Over the past couple of years several ccTLDs have revised their policies to allow registrations at the top level. Now auDA (.au Domain Administration) has opened a consultation process on this question as well. The background material for the consultation process includes a paper prepared by the Names Policy Panel which looks at the history and structure of the .au … [Read more...] about Australian ccTLD Opens Consultation On Direct Registrations
Country code top-level domain
USTLD Stakeholder Council Organise “Town Hall”
The .us ccTLD, which is run by Neustar under contract to the US government recently established a Stakeholder Council. The Council's role is to help provide guidance and input to the registry on how to run the namespace. (Disclosure: I'm one of the members) As one of the council's activities is to garner input from the broader stakeholder community it has been decided … [Read more...] about USTLD Stakeholder Council Organise “Town Hall”
CENTR Members Pass 70 Million Domains Milestone
CENTR, which is the association for European ccTLDs, has announced that its members, which are all country code top level domain registries, have surpassed the 70 million domains mark. The number of registrations comes from 57 ccTLDs and IDN ccTLDs in 49 countries. They've produced a graphic to illustrate the milestone: More details on the CENTR site. … [Read more...] about CENTR Members Pass 70 Million Domains Milestone
IANA Explained [Video]
Unless you've been hiding under for the last few months you'll know that the IANA transition is a hot topic in internet governance circles Of course while there has been numerous meetings, thousands of emails, more meetings, media coverage and plenty of conversations about the topic, there are probably still quite a few people who don't fully understand what IANA is and, … [Read more...] about IANA Explained [Video]
Mauritius Government Gets Into Dispute Over Key Domain Name
Domain names expire, drop and get re-registered all the time. It's normal. However, governments are usually very conservative about how they handle domain names. A government department is more likely to hold on to a domain name for several years after they've stopped using it rather than "release" it too early. According to this article, however, the government of … [Read more...] about Mauritius Government Gets Into Dispute Over Key Domain Name
DNS Belgium Alerts Registrars and Registrants to Invoice Scam
DNS Belgium, the registry operator for .be, has sent out a notice to their registrars to raise awareness of an invoice scam. Here's a sample of the dodgy invoices being sent: According to the registry "BE Domein Host" is not one of their accredited registrars, so apart from the pricing being more than a little "over the top" they aren't even a valid … [Read more...] about DNS Belgium Alerts Registrars and Registrants to Invoice Scam
DNS Belgium To Offer Registry Lock
DNS Belgium, the operator of both the .be ccTLD as well as .brussels and .vlaanderen, has announced the upcoming launch of "Domain Guard". The new service, which is comparable to other registries' "registry lock" service, will be available from mid-November. The service, which will be offered via .be registrars, will offer registrants the ability to "secure all details of … [Read more...] about DNS Belgium To Offer Registry Lock
Serbian ccTLD Registry Opens Call For Tender
The .rs ccTLD registry, the country code top level domain name for Serbia, has opened a call for tenders. The tender, which opened a couple of days ago, is for software systems for domain registration. While the call for tender may not be explicit, one can assume that the registry is interested in moving closer to the industry standard EPP. A lot of ccTLD registries … [Read more...] about Serbian ccTLD Registry Opens Call For Tender
CENTR Organising Open Day For Registrars
CENTR, the association for European ccTLDs, is holding an open day in Brussels on September 30th. For the first time registrars are being invited to attend a CENTR meeting in order to meet ccTLD registries. The event, which is free to attend, is being held in the Stanhope Hotel in Brussels. At time of writing there are approximately 21 registrars registered to attend … [Read more...] about CENTR Organising Open Day For Registrars
Dublin To Host ICANN’s 54th Public Meeting
ICANN has formally announced that Dublin will be the host for the 54th ICANN meeting taking place in October 2015. Dublin has previously played host to both RIPE and IETF meetings. It is also the venue for Web Summit (now known as The Summit) , which attracts several thousand attendees. A growing number of domain registries are based in Ireland's capital city. While some … [Read more...] about Dublin To Host ICANN’s 54th Public Meeting