Quicksearch
Holland's innovative take on local presence
Friday, January 30. 2009
Dutch registry SIDN manages more than 3 million 200 thousand .NL names.
Country code TLDs often have some kind of local presence requirement. To be eligible for a .FR domain for example, you need an address in France. Local presence rules may be seen by some as an unnecessary hurdle but on the other hand, is it really that unreasonable to expect that a country's TLD be truly representative of that country?
One of the reasons for requiring local presence is to ensure someone linked to a domain name is accountable in that country. In case of abuse for example, the registry doesn't want to have to chase someone up who might be in a different country and subject to different laws. So European registries often try to maintain some kind of local presence requirement, while at the same time striving for maximum flexibility so as not to hinder their TLD's commercial success.
Holland's SIDN, the registry for .NL, has come up with a clever proposal for getting that balance right. They contacted INDOM last week to ask us what we thought about it, and I have to admit we're impressed.
The idea is to have a "domicile" field in the WHOIS to show a local contact, which could even be SIDN's own address. The rest of the WHOIS entry stays the same, i.e. you have both "registrant" and "administrative contact" fields. This means that a non-Dutch registrant can still list his own contact details while conforming to the local presence requirement. It also means that if need be (i.e. if the registrant doesn't have someone in Holland to vouch for him and provide the local contact), the local presence can be vetted directly by the registry if it is providing its own address.
SIDN is currently talking to its international registrars to gauge their reaction to the plan. If others think the way we do and consider this a good idea, SIDN's board could green-light it as early as February.
DotMobi giving away 1 and 2 character domains!
Thursday, January 29. 2009
Registrar and registry representatives attending ICANN's Rome regional gathering last week. Photo SVG.
During my stay in Rome last week for the ICANN registrars and registries regional conference, I ran into my good friend Francesco Cetraro. This was the first time I have seen Francesco in his new job as Manager of Business Development and Sales for the .MOBI registry DotMobi.
Francesco looked thrilled to be working for one of the more dynamic of the new top level domains. He wasted no time in reminding me of DotMobi's innovative spirit, using the way they are releasing their 1 and 2 character domains as an example.
For domain names, the shorter the better. Hence 1 and 2 character names are the Holy Grail of our industry: an extremely rare resource with a strong intrinsic value. Most TLDs actually set a minimum length of 3 characters and don't allow shorter domains to even be registered. That was initially the case for DotMobi's, until their asked ICANN for permission to release 1 and 2 character .MOBIs.
But how do you distribute such valuable domains in a way which helps maximise their potential? Auction them off and you might make a tidy profit, but you'd have no guarantee that the domains would then be put to good use. The richest applicants aren't always the most productive. Some might even just be speculators…
Continue reading "DotMobi giving away 1 and 2 character domains!"
New gTLDs to be delayed by third DAG?
Friday, January 23. 2009
Craig Schwartz, ICANN's Chief gTLD Registry Liaison. Photo SVG.
The first version of the Draft Applicant Guidebook published by ICANN late last year has generated such a large volume of comments that ICANN may slow the new gTLD program down by introducing a third DAG.
The current timeline has a second DAG set to be released in mid February, just before the first ICANN meeting of the year (Mexico). It's always been ICANN's plan to have a second comment period follow. It was then anticipated that the comments received would be used to write the definitive version of the Applicant Guidebook, to be published at the start of May.
Sticking to this timeline would probably allow ICANN to initiate its new gTLD program with a first round of applications towards Q4 2009.
Although by no means certain at this point, this may now be delayed. During a session on new gTLDs held yesterday in Rome (where ICANN registrars and registries are currently in a regional meeting), Chief gTLD Registry Liaison Craig Schwartz hinted that due to the high number of comments and questions ICANN has received on the first DAG, an extra draft may be required.
During that session, I put the question to Craig: "does this mean a third version of the DAG before the final version comes out?" Not unexpectedly, Craig was unable to provide a direct answer. After all, this is probably not a decision ICANN staff will take on their own and it's doubtful they actually know the answer at this point. Other factors may impact the new gTLD program timeline. One example, there may be some Board decisions in Mexico relating to this which the staff will have to implement…
Craig did explain that staff are currently involved in near daily meetings on the second DAG in an effort to come up with a document that takes full account of the extremely varied, sometimes divergent, views expressed during the comment period. "We've heard many voices asking us to slow down a little," he added. "But at the same time there are also a number of people who are explicitly asking us to stay on target." Trying to find the right balance will be the challenge staff will have to face in the coming weeks.
.FR tender published
Thursday, January 15. 2009
French authorities have published the long-awaited (in France at least) tender for .FR. Incumbent registry AFNIC is widely expected to retain the position when the winner is announced, probably in April this year.
This is the final episode in a drawn-out saga that saw the French government launch a public consultation almost a year ago to ascertain how .FR should be run. That the government would even consider replacing AFNIC surprised many in France, especially as it has a cast iron majority on the AFNIC board, of which I have been an elected member since 2004.
Time limit for the tender has been set at 16:00 French time on March 8, 2009. During the first 25 days of the process, candidates will be able to send questions to the government. These, and the answers given to them, will be posted on the government's website for public access.
Dot EU now at 3 million
Monday, January 12. 2009
The .EU registration counter on EURid's homepage on Monday January 12, 2009, showing more than 3 million names.
Sunday January 11, 2009 will go down as a landmark date for .EU: the day it passed the 3 million registered domain mark!
I think Europeans can be proud. Although it's still very much a young domain (it was opened for general registration on April 7, 2006), .EU was a success from the start and already had 2 million domains in June 2006!
Since then, growth has continued, albeit at a slower rate. But many a suffix manager would be delighted with 3 million names in 3 years.
.EU is also starting to be used – arguably the real measure of a domain's success. It's just a personal stat of course, but it used to be that seeing a .EU domain on a billboard or in a magazine would stop me dead in my tracks with surprise. Now, hardly a day goes by without me seeing .EU used somewhere.
ICANN releases stats on the DAG comment period
Sunday, January 11. 2009
ICANN ad for new TLDs
Friday, January 2. 2009
Reading through the current issue of The Economist magazine, my jaw dropped as I turned to page 155 and saw an advert for ICANN!Focussed on the new TLD program which, I quote, "could produce a new wave of innovation – innovation for business and billions of non-English speakers," this looks like a determined step by ICANN to stay ahead of the criticism that is being levelled at it for trying to usher in an ear of new TLDs on the Internet too quickly.
Recent Internet news stories have adamantly claimed that a US Department of Commerce letter posted to the ICANN new TLD comment board showed stern disapproval by the current administration for the new TLD program. I'm not sure I'd go along with that. After all, the program has been in preparation for the last couple of years and there's no way the US government has just found out about it. If it wanted to veto the program, it could have done so much more decisively a while ago.
The Economist ad may be a way for ICANN to make it clear to people that, yes, new TLDs are coming. "In the second half of 2009, ICANN is planning to open up a process that could create more names at the top level," reads the ad, in an obvious reminder that the timetable is set and that this is due to happen in a few months.
On a personal note, I'm glad and even a little proud to see domain names come out of their niche and be thrust into the mainstream in this way.
