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4.9 Million, 10 Million, 15 Million.

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On 16 March, Nominet the ccTLD operator for *.uk reported they had over 10 million registrations. The 10th million .uk domain name registered is SwarveMagazine.co.uk. According to whois records the 10th million .uk domain name was registered by Steven Northam.

“We’ve been growing at around the 10% for the past couple of years,” said Nominet’s chief executive, Lesley Cowley.

Yesterday, SIDN the operator for the ccTLD .NL registered more then 4.9 million registrations. .NL is one of the largest ccTLDs in terms of total registrations . SIDN celebrated its three millionth domain name registration in 2008,while its two millionth milestone was reached in 2006. 6 years later, the number of .nl domain names has more than doubled .

Denic hit the 15 million mark yesterday. The 15th million domain name is floristennetzwerk.de. .DE is the world’s largest ccTLD, and the second largest TLD.

Currently 889 gTLD applicants.

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According to a post from ICANN there are currently 889 users registered in the TLD Application System (TAS). Each user can apply for 50 TLD’s. 50×889 = 44450. A staggering number that surely will not be met. Industry experts expect around 2000 applications.

Tremendous anticipation, planning, and work drove toward 12 January, 2012, the day ICANN began accepting applications for new gTLDs.

Organizations who choose to apply to operate a top-level domain have merely begun a journey that will most likely carry them into 2013. If you’re curious about the next phases of ICANN’s New gTLD Program, here are highlights of what to expect.

 

In early May, approximately two weeks after the new gTLD application window closes, ICANN will publish a list of the applications and who has applied for which domain name. Until then, ICANN will not comment publicly about any specific application, the total number of applications received, or who has submitted applications.

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WIPO handled slightly more UDRP cases compared to 2010.

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WIPO handled slightly more UDRP cases compared to 2010.

Though the amount of UDRP cases is just slightly higher compared to 2010 the amount of domains involved was up by 9.4%. A smillar trend is noticed by ccTLD registries who use their own ADR procedure to resolve  domain name disputed.

Since ICANN appointed WIPO as one of the parties to handle domain disputes back in 1999, WIPO handled more then 22.5000 UDRP cases and this number will only increase according to WIPO with the launch of the new gTLD‘s at the end of this year. How high this increase will be is unknown at the moment. First of all we don’t known how many gTLD’s will be released and it is unknown how effective the Trademark Clearinghouse will be when it is introduced by ICANN in October this year.

To read the entire report you can visit this link here.

The observant reader will notice that Denmark filed a massive amount of UDRD’s last year compared to the rest of the world (204). This is due to the LEGO company who filed alone 161 complaints, and is fiercely defending it’s trademarks.

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Eurid Q4 results.

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Eurid just released their Q4 results of 2011.

.EU has matured as an extension. This was demonstrated by .eu consumer loyalty,shown in the robust and stable registration renewal rate.In 2011, 81.6% of .eu domain names were renewed which was consistent with 2010’s renewal rate (81.7%) and above the industry average.

Eurid 2011 Highlights. 

  • In 2011 Eurid reached a total registrations of 3.51 million .EU domain names.
  • DNSSEC rollout started
  • Website usage research. This study revealed that 31.4% of the .EU websites are being used for business usuage. Full report here.
  • Eurid closed the case on sex.eu

Number crunching.

During Q4 2011, the number of .eu registrations increased by 100 802 domain names, or 3.0%, to 3.51 million. The total number ofregistrations at the end of Q4 represented an increase of 5.5%, or 182 275 registrations, when compared with the total number at the end of Q4 2010.

IDN registrations reached a total of 67074 registrations wich is about the same as with other ccTLD registries that offer IDN according to Eurid.

Deletions : During Q4 2011, there were 166 309 deletions.

Domain disputes. Eurid offers an alternative dispute system (ADR) and received 12 cases in Q4, wich is the same amount as in Q3 2011. This trend is comparable with the amount of cases that WIPO received.

For more info about the Q4 2011 results download the PDF here.

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Roadmap to a New Domain Name Registration Data Access Protocol (WHOIS)

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As mentioned earlier this month ICANN is moving towards a new WHOIS eco system.

ICANN is pleased to announce the posting of the draft
roadmap to implement ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee’s Report on Domain Name WHOIS Terminology and Structure (SAC 051). To make or view comments click here. The SSAC report specifically targets, among other things, the “internationalization” of the WHOIS protocol, reflecting concern about the inability of the current WHOIS protocol to consistently handle non-ASCII data. Additionally, SAC 051 recommends terminology to be used to clarify discussions where traditionally the terms Whois or WHOIS have been used. This roadmap explores the coordination of the technical and policy discussions necessary to implement the recommendations outlined in SAC 051: SSAC Report on Domain Name WHOIS Terminology and Structure.

A public workshop will be held during the ICANN meeting in Costa Rica next month March. This workshop will provide ICANN extra time to consult with experts and the community regarding a new WHOIS eco system and setup the road map to an updated Domain Name Registration Data Access Protocol.

Domain Name Registration Data Access Protocol ?
According to the road map, the proposal is to adopt a new terminology to ensure a well-defined and coherent taxonomy that can be used in both the technical and policy discussions where precision is needed.

  • For example :
    Domain Name Registration Data (DNRD). The data that domain name registrants provide when registering a domain name and that registrars or registries collects.
    • Domain Name Registration Data Access Protocol (DNRD-AP). The components of a (standard) communications exchange—queries and responses—that specify the access to DNRD.
    • Doman Name Registration Data Directory Service (DNRD-DS). The service(s) offered by domain name registries and registrars to implement the DNRD-AP and to provide access to DNRD-DSD.

It is expected that the report will be finalized prior to the ICANN meeting in June 2012.

For those who are interested to read more regarding the “roadmap” please visit this link.

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WIPO appointed as exlusive provider for UDRP’s regarding gTLD’s

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The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has embarked on a programme of allowing new generic top-level domains on the internet (like .com), an initiative that has worried trademark holders and international organisations.

 

ICANN has recently appointed WIPO as ” the exclusive provider of dispute resolution services for trademark based ‘pre-delegation’ Legal Rights Objections under ICANN’s New gTLD Program”. ”

WIPO will be handling objections to proposed strings filed by Trademark and other rights holders and is part of the Trademark Rights Protection Mechanism for new gTLD’s.

About WIPO.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 “to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world”

Currently ICANN has assigned WIPO and NAF (The National Arbitration Forum) as the only dispute resolution providers for the current generic TLD’s.

For more information regarding the the legal rights/objections under ICANN’s new gTLD program visit the following link here.

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Afnic to release IDN domain names.

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Afnic has published their IDN specifications last Friday. This is the last step before the sunrise period with the ‘grandfathering’ rule that starts the third of May. This move will extend the number of characters which can used to create a domain name to 67, versus  the 37 now. The new IDN rules apply to all the extensions under control of Afnic (.fr, .re, .tf, .wf, .pm and .yt).

The entity filing an IDN must hold an ASCII-equivalent domain name for the transaction to be accepted. However, if the ASCII equivalent has not yet been filed, it will be possible for the holder to create it at any time, even during the sunrise period.

You can only apply for a IDN in the extension you already have. For example, the holder of cafe.fr can apply for café.fr and won’t be  eligible for café.re or any other extension under control of Afnic.

Technical Specifications

The implementation of IDN domain names will follow the IDNA2008 standard. The biggest differences between IDNA2008 and IDNA2003 is the way the German Eszett (ß) will be handled and the face that nameprep step or canonicalization has been removed in IDNA2008.

The opening schedule is as follows (the exact times will be announced later):

•    3 May 2012: Launch of the IDN sunrise period with the “Grandfathering” rule.
•    3 July 2012: Opening with IDN attribution according to the “first come, first served” rule.

Futher information about Afnic opening up to IDN can be found here

 

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Cybersquatters face serious sentences in the Philippines.

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The senate in the Philippines approved a new law wich classifies cybersquatting as act of crime. Squatters could face six to 12 years in jail if found guilty under the new Senate Bill.

Min and Max

Six years is the minimum term with a maximum of twelve years.
There is however an alternative punishment of a 500,000 peso fine (roughly $12,000)
According to the new Philippine law cybersquatting is :

The acquisition of a domain name over the internet in bad faith to profit, mislead, destroy reputation, and deprive others from registering the same, if such a domain name is:
i. Similar, identical, or confusingly similar to an existing trademark registered with the appropriate government agency at the time of the domain name registration
ii. Identical or in any way similar with the name of a person other than the registrant, in case of a personal name; and
iii. Acquired without right or with intellectual property interests in it

This definition is smillar to the widely used Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy.

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WHOIS verification rules coming this year ?

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WHOIS verification rules coming this year ?

It appears that ICANN wants to ensure that Mickey Mouse is no longer present as the registrant of domain names.

“Registrars could be obliged to verify their customers’ identities when they sell domain names under new rules proposed for later this year, according to ICANN president Rod Beckstrom in a letter to Lawrence Strickling of the NTIA”

Currently the new Registrar Accreditions Agreements are being renegotiated by ICANN and the registrar community after recent discussions with the Governmental Advisory Committee.
ICANN expects that the RAA will incorporate – for the first time – Registrar commitments to verify WHOIS data. ICANN is actively considering incentives for Registrars to adopt the anticipated amendments to the RAA prior to the rollout of the first TLD in 2013.
How ICANN will implement a WHOIS verification system is currently unknown.

Whois verification

Whois verification, which is often found at the top of the wish-lists of intellectual property and law enforcement communities have led to heavily debated discussions within the ICANN community.
Civil rights advocates believe that checking registrant identities will infringe on rights to privacy and free speech. While the Law Enforcement Agencies plead that the current WHOIS eco system leads to cyber crime.
It is expected that some recommendation from the WHOIS Policy Review Team will be used.
This team released their final draft last december and can be downloaded here.

One of the biggest changes in this recommendation is the change from a “thin” WHOIS to a “thick” WHOIS eco system. Verisign, the TLD operator for .COM/.NET who currently uses a “thin” WHOIS has said in a statement that they are neutral regarding any WHOIS decision.
It’s expected that at the end of March 2012 we will have more solid information on what will happen with the current WHOIS eco system. But the expectation is that the days of Mickey Mouse as a domain name registrant are numbered.

SIDN reports a huge increase for .NL domain name registrations

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SIDN reports a huge increase for .NL domain name registrations. Net growth for 2011was 607,265 domain names, an increase of 14.5% compared to 2010. Compare this percentage to .DE 5% (702,000 domain names) and .EU 6% (196,000 domain names) and it’s easy too understand that Roelof Meijer, CEO of SIDN is pleased with the results. The SIDN is currently close to 5 million domain name registrations and has the highest domain name density in the world.

Strong brand preference

When it comes to registering domain names, both consumers and businesses continue to show a strong preference for the .nl brand. That has a lot to do with the reliability and security of the Dutch extension. “SIDN is constantly using its expertise and resources to improve the security, reliability and accessibility of the internet in general, and of the .nl domain in particular,” commented Meijer.

“We work in tandem with roughly 1,800 .nl registrars, who, despite all the economic uncertainty, have held their nerve: they have continued to invest and consequently to perform well.”

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