 7.2 percent, year over year. more
One of Japan's leading Internet services providers and domain registrar, GMO Internet, Inc., today announced the acquisition of the single-character domain name, Z.com for JPY ?800 million (close to USD $7 million). According to the company, the acquisition is part of a plan to unify its global strategy under the brand name, Z.com and building GMO's "core values and objectives into the Z.com brand" more
Would you be interested in helping guide the future of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit operator of the .ORG domain? If so, the Internet Society is seeking nominations for three positions on the PIR Board of Directors. The nominations deadline is Monday, November 24, 2014. More information, qualification requirements and the submission form can be found here. more
The post reconsiders a cooperative solution to cybersquatting that I proposed in 2007. I also draw on examples of success and failure of legal actions to protect intellectual property (IP) licensing. Cybersquatting has gone unabated with the new gTLDs despite the introduction of new protection instruments such as the Trademark Cleaning House (TMCH) database and the availability of Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) services, as well as declarations by registries of their intentions to block unauthorized registrations. more
A German appeals court has held a German domain name registrar (Key Systems) responsible for issuing a domain name to H33t, a torrent-tracking site. The case was appealed, but the appeals court upheld the lower court ruling. more
Last Friday, following three weeks of dazzling diplomacy, the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) 2014 Plenipotentiary Conference came to a conclusion in Busan, South Korea. For those unfamiliar with the event, the "Plenipot" is the ITU's most significant gathering... At the Plenipot, ITU members elect new office-bearers, set general policies and determine the Union's strategic plans and activities for the next four years. It is this last part that is of most interest to stakeholders in the Internet community... more
The long-running saga of victims who are pursuing 'state sponsors of terrorism' via ICANN has taken yet another turn. Some time back the Plaintiffs in Rubin & ors -v- Islamic Republic of Iran & ors managed to obtain Writs of Attachment in the Federal court district in Washington (D.C.) courts ordering that the ccTLDs of those respective countries be seized in part-payment of the damages they are owed. ICANN, fairly predictably, became involved at this point. more
In a landmark ruling, a U.S. federal court has agreed with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) that the country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) are not property subject to attachment and thus overruled an attempt to seize Iran's, Syria's and North Korea's domains as part of a lawsuit against those countries' governments. more
A major concern about the present WHOIS is the level of data inaccuracy. The Expert Working Group (EWG) on Registration Directory Service (RDS), of which I had the pleasure of being a member, spent considerable time figuring out how to improve WHOIS data accuracy. The EWG in its final report proposed a new system, the RDS, which we believe will significantly address the flaws in the current WHOIS, including the data inaccuracy challenge. more
The first Registration Operations Association Workshop took place on Thursday, 16 October 2014, at the Los Angeles Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel. I'd like to thank the 64 people that took the time to attend and participate in the discussion, both in-person and remote. I started the workshop with an introduction to some of the technical challenges being faced by the domain registration industry. more
Registrars have the opportunity to fundamentally change the landscape of the Internet's security infrastructure by working to close the DNSSEC functionality gap. Virtually everything every Internet user does on the Internet depends on the DNS. DNSSEC is not just about protecting the DNS, it is about building a secure infrastructure foundation upon which new and innovative services and applications can be built to benefit us all. Registrars are the linchpins to advancing the deployment of DNSSEC. more