Australia's country code (ccTLD) will allow "direct" registrations in the .au ccTLD in the future. Following on from a consultation process last year, the board of auDA has announced their intention to update the domain registration policy to allow people and organisations to register .au domain names. Up until now you could register under .com.au, but not directly under … [Read more...] about Australia’s ccTLD To Allow Direct Registrations
policy
UK Government Considers Forcing All Adult Sites To Do Mandatory Age Verification
The UK government has opened a consultation on "age verification". It's bundled in under the title of: Child Safety Online: Age Verification for Pornography. There's a few "gems" in the materials that show not only how big the adult industry is, but also how big an impact any proposals could have on it. For example, the report from the panel of experts gives some very … [Read more...] about UK Government Considers Forcing All Adult Sites To Do Mandatory Age Verification
IEDR Open Public Consultation on Release of Two Letter IE Domains
The IEDR has opened a public consultation on the release of two letter .ie domain names. The consultation will run for 30 days from today. The proposed policies covering the release are outlined in a paper published by IEDR: [spiderpowa-pdf src="https://www.internetnews.me/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/PAC-Public-Consultation-Document-v3.pdf"]PAC Public Consultation … [Read more...] about IEDR Open Public Consultation on Release of Two Letter IE Domains
Help ICANN Fix Whois Conflicts With Data Privacy Law!
ICANN has opened a comment period in relation to whois conflicts with local law / data privacy law. Of course anytime ICANN, or anyone else, tries to make any changes to whois policy there are issues. Whois is, for a variety of reasons, an emotive subject. One of the areas that Article 29, several registries located in the EU and a number of registrars (including … [Read more...] about Help ICANN Fix Whois Conflicts With Data Privacy Law!
#NetMundial Releases Final Statement
Over the past couple of days NetMundial has been taking place in Brazil. From what those of us following the event from afar can gather the meetings ran late into the night. This evening the final statement (document) was released. It's a compromise, obviously, and has "rough consensus". Here it is in full: NetMundial Final Doc … [Read more...] about #NetMundial Releases Final Statement
Tracking #Netmundial via Twitter
If you're not in Brazil this week for the NetMundial meeting you might be following it remotely. So out of interest I decided to check the stats on the more popular hashtag people are using on Twitter, ie. #netmundial Over the past 24 hours the level of activity has been pretty impressive according to TweetReach: You can follow the hashtag here Update: … [Read more...] about Tracking #Netmundial via Twitter
(Dot)Joburg Explained
As others have noted, the launch plans and policies of "geo" and "city" new TLDs vary quite a bit. Some will be heavily restricted and require "presence" in the region or city, while others are going to be fully "open". Neil Dundas, who is involved with the .joburg registry as well as that of .africa, posted this deck earlier today which explains their launch … [Read more...] about (Dot)Joburg Explained
Exclusive: Internet.bs Response to ICANN Breach Notice
I posted a couple of days about the breach notice ICANN had sent to Internet.bs. Earlier this evening Internet.bs' CEO Marco Rinaudo reached out to me and asked me to publish a public response to this. For the record I do not know Mr Rinaudo personally, but I think it is only fair to offer him a an opportunity to address this situation in public. Here's his statement … [Read more...] about Exclusive: Internet.bs Response to ICANN Breach Notice
Video: ICANN Proposing Replacement For Whois
Disclosure: I'm a member of the group that worked on this I posted in some length about the proposal over on the company blog a few days ago, but ICANN have since posted the video to youtube, so here it is: I wasn't included in the video introduction as I didn't get a chance to record a segment, though I will be involved in the webinar tomorrow afternoon. Related … [Read more...] about Video: ICANN Proposing Replacement For Whois
Google’s .App Under Fire
I've written about "closed generic" new TLD applications several times over the last year. I'm opposed to them, as I've said in the past and continue to say today. However I've generally been supportive of "restricted" TLDs. The Association for Competitive Technology (ACT) has serious concerns about Google's application for .app and want ICANN's board of directors to … [Read more...] about Google’s .App Under Fire