John DemcoICANN Anticipates New gTLD Applications to Start in Q1 of 2010 – ICANN has provided an update on the new gTLD Program, and anticipates “that applications for new top-level domains will be accepted starting in the first quarter of 2010.” Consultations and discussion, including sessions at the Sydney meeting in June, will continue on the…
John DemcoNominet Trust Announces Grants – Nominet Trust has announced its first six grants for a range of Internet-related projects, using a 5 million pound donation received in September, 2008 from the .uk registry Nominet. The six organizations to receive funding are: The British Computer Association of the Blind, The Internet Society, Childnet, The Cambridge Global…
John DemcoPlans Announced for Next Generation DNS Software – Internet Systems Corporation has announced plans for BIND 10, the next generation of its open source DNS software. Patron sponsors of the effort are JPRS (.jp) and CIRA. Other sponsors are Afilias, AFNIC, DENIC, IIS.SE, Nominet, NIC.br, SIDN, and .ZA Domain Name Authority. CIRA announced plans to…
John DemcoFormer ICANN Board member Susan Crawford is reportedly going to the White House as special assistant to the President for science, technology and innovation policy. CIRA President and CEO Byron Holland has been appointed as a vice chair of ICANN’s country code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO). CIRA has announced its 2009 Annual General Meeting and…
Webnames.ca StaffNow that the .TEL Landrush period is drawing to a close, we are looking ahead to tomorrow’s opening of General Registration at 7:00am PST. Prebooking for General Registration has been fast and furious today. Still there are many good names still available, especially personal or business names. Prebooking now will ensure a first crack at securing…
John DemcoICANN Meeting in Mexico City Concludes – ICANN meetings were held in Mexico City on March 1-6. Sessions on new gTLDs, IDN ccTLDs, the structure of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), DNSSEC, IPv4 and IPv6, e-crime and abuse of the DNS, and a number of other topics took place. Among the announcements and resolutions…
ICANN Meets This Week in Mexico City – The ICANN meetings in Mexico City are under way through Friday, March 6. Among the topics to be covered are: new gTLDs, fast tracking of IDN ccTLDs, changes to the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), DNSSEC, IPv4 and IPv6, e-crime and abuse of the DNS, and improving…
Worldwide Domain Name Growth Slows – VeriSign has released its quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief, which indicates that during 2008 the number of domain names worldwide grew by 24 million to a total of 177 million, an increase of 16%. The 2007 annual increase was 27%. Registrations from the ccTLDs totaled 71.1 million. The annual…
John DemcoThe ICANN Nominating Committee is seeking candidates for open positions on the ICANN Board of Directors, the At Large Advisory Committee, the Council of the Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO), and the Council of the Country-Code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO). Statements of Interest should be submitted by April 15. ICANN has opened a public forum on…
John DemcoKentucky to Appeal Gambling Ruling – After the Kentucky Court of Appeals struck down a Circuit Court order that allowed seizure of 141 gambling-related domain names, the state administration has indicated that it will take the matter to the Kentucky Supreme Court. The appeals court had ruled that the state courts cannot seize domain names…
John DemcoThe Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has issued a call for new members for its Nomination Committee. CIRA is looking for individuals from public, private, not-for-profit, and academic sector organizations with a wide range of technical and professional experience. The committee’s critical role is to identify a roster of candidates for CIRA’s Board of Directors…
Cybele NegrisThe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has published their 2008 Annual Report. The report details ICANN’s achievements in 2008. Highlights include their three 2008 major initiatives: 1. Process for introducing new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) to the Internet; 2. Introduction of internationalized domain names (IDNs); and 3. Extensive consultations on Improving Institutional…
Nick CaristinosTo start this year I thought it would be interesting to look back at 2008 and see which were the top domain names sold (by dollar value) and for how much. The following are the top 10 domain name sales and how much they were sold for in US dollars. Domain Name Sold For ($US) Fund.com $9,999,950 DataRecovery.com…
Nick CaristinosIn the world of domainers, people are constantly looking for new ways to monetize their domains, make better domain selections and get higher up on the search engines to generate both pay per click income and to increase the potential resale value of their domains. A recent example of this new trend of purchasing domains…
John DemcoThe comment period has closed for ICANN’s draft gTLD Applicant Guidebook. The comments have been posted, and ICANN has indicated that its staff will “review all comments and provide a summary/analysis of comments to help production of the final Applicant Guidebook, to be released early 2009.” Many organizations sent in thoughtful and comprehensive responses. Here…
