The .ie ccTLD, which is the country code domain name for Ireland has long had very restrictive policies governing registration. Even if you were Irish or had a business based in Ireland registering a domain name in the local country code extension wasn't straightforward - at least not compared to the ease with which you can register domains in .com, .eu or .co.uk. As I … [Read more...] about IE ccTLD Announces Liberalisation Date
ICANN to Hold Registrar Event in Munich Next Week
ICANN will be holding an event for registrars in Munich next week. The event, which will take place in the same venue as Domain Pulse, is aimed at new registrars or prospective registrars. The programme which was developed in conjunction with existing registrars and registries is aimed at giving attendees guidance on navigating their relationship with ICANN and the move … [Read more...] about ICANN to Hold Registrar Event in Munich Next Week
ICANN Budget out for Comment
As happens every year ICANN has put their budget and plans out for public comment. The organisation's overall budget has grown significantly over the last 10 years, as has the organisations staff headcount, number of offices and other aspects of its operations. However this year's budget is going to be quite different from those of previous years. Revenue is not growing … [Read more...] about ICANN Budget out for Comment
ICANN Maps Whois Models For GDPR
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