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Antony Van Couvering Interviews Alexa Raad, CEO of Architelos (Video)

Antony Van Couvering, CEO of Minds + Machines, continues his series of in-depth talks with leading figures from the domain name industry with this video interview of Alexa Raad, CEO of Architelos, filmed recently at ICANN 49 in Singapore. Alexa and Antony discuss how brands are dealing with new gTLD, registry strategies for success and how to market a new gTLD. more

Kenya’s .KE Domain Registrations Nearing 100,000 Mark, but It Can Do Better – Here’s Why

Over the years, the Kenyan Network Information Center (KeNIC) has struggled to reach the 100,000 mark in .ke Kenya country code domain registrations. Many reasons have been given for this shortfall, among them pricing, competition from generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) like .com and .org, and also competition from Geographic domains like the new .africa. Also, not opening up the second level for registration has been cited as one of the reasons for the low number. more

Refutation of the Worst IANA Transition FUD

Of all the patently false and ridiculous articles written this month about the obscure IANA transition which has become an issue of leverage in the partisan debate over funding the USG via a Continuing Resolution, this nonsense by Theresa Payton is the most egregiously false and outlandish. As such, it demands a critical, nearly line by line response. more

WIPO’s Misleading Release

The World Intellectual Property Organization put out a release yesterday trumpeting an eight percent increase in domain name disputes handled by WIPO. In 2008 there were 2329 complaints filed with WIPO, the most ever. WIPO uses the increase to raise questions about the possible increase in the number of available generic top-level domains... more

Time to Redelegate IE Namespace?

I've written extensively about Ireland's country code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD) '.ie' and its current registry operator IE Domain Registry (IEDR) in the past. While I've always tried to be fair and balanced in my coverage of the issues facing the IE namespace, I'm afraid my patience with the current registry operator has worn thin. While things may have improved over the course of the last few years, it is becoming abundantly clear that the current registry operator is probably not the best organisation to manage the ccTLD in the future. more

Nothing to See Here

Three parallel events in US communications policy today, all reported on widely - but with a common thread. ... Law enforcement and national security officials want to make sure that they have the same ability to execute warrants and surveillance orders online that they had in the switched-telephone-circuit age -- which will mean substantial government design mandates for new software, hardware, and communications facilities. more

Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) at IETF-93: RDAP as a Successor of Whois

The next Registration Operations Workshop will take place at the start of IETF 93 on Sunday, July 19th, 2015. The focus of this workshop is on the Registration Data Access Protocol, the successor of Whois. RDAP is a combined protocol for IP addresses and names registration data. Therefore, we are expecting both domain names and RIR communities to attend the workshop. more

WordPress Parent Company Automattic, and .Blog Operator Switches Registry From Nominet to CentralNic

The operator of .blog top-level domain, Knock Knock WHOIS There, LLC, which is a subsidiary of Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com and Jetpack, announced on Wednesday that it is "moving into the next phase of .blog." more

Deploying DNSSEC: Lessons from Domain Registrar Implementation

As a registrar at the front end of the DNSSEC deployment effort, our technical team has made a sustained investment in DNSSEC deployment so that our customers don't get overwhelmed by this wave of changes to the core infrastructure of the Domain Name System. Along the way, we've learnt a lot about how to implement DNSSEC which might hold useful lessons for other organizations that plan to deploy DNSSEC in their networks. more

One Billion Internet Users

Last week ICANN took another very significant step forward in the expansion of the internet by approving the delegation of a number of Chinese script IDN ccTLDs. Although we have all heard statements that portray the introduction of IDN ccTLDs as being perhaps the single most important factor in the achievement of ICANN's "One World, One Internet" vision, we should take a moment to appreciate the true significance of this latest round of IDN ccTLD approvals. more

Nominations Open for 2024 Public Interest Registry (PIR) Board of Directors

Are you interested in helping guide the future of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit operator of the .ORG, .NGO and .ONG domains? (and more) Or do you know of someone who would be a good candidate? If so, the Internet Society is seeking nominations for two positions on the PIR Board of Directors. The nomination deadline is 31 January 2024. more

Last Minute Surge of Opposition to VeriSign .NET Auto Renewal

The current .NET Registry Agreement between ICANN and VeriSign is due to expire on 30 June 2011. On April 11 2011 ICANN posted a proposed draft renewal agreement for public comment. Under the terms of the existing agreement, which contracted a 6 year term starting July 1 2005, renewal is automatic unless VeriSign commits some egregious breach of terms. more

Domain Name Registry and Registrar Separation Now Probably Going to Be a Policy Debate

Again on the subject of new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) ... One of the "issues" that concerned a number of people is the concept of "vertical separation". The basic idea is that domain name registries and registrars should be kept separate. While that is a wonderful Utopian ideal, the reality is that in the real world companies own other companies, people trade in stocks and shares etc., etc. So it's far from being a simple "cut and dried" situation. more

U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Holding Full Hearing on New TLDs

On Thursday, December 8, the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation will host a full committee hearing on "ICANN's Expansion of Top-Level Domains." According to the Committee's website, the hearing will "examine the merits and implications of this new program and ICANN's continuing efforts to address concerns raised by the Internet community." more

Responding to “The Case for Regulatory Capture of ICANN”

This past Monday, as ICANN65 was beginning in Marrakesh, the technical review blog Review Signal published a detailed expose, "The Case for Regulatory Capture of ICANN" authored by site founder and "geek-in-charge" Kevin Ohashi. The post was clearly the product of extensive investigative reporting – and what it reveals is deeply disturbing. more

Industry Updates

2025 .US Town Hall Registration Open: Explore Industry Trends & Policy Insights

DNIB Reports 378.5 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q3 2025

Understanding DNSSEC: Best Practices and Implementation Challenges

Radix Premiums Surge as .Tech Leads the Charge in H1 2025

Radix selects Tucows Registry as Back-End Registry Services Provider

DNIB Reports 371.7 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q2 2025

Radix Releases UA Readiness Study on E-Commerce Platforms to Support Broader Internet Compatibility

Domain Name Industry Brief Reports 368.4 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q1 2025

Radix’s Premium Domains Surge in H2 2024, Led by .Fun Boom

Domain Name Industry Brief Reports 364.3 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q4 2024

Domain Name Industry Brief Reports 362.3 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q3 2024

2024 .US Town Hall Registration Open: Explore Industry Trends & Policy Insights

Radix Achieves Record Premium Domain Sales in H1 2024, Led by Surging Interest in .Fun

Domain Name Industry Brief Reports 362.4 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q2 2024

Domain Name Industry Brief Reports 362.4 Million Domain Name Registrations in Q1 2024