ICANN has released the code for an RDAP conformance tool. The tool was developed for ICANN by Viagénie, who had already released a mobile RDAP client. It's good to see that the code is being released as open source under an Apache license. Both registries and registrars in the gTLD world are contractually obliged to run RDAP servers. Eventually these will replace whois … [Read more...] about ICANN Releases Open Source RDAP Compliance Tool
French ISPs Ordered to Block 18 Video Streaming Sites
A Parisian court has issued an order in favour of media company beIN Group who run several paid TV channels in France and other markets. The order forces the main French ISPs to block 18 domain names from their users: The media company, which operates in multiple markets and also owns MiraMax, took a case regarding so called pirate sites under newly introduced … [Read more...] about French ISPs Ordered to Block 18 Video Streaming Sites
ICANN Appoints John Crain CTO
ICANN has appointed John Crain as CTO. Okay, his official job title is more of a mouthful: ICANN Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer As far as I can tell he's been filling the role on an interim basis since the departure of David Conrad last year. For the last couple of years Crain was ICANN's Chief Security, Stability, and Resiliency Officer (CSSRO). … [Read more...] about ICANN Appoints John Crain CTO
EU Issues Call for Proposals for DNS Resolution Service
The European Commission has issued a call for tender (PDF) for an EU DNS resolution service aka a DNS resolver. As a reminder, a DNS resolver is what computers and other devices use to find out where websites, domains and other services "live" on the internet. They're most often accessed via their IP addresses. So Google's public DNS is at 8.8.8.8, Quad 9's at 9.9.9.9 and … [Read more...] about EU Issues Call for Proposals for DNS Resolution Service
The .in Domain Registry Shoots Itself in the Foot
Country code domain name registries have a very broad set of rules and regulations. For people who are used to the more predictable world of .com and other gTLDs the way ccTLDs are run can seem a little like the wild west! Personally I enjoy working with ccTLDs, but I do find that some of them are their own worst enemy. The most recent one to shoot themselves in the foot? … [Read more...] about The .in Domain Registry Shoots Itself in the Foot
The New Owners of .HipHop Go Public
If you're "into" ICANN policy stuff you'll probably be aware of the ongoing spat between ICANN and a company that had bought one of Frank Schilling's domain extensions. A very very brief recap. Schilling decided to divest himself of his interests in domain registries. So he decided to auction off most of the domain name extensions that he had under his UNR company. The … [Read more...] about The New Owners of .HipHop Go Public
Domain Pulse Postponed
Domain Pulse has been postponed. The event was due to be held in Bonn in February 2022. The event organisers have rescheduled it to May. This year they decided to postpone the event to 2022. As they rightly point out, the core of the event is the networking and social aspect. Unfortunately in Germany, as well as many other countries across Europe (and the world) the … [Read more...] about Domain Pulse Postponed
Israel ccTLD to Launch Hebrew IDN
Israel's ccTLD manager has announced that they'll be launching a Hebrew IDN country code domain extension in 2022 - “.ישראל” The .il country code currently has around 275 thousand domains under management, with the bulk of them in co.il. The existing Latin ccTLD previously allowed for IDN registrations in Hebrew on the left of the dot, though they are no longer … [Read more...] about Israel ccTLD to Launch Hebrew IDN
DNS Belgium Registrar Forum Seeking Members
In common with several other European country code domain operators DNS Belgium runs a "registrar forum". As the name suggests it's a place where the registry and registrars are able to discuss potential changes to policies, products and operations. The forum meets 2 to 3 times a year, normally in Leuven or Brussels, though recently its meetings have been online only. … [Read more...] about DNS Belgium Registrar Forum Seeking Members
.TV Switching to GoDaddy Registry
The island of Tuvalu got lucky when they were assigned the two letter country code "tv". When internet domain names became a thing over 20 years ago they were naturally given the .tv domain extension and, as we all know, that has been used for many a video or TV based business. The domain registry has been operated by Verisign for years under a contract with the government … [Read more...] about .TV Switching to GoDaddy Registry