In a move that has surprised practically nobody, Verisign has announced that the wholesale fees for .com domain names will be going up. From September 1st 2022 the wholesale cost for a .com domain name will increase to $8.97 (US dollars). The current wholesale price is $8.39. The price rise is 7%, which is the maximum that Verisign is allowed under their current contract … [Read more...] about Verisign to Increase Wholesale Fees for .com Domains
Greek Mixed Script .eu to be Removed in November
The .eu registry is phasing out Greek mixed script registrations, as there's now a specific domain extension for Greek script. If you want to register a domain using Greek then there's the .ευ which is specifically designed to serve Greek.greek domains. They reminded registrars of this phase out recently: From 14 November 2022, only Greek domain names with the Greek .ευ … [Read more...] about Greek Mixed Script .eu to be Removed in November
Nominations Open for 2022 Rob Blokzijl Award
Nominations are now open for the 2022 Rob Blokzijl Award. The awards are run by the Rob Blokzijl Foundation which was setup following his passing in 2015. Every two years they award someone in the RIPE region who has made a significant contribution to the internet community. Full details of the nomination process are outlined on the Foundation's site here. You can … [Read more...] about Nominations Open for 2022 Rob Blokzijl Award
European Commission Call for Submissions on Anti-Counterfeiting
The European Commission has launched a "call for evidence" for the "EU Toolbox Against Counterfeiting". What that means in practical terms is that they're expecting feedback and input from a variety of stakeholders on the subject. However the call is very broad and open, so I suspect they'll get a very big wishlist from IP interests. At the moment the official page for this … [Read more...] about European Commission Call for Submissions on Anti-Counterfeiting
ICANN Releases Open Source RDAP Compliance Tool
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