New TLDs

Global Domain Name Registrations Reach 276 Million, Increase of Over 19M From Last Year

Five million domain names were added to the Internet in the first quarter of 2014, bringing the total number of registered domain names to 276 million worldwide across all top-level domains (TLDs) as of March 31, 2014, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief from Verisign.

EURid Compensates Carbon Emissions With Wind Turbines

European TLD registry, EURid has announced that it is the first TLD Registry in Europe to be registered by the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). "EURid has taken an environmentally responsible approach to operating .eu for many years. Our environmental policy is based on the principle of 'reduce, reuse and recycle' and provides a framework for making sustainable choices."

Impartiality of Dot Pharmacy TLD Questioned

Catherine Saez and William New reporting in Intellectual Property Watch: "New generic top-level domain names seem set to be a constant source of discussions and dissension. The domain '.pharmacy' has been awarded to a United States pharmacy association with industry backing, stirring concerns among civil society and others. But the association insists it will work in an impartial manner to ensure safety of online pharmaceutical sales..."

Scotland’s New TLD .scot Goes Live

The new TLD for Scotland, .scot, has been launched. About 50 sites run by "launch pioneers" are expected to go live on Tuesday. Among those who have signed up for a new domain are the Scottish government, referendum campaigners Yes Scotland and Better Together, WWF Scotland, NHS Scotland and Scouts Scotland. The .scot domain is one of a number of new top-level domains going live this year including .wales, .london, .berlin and .NYC.

Website Usage Trends Among Top-Level Domains

EURid and Leuven Statistics Research Centre have released the results of a study investigating websites under most popular top-level domains.

The Digital Strategy and DotOps Congress (Amsterdam, September 2014)

Momentum has announced that the upcoming Digital Strategy & DotOps Congress will be held in Amsterdam, September 18-19, 2014. The group says that it has completely updated the program agenda for this 5th installment in Momentum's Digital Strategy and gTLD Congress series.

Australians Prefer .au Domain Names, Usage on the Rise

AusRegistry today released survey results of more than 3,000 Australians confirming that .au domain name registrations are on the rise, with 76% of all domain name holders choosing .au, an increase of 2% from last year. The survey also found .au remains Australia's home on the Internet with more than double the level of trust over any other namespace.

AFNIC Examines the 50/50 Theory for New TLDs

AFNIC recently conducted a test examining validity of the claim that the number of domain names registered by the end of the 1st day of the public opening of a TLD amounts to 50% of the stock that the TLD will achieve by the end of its 1st month, and that the latter number will represent 50% of the stock at the end of the 1st year.

50K .uk Domains Registered on Opening Day, Nominet Reports

Within 24 hours of opening, .uk domain registrations have topped the sales charts, according to Nominet. "More than 50,000 domains were registered, making this one of the fastest selling new domain releases on record, and beating the first day sales for all of the current batch of new generic Top Level Domains by a large margin."

DCA Receives an Injunction It Requested in Its IRP Proceedings

DotConnectAfrica Trust (DCA) received an Injunction it requested in its IRP Proceedings in an arbitration process against ICANN ('DCA Trust vs. ICANN') governed by the International Dispute Resolution Procedures of the ICDR based in New York and the Supplementary Procedures for ICANN IRP Process.

New York City Mayor Announces Next Step For Public Launch of Dot NYC (.nyc) Domain

Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced the start of the first “sunrise” phase of the roll-out of the .nyc web address, beginning a five-month countdown towards the full-scale public launch in October 2014. Through .nyc, the city plans to generate revenue, help residents take advantage of government services, encourage local businesses to thrive, market and promote tourism, and spread the dynamic image of New York City around the world.

China Favouring Digits Over Letters When It Comes to Internet Addresses

When it comes to Internet addresses in China, use of digits have been preferred over letters for various reasons including ease of memorization. Christopher Beam from New Republic explains.

DCA’s Sophia Bekele Blocked from ITU Event by AUC Over dotAfrica Dispute

Michael Ouma reporting in AllAfrica: Even after ICANN recently moved a step closer to controversially delegate the dotAfrica domain to South Africa's ZA Central Registry NPC - which is supported by the African Union (AU) - last month, another storm has erupted... Sophia Bekele had been invited to Addis Ababa by the ITU's Regional Office for Africa to deliver a speech during this year's "Girls in ICT" day event held on Thursday April 24 at the AU headquarters but later blocked due to disputes with the organization.

Neustar Acquires .CO Internet

.CO Internet closed its chapter as an independent company and became part of the publicly traded Neustar on Monday afternoon. The Sterling, Va.-based provider of real-time analytics and registry services was also already providing a critical piece of .CO Internet's technology infrastructure.

gTLD.club, New Site Focused on New gTLDs

Participant Jean Guillon submits the following text about a new website gTLD.club which is focused on new generic Top-Level Domains.