Here is a selection of recent domain-related items:

• Neustar, the .us domain registry operator, is proposing to make one- and two-character .us domain names available. It also proposes to launch a .us URL shortener service, and to expand the marketing of .kids.us.
• New proposals for a Bulgarian TLD name in Cyrillic are being discussed. The original request for .бг was turned down because of its resemblance to the .br domain for Brazil.
• The auction of the sex.com domain name is reportedly back on again.
• ICANN has posted its draft operating plan and budget for 2010-2011. Total operating expenses are budgeted to be $US 60.8 million, an increase of more than 8% over the current fiscal year's budget of $55.9 million. Revenues are budgeted to increase from $62.6 million to $65.5 million.
• CIRA has updated its Privacy Policy.
• The .SPORT Policy Advisory Council has written to ICANN urging that individual sport TLDs not be introduced at this time.
• Canadian anti-spam legislation, the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (FISA), has been introduced in the House of Commons, together with amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The anti-spam bill is similar to one introduced last year but not passed into law before the legislative session ended.
• VeriSign is selling its authentication services business, including its certification services, to Symantec for $US 1.28 billion in cash. VeriSign will focus on its Internet infrastructure services including the .com and .net domain registries.
• LEGO Juris A/S wins a dispute over legomaniac.ca.

Timeline

• Thu, May 13 - Fri, Jun 11: applications to CIRA's Nomination Committee solicited
• Tue, Jun 8 - Thu, Jun 10: T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Domain Conference and Expo in Vancouver
• Sun, Jun 20 - Fri, Jun 25: ICANN meetings in Brussels, Belgium
• Thu, Jul 1: registry fee increases for .com/.net take effect
• Thu, Jul 1: production signed root zone to be available
• Tue, Aug 3 - Mon, Aug 16: call for Member Nominees for CIRA Board election
• Thu, Aug 26 - Thu, Sep 9: shows of support for Member Nominees for CIRA election
• Tue, Sep 14 - Tue, Sep 21: online forum for CIRA Board of Directors election
• Tue, Sep 21: CIRA Annual General Meeting
• Wed, Sep 22 - Wed, Sep 29: CIRA Board of Directors election
• Sun, Dec 5 - Fri, Dec 10: ICANN meetings in Cartagena, Columbia

Nameserver Misconfigurations Cause .DE Domain Disruption - On May 12, several nameservers for Germany's .de domain were updated with a zone file containing just one third of the actual .de domain data, resulting in incorrect "domain does not exist" responses. The problem started at about 13:30 CEST and was resolved at about 15:45. DENIC, the .de registry, issued an announcement on Wednesday and followed up on Friday with a description of the course of events including some technical details.

Russian IDN ccTLD Launched - The Internationalized Domain Name ccTLD .рф for the Russian Federation was launched this week. The delegation of the Cyrillic ccTLD was completed in conjunction with the Russian Internet Governance Forum.

Picks To Click

• ICANN has announced that cryptography pioneer Whitfield Diffie has joined the organization as Vice President for Information Security and Cryptography.
• New Zealand's .nz registry will offer first-come first-served registration of Internationalized Domain Names with Maori language characters as of July 26.
• Pagebrook Inc. wins a dispute over tobiano.ca.

Timeline

• Mon, May 10: last day for comments on report on .xxx process options
• Thu, May 13 - Fri, Jun 11: applications to CIRA's Nomination Committee solicited
• Sun, Jun 20 - Fri, Jun 25: ICANN meetings in Brussels, Belgium
• Thu, Jul 1: registry fee increases for .com/.net take effect
• Thu, Jul 1: production signed root zone to be available
• Tue, Aug 3 - Mon, Aug 16: call for Member Nominees for CIRA Board election
• Thu, Aug 26 - Thu, Sep 9: shows of support for Member Nominees for CIRA election
• Tue, Sep 14 - Tue, Sep 21: online forum for CIRA Board of Directors election
• Tue, Sep 21: CIRA Annual General Meeting
• Wed, Sep 22 - Wed, Sep 29: CIRA Board of Directors election
• Sun, Dec 5 - Fri, Dec 10: ICANN meetings in Cartagena, Columbia

First IDN ccTLDs Active - In an important step in the development of the Internet, the first non-Latin IDN ccTLDs were added to the root zone of the DNS on May 5. The three new ccTLDs are for:

• Egypt: مصر (Egypt),
• Saudi Arabia:  السعودية (AlSaudiah), and
• United Arab Emirates: امارات (Emarat).

Under a process approved last October, ICANN has so far received 21 requests representing 11 languages.

CIRA Publishes 2010 Election Schedule - The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has published is election schedule for 2010. Initially, applications from prospective candidates to be considered by the Nomination Committee will be solicited starting on May 13.

Picks To Click

•  "IDN Usability" by Tina Dam, a description of what IDNs are and how they work.
•  "By the way... Your IDN is Live." by Adrian Kinderis is critical of the manner by which the first IDN TLDs were put into the root zone.
•  "The Real Issue About ICANN and .XXX" by John Levine is critical of ICANN and how it does or does not follow its own processes.
•  As part of the incremental deployment of DNSSEC in the root zone, all of the root servers are now serving a signed root zone on a test basis. The distribution of a production signed root zone is scheduled for July 1.
• Vancouver Community College loses a complaint over vccollege.ca. Rather than make a finding under the dispute resolution policy, the panel stated that this "is a marks dispute that involves a domain name, which takes it outside the Policy, and not strictly a domain name dispute per se."

Timeline

• Mon, May 10: last day for comments on report on .xxx process options
• Thu, May 13 - Fri, Jun 11: applications to CIRA's Nomination Committee solicited
• Sun, Jun 20 - Fri, Jun 25: ICANN meetings in Brussels, Belgium
• Thu, Jul 1: registry fee increases for .com/.net take effect
• Thu, Jul 1: production signed root zone to be available
• Tue, Aug 3 - Mon, Aug 16: call for Member Nominees for CIRA Board election
• Thu, Aug 26 - Thu, Sep 9: shows of support for Member Nominees for CIRA election
• Tue, Sep 14 - Tue, Sep 21: online forum for CIRA Board of Directors election
• Tue, Sep 21: CIRA Annual General Meeting
• Wed, Sep 22 - Wed, Sep 29: CIRA Board of Directors election
• Sun, Dec 5 - Fri, Dec 10: ICANN meetings in Cartagena, Columbia