Nominet, the .uk domain registry, has been running RDAP (Registration Data Access Protocol) for over a year in public beta. They're now moving to it out of beta and adding it to the IANA bootstrap which will mean that it'll be readily accessible by anyone using an RDAP client. RDAP is the new, technical protocol that replaces whois. As it's XML JSON based it's 100% machine … [Read more...] about Nominet Taking RDAP Out of Beta
ICANN Still Insisting Their Waiver is “Normal”
Prior to the ICANN meeting in The Hague I wrote a couple of times about their insane waiver. I wrote to ICANN's CEO and the Chair of the ICANN Board, but that went nowhere. We even filed a reconsideration request along with the .na domain registry, but that was also rejected. And we were not alone. The ALAC also wrote to ICANN's Board formally about the waiver (full text … [Read more...] about ICANN Still Insisting Their Waiver is “Normal”
RIPE 85 Registration Now Open
The next RIPE meeting is being held in Belgrade, Serbia. As they've been doing for the last couple of meetings RIPE is offering two options: Onsite in person attendancevirtual online attendance It's 100% free to attend the meeting online, while attending in person for the full week costs €350. Based on past experience with RIPE meetings that's €350 well spent, as they … [Read more...] about RIPE 85 Registration Now Open
NamesCon Agenda Published
NamesCon will be held in Austin, Texas from August 31st to September 3rd. Yesterday the event organisers published the agenda, though it still has a few gaps. So what's on the agenda? There's a combination of keynotes, smaller panels and of course an auction. NamesCon is primarily focussed on domain investors so the schedule reflects topics that you'd … [Read more...] about NamesCon Agenda Published
GoDaddy Acquires Dan.com
GoDaddy has been buying up companies for years. Some of the acquisitions happened fairly quietly and without fanfare, while others have been fairly seismic in their impact on a particular market segment. When they bought NeuStar, for example, they went from having no registry services to having a big chunk of that pie. In the domain name aftermarket space GoDaddy has been a … [Read more...] about GoDaddy Acquires Dan.com
ICANN Announces GDD Summit Dates & Location
Prior to the Covid pandemic leading to the cancellation of all "in person" events across the globe ICANN had been planning to hold its annual GDD Summit for registrars and registries in Paris, France. That event got cancelled completely and there's no indication if or when the organisation will try to bring the event to Europe again. They will, however, be holding the Summit … [Read more...] about ICANN Announces GDD Summit Dates & Location
Donuts is no More – Rebrands as “Identity Digital”
Donuts is rebranding. The company which runs around 300 domain name extensions acquired Afilias back in 2020. They're now going to rename the entire thing "Identity Digital", which is using the domain Identity.Digital Here's the new logo: At one level I can understand that they'd want to come up with a new brand identity for the various companies that they've … [Read more...] about Donuts is no More – Rebrands as “Identity Digital”
IE Domains Subject of Another Dáil Question
As I mentioned previously, talk about domain names of any kind in the Irish national parliament (Dáil) is not common. But it's happened again. Last time round was back in May of last year but an almost identical question was raised in the chamber by Fine Gael's Neale Richmond recently. The question he asked: Deputy Neale Richmond asked the Tánaiste and Minister for … [Read more...] about IE Domains Subject of Another Dáil Question
EURid Signs New Contract for EU
EURid operates the .eu registry under contract to the European Commission. It's a contract that they need to tender for every few years. Back in October of last year the EC awarded the contract to EURid again and they recently signed it. Under the terms of the new contract they'll be running .eu for 5 years and there is a possibility of the contract being extended by a further … [Read more...] about EURid Signs New Contract for EU
New DNS Abuse Tool Launched
PIR's DNS Abuse Institute has launched "NetBeacon" their new DNS abuse tool. The tool is aimed at both reporters of DNS abuse as well as registrars and registries. I signed up for an account yesterday and was walked through the onboarding process as a registrar. Registrars can have multiple users on the system and can tweak settings so that multiple email addresses get … [Read more...] about New DNS Abuse Tool Launched