New TLDs

.vla TLD: Not So Fast, Says Flemish Government

As reported last July, there is a proposal from some Flemish politicians to create a .vla top level domain under the new gTLD process launched by ICANN. The proposal further elaborated that the Flemish government would have to cover the costs. Not so fast, says the Flemish government... more

New Top Level Domains Application Metering - Figure It Out ICANN!

Let me begin by saying that I am big supporter of ICANN. But good grief ICANN, why must the ENTIRE new gTLD process be so painful? I could run through a long list of all the delays, missteps and glitches, but why bother? It's almost comical at this point -- although not for 1,930 new gTLD applicants who have been waiting for ICANN to get their act together. First we were led to believe that the batching of applications was necessary due to resourcing constraints, which I personally never understood as the evaluation of applications is being done be third-party consultants. more

New gTLDs and Children

At first blush most are unlikely to see the relationship between new generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) and children. However, as a father and someone that has worked with approximately 50% of all new gTLDs approved by ICANN over the last decade, I have a unique perspective that may shed some light on this analogy. Hopefully, as the ICANN community begins to seek closure in connection with the new gTLD implement process, this article may offer one perspective as to what lies ahead. more

ICANN Board Member and Former GAC Chair to Give Evidence in .Africa Case

The controversy over the competing .africa TLD applications has been going on for some time. A recent decision by the International Centre For Dispute Resolution (ICDR) said that ICANN had breached its own by-laws and has questioned why ICANN won't allow a current board member and the former GAC Chair to speak to them and provide evidence. A letter that was published on the ICANN site yesterday suggests that ICANN may have changed their tune... more

10.1 Million .ORG Domains and Counting

PIR released the results of the bi-annual domain name report, "The Dashboard," which outlines the growth of .ORG in the second half of 2012. Overall, we had a remarkable year. Most notably, we hit a major milestone in June with the registration of the 10 millionth .ORG domain! Some of the key findings of "The Dashboard" include the following. more

Google Engineer Ben McIlwain on Why HSTS Could Be a Perfect Fit for .Brands Security

The Google-run .app TLD was always destined to draw attention and scrutiny, from the moment it fetched a then-record ICANN auction price of $25 million. Since it reached General Availability in May it has gained more than 250,000 registrations making it one of the world's most successful TLDs. However perhaps more interesting was Google's choice to add the .app TLD and its widely used .google extension to the HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) Top-Level Domain preload list, offering an unprecedented level of security for all domains under .google and .app. more

Large Group Formed to Oppose ICANN’s New gTLD Expansion

Eighty-seven major national and international business associations and companies have joined forces with the ANA (Association of National Advertisers), forming the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight (CRIDO) to oppose the rollout of ICANN's top-level domain expansion program. more

A Bad Year for Phishing

Here at the Anti-Phishing Working Group meeting in Hong Kong, we've just released the latest APWG Global Phishing Survey. Produced by myself and my research partner Rod Rasmussen of Internet Identity, it's an in-depth look at the global phishing problem in the second half of 2013. Overall, the picture isn't pretty. There were at least 115,565 unique phishing attacks worldwide during the period. This is one of the highest semi-annual totals we've observed since we began our studies in 2007. more

Presenting a Way Forward: Step-by-Step and ICANN’s New gTLD Process

I read this to the ICANN Board Thursday morning, in Sydney, after more prep work than I care to recall. If you don't know that the DAGv3 is delayed, or what the IRT is, this is a good time to bush up on current ICANN state. "Good morning. My name is Eric Brunner-Williams, and I am speaking to you on behalf of the initial signatories of the Step-by-Step proposal. I represent one of the signatories as the principal of the native, aboriginal, and indigenous cultural and linguistic Top-Level Domain (TLD) project, one of many similar efforts to preserve living languages and cultures..." more

Why are *.edu’s Compromised so Much?

When it comes to the problem of outbound spam, one of the experiences that I have, and this was reaffirmed at TechEd, is that the number one source of compromised accounts are educational institutions. That is to say, whenever we have an outbound spam problem and have to hunt down where it is coming from, the highest number of these accounts are phished accounts/credentials from users at an educational institution. Why is this? Why does so much spam originate from universities? more

Customer Confusion over New(ish) gTLDs Targeting Financial Services

For the last decade and a bit, banking customers have been relentlessly targeted by professional phishers with a never-ending barrage of deceitful emails, malicious websites and unstoppable crimeware -- each campaign seeking to relieve the victim of their online banking credentials and funds. In the battle for the high-ground, many client-side and server-side security technologies have been invented and consequently circumvented over the years. Now we're about to enter a new era of mitigation attempts... more

Verisign Announces CEO Resignation

In its second quarter 2011 earnings call, Verisign announced that Mark McLaughlin has submitted his resignation to become the CEO of a private company. His last day with the company will be August 25, 2011. Mark concluded his board service at the regularly scheduled board of directors meeting on July 27, 2011 and resigned as president and chief executive officer effective August 1, 2011. Jim Bidzos, Verisign's founder and previous CEO, will become the president and chief executive officer effective August 1, 2011. more

.APP gTLD Signs of Life Web Usage Survey

When a new TLD goes into General Availability or Land Rush, the first few days are filled with registrations that reflect how the market perceives the TLD. Registrants may register domain names to develop or for speculative purposes. Others register to protect their brand. The first major web usage survey for a new TLD is generally a Signs of Life survey where the early stages of development can be detected. These surveys were based on the May 19th, 2018 .APP zone file. more

Out of .Africa - Process Failures Don’t Change the Facts

I've heard a lot of discussion of the .africa controversy of late -- from conspiracy theories to questions about staff competence to concerns about the role of the GAC. And it's hard not to find faults galore in the way this process and the IRP reporting has played out. But before we get too lost in the weeds of procedure or the future of ICANN, lets not lose track of what this debate was first and still is fundamentally about: a string. more

The Role of Domain Name Privacy and Proxy Services in URS Disputes

Here's another apparent limitation of the Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS), the domain name dispute policy that applies to the new generic top-level domains (gTLDS): Proceedings are unlikely to unmask cybersquatters hiding behind privacy or proxy services. Domain name registrants often use these privacy and proxy services to hide their identities when they register domain names. The services have legitimate uses but are controversial. more