Earlier today ICANN held a webinar to provide an update on their data privacy activities in relation to whois and GDPR. Rather than simply talking about the various "models" they produced both a visual mapping as well as a matrix. While some attendees may not agree with how all the models are classified it is still a helpful way of showing the deviations from the current … [Read more...] about ICANN Maps Whois Models For GDPR
Sky Actively Using Their Brand TLD and a Cloud Domain in Consumer Emails
Sky were one of the big brands that applied for and got their "dotbrand" domain extension from ICANN. While they may have been increasing the usage of the domain name in their customer communications recently I haven't seen most of it, as I "cut the cord" over a year ago. This morning, however, I got an email from them in relation to their wifi service. I probably signed … [Read more...] about Sky Actively Using Their Brand TLD and a Cloud Domain in Consumer Emails
IE Domain Name Rules Changing Soon
Last year the .ie ccTLD opened a consultation process around "liberalisation". As anyone who has tried to register a .ie domain name would know, compared to registering a .com or .eu the amount of paperwork and general bureaucracy associated with a .ie domain name has always been excessive. The consultation showed that there was strong support from the public to change the … [Read more...] about IE Domain Name Rules Changing Soon
CloudFest to Have Robot Keynote (Literally!)
Cloudfest (Aka WHD Global) will be held in March this year in Rust, Germany. As usual the event will be the biggest of its kind in Europe. The organisers behind the event like to bring quirky speakers and performers to their events and this year is no different. However the keynote speaker they're getting this time round won't be a human, but an actual … [Read more...] about CloudFest to Have Robot Keynote (Literally!)
PIR Board Seats up for Grabs
PIR, which runs the .org domain name registry, is currently seeking applicants for positions on their board of directors. There are three positions available, one which starts immediately and two whose terms runs from the middle of 2018. Board positions have a 3 year term. If you're interested the nominations are open until February 1st, with the chosen board members … [Read more...] about PIR Board Seats up for Grabs
RegistrarStats Going Dark
RegistrarStats has been around for years. It was one of the better sources of information about domain registry market share, trends and, of course, statistics on registrars. It was. It hasn't been for quite some time. When the site was first made available most, if not all, of the data was available for free. If my memory serves me well the site also offered custom reports, … [Read more...] about RegistrarStats Going Dark
Failed Social Media Platform Domain Sells on Sedo for $70k
A few years ago when Twitter was on the rise the social media company started imposing limitations on their API. What this meant was that many 3rd party developers found themselves restricted and inevitably they complained. Some people felt strongly that a social media platform should exist that wasn't constrained by commercial requirements and that instead of advertising sales … [Read more...] about Failed Social Media Platform Domain Sells on Sedo for $70k
Domaining Europe Offering Early Bird & Discount Pricing
Domaining Europe will take place in Valencia in 2018 from June 7th to June 9th. As usual the venue is the Hotel Sorolla Palace on the edge of Valencia city. The speakers and agenda for the 2018 event haven't been announced yet, but generally speaking it's an interesting event to attend. The event organisers, however, are offering both "early bird" and discounted … [Read more...] about Domaining Europe Offering Early Bird & Discount Pricing
Numbers Community ICANN Board Nominees List Published
ICANN's board is composed of appointees from a number of organisations including the ASO. The ASO is essentially "the numbers community" which is made up of the respective regional address registries (RIPE, ARIN etc.,). The ASO gets two seats on the board, though their terms are broken up so only 1 seat is up for election this time round. The seat currently held by Ron da … [Read more...] about Numbers Community ICANN Board Nominees List Published
Middle East DNS Forum Issues Call for Committee Members
The Middle East DNS Forum is now heading into its 5th year, with previous editions being held in Cairo, Tunis, Amman and Dubai. In common with many conferences the event's program committee is made up of volunteers. They've issued a call for volunteers to the committee as 3 of the current 6 members have rotated off. If you're interested you should have knowledge of one or … [Read more...] about Middle East DNS Forum Issues Call for Committee Members