« Comment on the 2008 Domain Decline »

It’s a new year and I’m back (well almost) from taking a break since Christmas. Blogging is in my blood so I thought that it would be worthwhile reflecting for a moment on my last post about the charity that supports children that are HIV positive that my wife and I support called “Acres of Love”. During the previous year I invited domain owners to support the charity with donations and about $2,500 was raised. This year the total has been $0. I could rant and rave about this being a sad indictment on our industry but I believe that it has nothing to do with people’s hearts and more to do with their wallets.

« .CO.NL Grandfather Period – only 9 days left! »

Amsterdam 5th January 2009 – The .CO.NL Grandfather period that opened on Tuesday November 18th 2008 was received with great enthusiasm, and the Operator wishes to remind holders of a .nl domain that applications for the corresponding .CO.NL name can still be made for nine days.

« .KE Reaches 10,000 Registrations Milestone »

While some of the larger ccTLDs note milestones of registrations in the millions, there are smaller ccTLDs whereby 10,000 registrations, given the economic situation and internet infrastructure, are major achievements.

« Vint Cerf on US Chief Technology Officer Position »

Vint Cerf, father of the internet, former ICANN Chair and now Google's vice president and chief Internet evangelist, is rumoured to be on the short list for President-elect Obama's proposed chief technology officer. In this interview with Nextgov, Cerf outlines what he might include on the CTO's agenda and how the position could invigorate the economy by creating jobs through investments in infrastructure.

« ICANN 2008 Annual Report Published »

The 2008 Annual Report for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been published online. The report covers in detail the organization's achievements and progress during 2008, including three major initiatives ICANN has undertaken this year: the process for introducing new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to the Internet; the introduction for the first time of internationalized domain names (IDNs); and an extensive Improving Institutional Confidence consultation, to enable the conclusion of the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) with the United States government in September 2009.

« .IN Registry Seeks Arbitrators for Domain Name Disputes »

The National Internet Exchange of India, which operates the .IN ccTLD Registry, is inviting proposals from interested individuals who wish to apply as Arbitrators for the .IN Registry, and who have proven expertise in this area as per the Eligibility Criteria. The positions are for three years.

« 500,000 .cz Domain Names Registered »

In late December, CZ.NIC announced there were now 500,000 .cz domain names registered. The registration of .cz domain names has risen rapidly since October 2007, with the increase attributed to their then new registration system called FRED with more than 200,000 domains have been registered since its introduction.

« Royal Treatment: How Acquiring and Developing High Quality Domain Names Gave Warren Royal Control »

As the topic of Ron Jackson's newest cover story, Jackson discusses the precipitous plunge in parking revenue over the past year has left many domain owners looking for lifejackets and, more importantly, Warren Royal who has already successfully navigated the path that so many others now want to follow; someone who, by their own example, could tell us what it takes to reach the next level by unlocking the vast potential inherent in every good domain name. Click here (http://www.dnjournal.com/cover/2008/december.htm) to read more. Source: DNJournal by Ron Jackson -- Reprinted with permission -- December 29, 2008

« Verizon awarded $33.2M in Domain Name Dispute Case »

The U.S. District Court in California has awarded Verizon Communications Inc. $33.2 million in a suit against a San Francisco company OnlineNIC Inc. which set up at least 663 domain names that were either identical to or confusingly similar to Verizon trademarks.

« Securing your .co.nl domain »

November 18th it became possible to register .co.nl domain names. And until January 15th all .NL domain name holders are granted priority in registering. World wide there are already 50 countries that use similar domain names (.co.uk for England, .co.jp for Japan etc) and the Netherlands are now following with a .co version of its own. Especially for international traffic to Dutch websites, a domain with a .co.nl ending is very recognizable and thus easy to locate. >> The first .co.nl domains have been appointed to applying Multinationals, A-Brands, International Organizations and are already activated and being used!