Registry Services

Revised Top Level Domain Law in Sweden?

On March 31, Swedish regulatory overview office, Post and Telecom Authority published a 54 pages report on revision of the Swedish Top-Level Domain (TLD) law for internet. The report contains proposals for revision of policy and Swedish law regulating top level domains. This is not a surprise. The issue has been simmering for ten years, at least. However, with increasing dependency of information society, public regulators are increasingly inclined to revise public regulation in the area. more

What to Know About an ICANN Compliance Audit, and How to Handle One if You Are Selected?

Now that new gTLD registries have been operating for more than a year, a few registries have already experienced going through an audit and a few more are now receiving notifications that they are next in line. For all, the process of going through an ICANN audit is a first. Once you receive the Request for Information (RFI), you will have 15 days to respond, or seek an extension of time. Extensions may be available on a case by case basis. more

Join Live On Sunday - 2nd Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) In Dallas

This Sunday, March 22, 2015, the second Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) will be taking place at the Fairmont Dallas hotel from 12:30 -- 4:30 pm CDT. Discussion will include extensions to EPP, new encryption initiatives and also suggestions for ways to further automate DNS interactions between registries, registrars and DNS operators, including a need to do this for DNSSEC. more

Call for Participation: Registration Operations Workshop at IETF-92

The next Registration Operations Workshop will take place at the start of IETF-92 on Sunday, March 22, 2015, at The Fairmont Dallas Hotel. The workshop will start at 12:30 p.m. CDT and will finish at 4:30 p.m. CDT. We are seeking proposals for Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) extensions to be featured as part of the workshop, including existing extensions that people wish to register with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)... more

Getting New gTLDs’ Sales Drivers Right: Simulations Are Key

The new gTLDs won't survive unless registries learn simulation techniques, the only way to understand how sales drivers interact. Some of the new gTLDs have done dismally. Registry critics, including insiders, blame high registration prices, limited supply, and restrictions on usage, competition, and marketing messages. But these drivers connect with each other. You can't talk about prices without talking about price-setting mechanisms and the number of registrations. more

Bulk Sunrise Period for Special Collision List Starts Next Week

The first 12 domain registries have been scheduled for the first special Sunrise Period mandated by ICANN for trademarks on the blocked collision lists. A total of 328 new domain extensions have launched so far in 2014. Each one of these has its own unique collision list of names that were found to be already in use on private computer networks. Some of these lists have over 100,000 names. All of these registries were required to block these names from being allocated until a policy for their allocation could be developed by ICANN. more

Nominations For Board of Public Interest Registry (Operator of .ORG) Close Nov 24

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

ICANN 51: Los Angeles - Getting Ready for a Big 2015

Earlier this month, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) held its 51st public meeting in Los Angeles. Once again, MarkMonitor joined stakeholders from across the globe to discuss issues ranging from government control over the Internet, to key lessons learned thus far from the new gTLD rollout. This coming year promises to be a big one for ICANN, and for the business and brand community as a result. more

How to Improve WHOIS Data Accuracy

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 New TLD Registry Example to Follow

With lessons learnt from the first Round, what does a new applicant need to know to prepare for the coming Round? Which example should he follow to increase his chances of success? I have had the chance to read about new domain names sales figure expectations, prior to the launching of Round one of the ICANN new gTLD program. Comments that I read and feed-backs that I have today are: "our expectations are the one we wrote on the paper and we are happy with them". more

Summary of the Registration Operations Association Workshop

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

Afilias Announces Plan to Raise $100 Million via London AIM Exchange

Afilias, headquartered in Dublin, is set to float on AIM with new shares issued by the company expected to raise approximately $100m. Hal Lubsen, Chief Executive Officer of Afilias says: "Today's announcement is an important step in the next phase of our growth, as we look to be a key player in the new programme of TLDs, and make selective acquisitions to increase the breadth and depth of our services and reach." more

What’s the ROI on a $20m TLD Auction?

ICANN have taken a solid stance in regards to contention sets, with those yet to be resolved soon to be forced into auctions of last resort in the coming months. As expected, this has increased the velocity of private settlements between applicants, either via deals or private auctions. It seems like most applicants (wisely) don't want to see their funds going into ICANN coffers unnecessarily. more

Registration Operations Association Workshop Update

In a series of recent blog posts I've described the technical challenges in registration operations, a proposal for an industry association, and announced an interactive workshop to explore association formation. This is an update on where things stand with the workshop. The first Registration Operations Association Workshop is scheduled for Thursday, 16 October 2014 in the Pacific Palisades room at the Los Angeles Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel, the same venue being used for ICANN 51. more

Is It Time for a Registration Operations Industry Association? (Part 2)

In Part 1 of this series of blog posts I described the need for an industry association of operators to discuss the technical tasks, such as the development, deployment, and ongoing systems administration of the Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), performed by registries and registrars to ensure interoperability and share best practices when providing registration services. In this blog post I'll describe a way to make that happen. more