What’s in a Name?

What's the difference between .local and .here? Or between .onion and .apple? All four of these labels are capable of being represented in the Internet's Domain Name System as a generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), but only two of these are in fact delegated names. The other two, .local and .onion not only don't exist in the delegated name space, but by virtue of a registration in the IANA's Special Use Domain Name registry, these names cannot exist in the conventional delegated domain name space. more

Less is More – The Sales Boom in Short Character Domain Names

Much of the domain industry has seen a huge surge in sales of 2, 3 & 4 character sales. More specifically numeric domain sales are ever increasing mostly driven by Chinese buyers. As such domain marketplaces are utilizing and developing stronger connections in China to foster this growth even further while creating awareness for why this is occurring. When talk turns to economic and trade growth, China is never left out of the conversation. This talk extends to the domain market as well. more

IGF, WSIS 10+ & WIC: Three World Conferences for One Internet

In the last six weeks we could follow three world conferences on Internet issues. In November 2015 the 10th Internet Governance Forum (IGF) attracted nearly 5000 offline and online participants in the Brazilian Sea-Resort Joao Pessoa. In mid-December 2015, the governments of the 193 UN member states, together with a crowd of non-governmental stakeholders, finalized the review of the 2005 UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and adopted the WSIS 10+ outcome document. And nearly 2000 people from more than 100 countries did meet on December, 16 – 18, 2015 in the Chinese Water-Town of Wuzhen at the 2nd World Internet Conference (WIC). more

U.S. Senators Introduce SEC Cybersecurity Disclosure Legislation

U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have introduced the bipartisan Cybersecurity Disclosure Act of 2015 on Thursday, a bill that seeks to encourage the disclosure of cybersecurity expertise, or lack thereof, on corporate boards at publicly traded companies. more

Harvard Business Review: An Internet Powered by 100% Renewable Energy is Within Our Reach

"If the world is to become ever more efficient and reach global climate goals, internet power will need to play its part," warn Nate Springer and Kelly Gallo of Business for Social Responsibility. more

Close to 3.1 Million Domain Names Registered in the Third Quarter of 2015

Approximately 3.1 million domain names were registered in the third quarter of 2015, bringing the total number of registered domain names close to 299 million worldwide across all top-level domains (TLDs) as of Sept. 30, 2015, according to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief by Verisign. more

Over 5000 .BANK Domain Names Registered by U.S. Banks

fTLD Registry Services, the operator of .BANK top-level domain, reports that nearly seven months after .BANK launched, U.S. banks are continuing to register domain names. more

WhatsApp Suspension Called ‘Sad day for Brazil’ by Facebook

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has called it a "sad day for Brazil" after a court there ordered a two-day shutdown of the popular messaging app WhatsApp, owned by the social media company. more

Deadline of Dec 21 To Submit Nominations for 2016 Internet Society Board of Trustees

Are you passionate about preserving the global, open Internet? Do you want to help guide work to connect the unconnected and promote / restore trust in the Internet? Do you have experience in Internet standards, development or public policy? If so, please consider applying for one of the open seats on the Internet Society Board of Trustees.
The Internet Society serves a pivotal role in the world as a leader on Internet policy, technical, economic, and social matters, and as the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). more

North American Saw Complete Exhaustion of IPv4 Address Space Inventory in Q3, 2015

Akamai Technologies today released its Third Quarter, 2015 State of the Internet Report with updates on IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 adoption. more

ISOC President on the Path to a Global Internet of Opportunity

Information Society meeting this week must rebuke those nations that seek top-down, censorial control of the Internet, warns Kathryn Brown, president of the Internet Society. more

China Calls for Global “Governance System” to Regulate Internet, Activist Warn Threat to Free Speech

Speaking at the the Second World Internet Conference, a government-organized conference attended by executives of global and Chinese Internet companies, Xi called for the creation of a global "governance system" to reflect the "wishes and interests of all countries." more

FY16 Appropriations Act Extends IANA Transition Freeze without DOTCOM Act

The U.S. Government has been operating so far in Fiscal Year 2016, which began on October 1st, with funding provided by two continuing Appropriations bills. The last one passed on December 11th and provides funding through midnight tonight, December 16th. Meanwhile, bipartisan Senate and House leadership, Appropriations Committee members, and Chairs of authorizing committees have been negotiating an omnibus Appropriations bill, along with a separate revenue package of tax provisions, behind closed doors. more

A Bend in the River: ICANN Should Prepare for a 2 °C World

Toward the end of last week, the world waited with bated breath for the outcome of the 21st annual meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The meeting, commonly called COP 21, was held in Le Bourget, Paris, from November 30 to December 12; a bit too soon after the terrorists attacks on Paris earlier in November. COP 21 was important because COP 15 in Copenhagen (2009) failed to arrive at a global consensus... more

2015 in Review: The Year That Was in New TLDs

In looking back at what has occurred in the new TLD world in 2015, it is hard to believe that it's all taken place in just a short 12 month period. As an industry, we set off into this year realising that we had a hard game ahead -- as with all innovation, we knew that each step forward would require significant effort, knowhow and collaboration. We'd made big steps in 2014 to get started, but would 2015 move us forward or fizzle out? more