Worldwide Domain Name Registrations Surpass 193 Million - According to the latest Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign, the first quarter of 2010 ended with more than 193 million domain names worldwide, an annual increase of 11 million registrations, or 6%. Registrations from the ccTLDs stood at 76.3 million, a 2.9% decrease for the quarter but a 3.2% increase annually. The number of .cn domains declined due to policy changes. The largest domains are: .com, .de, .net, .cn, .uk, .org, .info, .nl, .eu, and .ru.

Picks To Click

• Notes and photos from the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Vancouver conference, in the domain industry news magazine DN Journal. The conference featured several sessions on the .ca domain.
• A ceremony to generate the first DNSSEC key to secure the root zone will be held on June 16 in Culpeper, Virginia.
• The agenda for the ICANN Board meeting in Brussels on June 25 has been posted.
• Perfetti Van Melle Benelux B.V. wins a dispute over mentos.ca
• Toyota Canada loses a dispute over scion.ca.

Timeline

• Sun, Jun 20 - Fri, Jun 25: ICANN meetings in Brussels, Belgium
• Thu, Jul 1: registry fee increases for .com/.net take effect
• Thu, Jul 15: 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

.CA Registry Approves 2010-2011 Corporate Plan - The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has posted its 2010-2011 Corporate Plan as approved by the CIRA Board on June 1. Among the major activities planned for the coming year are: rewriting the registry management system, hosting a Canadian Internet Governance Forum, and undertaking a Community Investment Program to support social and economic Internet-related activities in Canada.

ICANN Publishes Revised gTLD Draft Applicant Guidebook - ICANN has published the fourth version of the gTLD Draft Applicant Guidebook that describes the process of applying for new generic top-level domains. Included in the new content: incorporation of trademark protections, geographic TLD changes including a prohibition on country names as gTLDs, a new gTLD Registry transition process model, and a revised base registry agreement.

Picks To Click

• The full schedule for the upcoming ICANN Brussels meetings is available.
• Poker.ca sells for $400K.

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