auDA Domain Name News - Aug 13
13/Aug/2008
auDA Domain Name News is compiled by David Goldstein on auDA's behalf. The views expressed in the news items linked from auDA's website (Linked Documents), do not necessarily reflect the views of auDA. auDA does not warrant the accuracy or reliability of the information contained in the Linked Documents, and assumes no liability to any person for any reliance placed upon any information contained in the Linked Documents.
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DOMAIN NAMES
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- ICANN
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ICANN: Updates to New gTLD Program Implementation
Economic Case for Auctions in New gTLDs Paper Released -- During the ICANN meeting in Paris, France, ICANN staff made a commitment to release a paper describing the economic case for auctions as a tiebreaking mechanism for resolving contention among identical or confusingly similar applications for new gTLDs. ICANN is today making the Economic Case for Auctions in New gTLDs paper available so that the community can provide feedback on this element of the forthcoming implementation plan.
icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-08aug08-en.htm
ICANN approves the introduction of internationalized domain names
On Thursday 25 June the Board of Directors of ICANN at the closing of its 32 International public meeting in Paris, unanimously approved the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in the top level of Internet addresses.
portal.unesco.org/ci/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=27461&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
ICANN study favors auctions for new gTLDs
Are auctions the best solution for allocating a new TLD when there are several applicants? A study commissioned by ICANN and now made public says yes.
domainesinfo.fr/english/217/icann-study-favors-auctions-for-new-gtlds.php
ICANN Paints Itself Into a Corner by John Levine
ICANN recently commissioned a report from a domain auction company to see whether it would be a good idea to auction TLDs that have multiple applicants. Remarkably, the domain auctioneers came to the conclusion that auctions are a great idea, which they surely are for some people. But are they a good idea for ICANN? And if ICANN admits they can't evaluate competing applications on their merits, how can they keep the process from turning into another speculative land grab?
www.circleid.com/posts/88117_icann_paints_itself_into_corner/
ICANN to Auction New Generic Top Level Domains by Patrick Vande Walle
ICANN has just published a paper from its contractor PowerAuctions LLC, regarding the use of auctions to award new TLD strings in case of contention. I can understand what ICANN wants to avoid. In the past, it has been criticized for using the "beauty contest" model with the redelegation of the .net TLD... However, the auction model is based on the idea that whoever wins the auction will be able to recoup its investment on the sale.
www.circleid.com/posts/88984_icann_auction_new_top_level_domains/
The US Government Tugs the Reins on ICANN, Again by Milton Mueller
About ten days ago the US Commerce Department sent ICANN a letter slapping it upside the head for suggesting in its President's Strategy Committee report that the US might actually keep its 1998 promise to turn over root zone file to ICANN/IANA. On August 1, Commerce sent ICANN another letter, warning ICANN that it had better continue to allow unrestricted public access to personal information in the Whois database.
blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/8/6/3827683.html
FBI contracting for access to global DNS, Whois information by Brenden Kuerbis
The FBI is soliciting vendor proposals to provide one-stop, turn-key access to Internet Zone files, domain WHOIS and DNS records. Posted July 22, with responses due yesterday, the solicitation details a system that would aggregate the data and provide it to the FBI for up to the next 5 years.
blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/8/6/3827679.html
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- ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
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Region-wide Businesses, Events and Initiatives Embrace .Asia Domains [news release]
DotAsia Organisation announced today that auction proceeds for the .Asia Sunrise and Landrush auctions reached US$7 Million after surpassing the US$6 Million mark 2 weeks ago.
dotasia.org/pressreleases/DotAsia-PR-2008-08-04_EN.pdf
Over 2 Million .biz Domain Names Under Management [news release]
NeuStar announced that two million domain names have been officially registered within the .BIZ Internet domain. NeuStar is the operator and administrator of the .BIZ top-level domain (TLD) registry, and was awarded the contract by ICANN.
www.neustarregistry.biz/?q=node/32#j
New Delegation Policies Approved for .co
The Ministry of Communications has advised that new delegation policies were approved on July 30 regarding the delegation of .co domain names.
www.domainnews.com/en/general/new-delegation-policies-approved-for-.co.html
www.domainpulse.com/2008/08/08/new-delegation-policies-approved-for-co/
WWW.COOP – New Site Launches on International Co-op Day [news release]
On Saturday, July 5, .coop celebrated the 86th International Co-operative Day by turning the switch on a new www.coop site with a focus on providing the answers to the questions that people ask most about .coop.
www.nic.coop//News/coopNews-125.aspx
Welsh Assembly Government to fund campaign to create .cym internet domain
The bid to achieve full internet status for Wales has been given a boost following an announcement by the Welsh Assembly Government that it will provide funding to support the campaign. Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones has confirmed that the government will back the work of the 'dotCYM' campaign in bidding for a national domain name for Wales on the world-wide web.
publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=16937
Will xxx.cym be more trusted than xxx.com?
"Mr Ieuan Wyn Jones, Wales' Minister for the Economics & Transport, announced on Wednesday morning that the Welsh Assembly Government's would be seeking an internet top level domain for the Welsh linguistic and cultural community in the new round of internet expansion. "Proper Internet status for our nation will open up new marketing opportunities and help promote the Wales brand", said the Minister.
www.computerweekly.com/blogs/when-it-meets-politics/2008/08/will-xxxcym-be-more-trusted-th.html
The AFNIC published its response to the public consultation on the management of the French Internet domains [news release]
On April 28th, 2008, the public authorities started a public consultation about the management of French Internet domains: .fr, .re, .gp, .mq, etc. The AFNIC today published the response which it submitted to the authorities.
www.afnic.fr/actu/nouvelles/general/CP20080704_en
Free.nz is the domain name of the game
Internet New Zealand held its annual meeting recently. You probably didn't hear about it. Just a bunch of people from across the political spectrum sitting in a room talking about stuff most of us now take for granted.
www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=5&objectid=10526659
InternetNZ announces publication of Internet history book [news release]
InternetNZ (The Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to announce the publication of 'Connecting the Clouds - The Internet in New Zealand' - a history of the New Zealand Internet by author and freelance journalist Keith Newman.
www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/historybook
Peter Dengate Thrush named InternetNZ Fellow [news release]
InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) has bestowed its highest honour upon longstanding member Peter Dengate Thrush who was made an InternetNZ Fellow at the Society’s Annual General Meeting last week.
www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/pdt
You Need a .Pro! Pre-register now before the Dot-Pro Re-launch [news release]
Don’t let just any web address do, get a dot-pro! The dot-pro pre-registrations are taking place now, before the official re-launch on September 8, 2008. At that time, pricing will drop another 50 percent, resulting in a surge of interest in dot-pro domains. To avoid disappointment, EnCirca encourages trademark owners to register their desired names today. Domain names can be registered on a first-come, firstserved basis for just $49 for one year.
www.encirca.com/html/press/You_Need_A_Pro_Pre_Register_Now_Before_the_Dot-Pro_Relaunch.pdf
Soviet Internet Domain Survives – in Obscurity
In the culmination of a decades-long debate, the international community has finally recognized the Soviet Union — online, that is. The ISO, or International Organization for Standardization, voted this summer to grant the .su domain the status of exclusively reserved. Previously, all web sites ending in .su were to be phased out by 2042, at the latest.
www.themoscowtimes.com/article/1009/42/369759.htm
keepyour.co.uk renewals campaign [news release]
Our renewals advertising campaign starts on Monday 11 August and will be running in print and online media through August and September.
www.nominet.org.uk/news/latest/?contentId=5537
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- DNS SECURITY
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Patch for Web Security Hole Has Leaks of Its Own
Faced with the discovery of a serious flaw in the Internet’s workings, computer network administrators around the world have been rushing to fix their systems with a cobbled-together patch. Now it appears that the patch has some gaping holes.
nytimes.com/2008/08/09/technology/09flaw.html
www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080809/news_1b9internet.html
www.gainesville.com/article/20080809/znyt05/808090308
DNS creator: It's time to add security
The man who authored the Domain Name System architecture has called on Internet service providers to secure it on their networks. Following the publication of a fundamental flaw in the Domain Name System (DNS) by security researcher Dan Kaminsky, DNS inventor Paul Mockapetris told ZDNet Asia's sister site ZDNet UK on Thursday that Internet service providers (ISPs) should "take action" and "add more security to DNS".
news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39459935,00.htm
www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,62044795,00.htm
Cyberspace Barrage Preceded Russian Invasion of Georgia
Weeks before physical bombs started falling on Georgia, a security researcher in suburban Massachusetts was watching an attack against the country in cyberspace.
nytimes.com/2008/08/13/technology/13cyber.html
iht.com/articles/2008/08/12/technology/webcyber.php
Georgia Takes a Beating in the Cyberwar With Russia
Besides the bloody shooting war going on between Georgia and Russia, there’s another, quieter battle going on in cyberspace.
bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/georgia-takes-a-beating-in-the-cyberwar-with-russia/
Georgia accuses Russia of waging 'cyber-war'
Georgia today accused Russia of waging a parallel ‘cyber-war’, using hacking techniques to block key Georgian government websites.
technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article4508546.ece
Estonia, Poland help Georgia fight cyberattacks [IDG]
In an intriguing cyberalliance, two Estonian computer experts are scheduled to arrive in Georgia by evening to keep the country's networks running amid an intense military confrontation with Russia.
computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9112399
computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/BEA47151896EBCEFCC2574A300717880
Russia and Georgia continue attacks--online
Researchers studying botnets have reported an increase in attacks on Georgian Web sites, including that of the country's president, within the last two weeks. While the attacks--Web site defacement and denial-of-service packet floods--are reminiscent of the Internet attacks waged against Estonia in May 2007, Jose Nazario, security researcher for Arbor Networks, told CNET News that he's seeing evidence that Georgia is apparently fighting back, attacking at least one Moscow-based newspaper site.
news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10015657-83.html
Georgian Government, News Sites Under Cyber Attack
The fierce fighting that began last week between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia is being mirrored in a fierce cyber battle between the two countries, according to Georgian officials and third-party observers.
www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=161293
Russian hacker 'militia' mobilizes to attack Georgia
Security researchers on Tuesday disputed claims that a well-known Russian hacker-hosting network is responsible for cyberattacks against sites belonging to Georgia, the former Soviet republic that has been battling Russian military forces since Friday.
computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9112443
computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/076B601C9F5F88B4CC2574A30070B0A3
Cyber attacks knock out Georgia's Internet presence
Hackers, perhaps affiliated with a well-known Russian criminal network, have attacked and hijacked Web sites belonging to Georgia, the former Soviet republic now in the fourth day of war with Russia, a security researcher claimed Sunday.
computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1528065017
computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9112201
computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/6F9AC917A2298DF7CC2574A200715DAC
Russian hackers continue attacks on Georgian sites [AP]
Attacks by Russian hackers against Georgian Web sites, including one hosted in the United States, continued Tuesday even as Russian President Dmitri Medvedev ordered a halt to hostilities against Georgia.
news.smh.com.au/technology/russian-hackers-continue-attacks-on-georgian-sites-20080812-3tpo.html
news.theage.com.au/technology/russian-hackers-continue-attacks-on-georgian-sites-20080812-3tpo.html
hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/T/TEC_GEORGIA_INTERNET
Black Hat conference spotlights virtualization, DNS issues
The 12th Black Hat conference convened at Caesar's Palace, where the 4,500 attendees (a 12.5 percent increase over last year) heard about the security problems that will plague virtualized environments, why Cisco routers are more of a hacker target than ever, and a detailed explanation of DNS attacks.
www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/08/Black_Hat_Conference_spotlights_virtualization_DNS_issues-Network_1.html
Cybersecurity lessons from the Civil War
The security issues we face today in cyberspace are the same ones the country faced during the American Civil War when Abe Lincoln was relying on telegraph transmissions to help keep the country united, a top U.S. cybersecurity official said in a keynote speech at the Black Hat security conference here Thursday.
news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10010081-83.html
Is There A Fundamental Flaw In The Internet's Inner Workings?
News that there is a flaw in the inner workings of the internet has led to widespread concern in the computer industry. The recently discovered flaw related to the internet's Domain Name System (DNS), the system which points your website name address to the correct numeric number for the computer system serving that site, e.g. www.google.co.uk redirects to 216.239.59.99.
itvibe.com/news/4371/
DENIC Recommends Software Update Due To Safety Gap in DNS Resolvers
Recently, all well-known producers of DNS software and various Incident Response Teams (CERTs) have drawn attention to a current problem with the DNS, which provides the basis for third parties to sneak in forged information to name servers. With the explications below DENIC wants to inform about the background of the situation, give its own view of the problem and point out potential measures that can be taken by operators of name servers.
www.denic.de/en/denic/news/news_86.html
FICORA's CERT-FI information security review 2/2008: Security of web services tested in many ways [news release]
The usability and information security of services provided on the Internet have been tested in many ways. Attempts have been made to hack websites and to prevent them from functioning by denial-of-service attacks.
www.ficora.fi/en/index/viestintavirasto/lehdistotiedotteet/2008/P_8.html
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- DOMAIN DISPUTES
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Typos can bedevil online political campaigns [AFP]
Typos can bedevil online political campaigns by letting evil software wizards or crafty king-makers turn misspellings into opportunities for sabotage or theft, a security specialist has warned.
news.smh.com.au/technology/typos-can-bedevil-online-political-campaigns-20080808-3s28.html
news.theage.com.au/technology/typos-can-bedevil-online-political-campaigns-20080808-3s28.html
www.france24.com/en/20080808-typos-can-bedevil-online-political-campaigns
Typosquatting as Corporate Espionage
Typosquatting, that seedy practice of registering domain names similar to legit sites but with typos in the name, has a new twist. At a Black Hat presentation last week on a Symantec long-term research on the practice as it cropped up in the 2008 election campaign, Oliver Friedrichs found an interesting tidbit. A typosquatting domain registered to someone in China had no Web page, but it did have a record that allowed it to receive e-mail.
www.pcworld.com/article/149687/2008/08/.html
Black Hat: Typosquatting the presidential election web sites
Bad hackers haven’t caused much damage this year during the online-heavy presidential campaign. But the potential is there. Consider “typosquatting.”
venturebeat.com/2008/08/07/black-hat-typosquatting-the-presidential-election-web-sites/
www.thestandard.com/news/2008/08/07/black-hat-typosquatting-presidential-election-web-sites
Reverse Domain Name Hijacking Decision Under the UDRP: What Was The Attorney Thinking?
A recent reverse domain hijacking decision in Collective Media, Inc. v. CKV / COLLECTIVEMEDIA.COM is interesting to any lawyer who practices domain dispute law. The law firm bringing the Complaint Lowenstein Sandler PC advertises as a large law firm specializing in domain name disputes as evidenced by a search of their web site for the words "domain name." Considering that the domain name was registered 5 years before Complainant's trademark application was even filed and 3 years before claimed first use of the trademark, and that it contains two generic words, it is hard to imagine whether the lawyers were thinking beyond the billable hour when they filed this one.
tcattorney.typepad.com/anticybersquatting_consum/2008/08/reverse-domain.html
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- MISCELLANEOUS
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VeriSign Reports $68 Million Loss; 87.3 Million .com/.net Domain Names
VeriSign reported a US$68 million loss this week that was made worse by the costs involved in restructuring and selling off non-core businesses. The report also noted there were approximately 87.3 million active domain names.
technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=5617
www.domainpulse.com/2008/08/08/verisign-reports-68-million-loss-873-million-comnet-domains/
www.domainnews.com/en/general/verisign-reports-68-million-loss-87.3-million-.com-.net-domains.html
.org Registry and Noncommercial orgs warn against government misuse of IDNs by Milton Mueller
Alexa Raad, CEO of Public Interest Registry, and Dr. Milton Mueller, Professor and Chair of the Noncommercial Users Constituency, released a joint statement on Internationalized domain names (IDNs) today.
blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/8/6/3827637.html
Domain Pricing - Is There A Ceiling? by Michele Neylon
The announcements by Verisign, PIR and Afilias of price increases in com,net,org and .info shouldn't really come as a surprise to anyone. However if the year on year price increases do leave an interesting question - is there an upper ceiling?
www.isquattedyour.eu/2008/08/04/domain-pricing-is-there-a-ceiling/
Domain Name Lessons From iTunes by Alex Tajirian
What do iTunes and a cooperative domain-name Intellectual Property (IP) regime have in common? They are market solutions to illegal activity: free downloading of music and free use of brands in domain names, respectively. The music industry tried to fight the free downloading of trademark-protected music by taking legal action against free downloaders under the pretext that their activity siphons industry revenue.
www.circleid.com/posts/domain_name_lessons_from_itunes/
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- DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET
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Flipping For Domains
It wasn't a great school year for Steven McDonald. He didn't win a single track meet, and he was rejected or wait-listed by every college he applied to. McDonald's fiscal year, however, has been phenomenal. It started last September, when he paid $620 for the Internet domain name qsd.com and, two weeks later, sold it for $12,000 to a fellow domain trader, or "domainer." Since that first investment, McDonald has grossed $325,000 from flipping domains.
www.forbes.com/home/2008/08/10/domains-flip-aftermarket-tech-ebiz-cz_cf_0811domains.html
Action.com Commands Close to a Quarter of a Million Dollars to Lead This Week's Domain Sales Chart
Moniker.com closed nine five-figure sales from recent live auctions this week, but it was a blockbuster six-figure deal that they handled away from the auction hall that tops this week domain sales leader board. Action.com did the honors stirring up $230,000 in one of the 20 biggest sales reported so far this year.
dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2008/domainsales08-05-08.htm
The New Real Estate Trend, Website Flips
... There is a growing wave of entrepreneurs becoming fascinated with Internet domain names, niche blogs and niche websites that they can flip to make a nice profit for all of their sweat equity they put into building up the Internet business. Largely driven by the high-profile Internet deals such as; Condé Nast’s $25 million purchase of Wired News, People.com’s acquisition of Celebrity Baby Blog, and Guardian News and Media and the owner of PaidContent for a reported $30 million.
mosnarcommunications.blogspot.com/2008/08/new-real-estate-trend-website-flips.html
Yahoo to Make Targeted Ads Optional-Lawmakers Scrutinize Impact of Data Collection on Privacy
Internet giant Yahoo is set to announce today that it will allow users to shut off targeted advertising on its Web sites, a move that comes as a congressional committee continues to air concerns about consumer privacy.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/07/AR2008080703104.html
.Me Auctions Getting Out of Hand; Brazilian Buys Toyota.me
Auctions for .me domain names continue, but we’ve already seen some eye popping sales. Even more peculiar is the number of trademarks going for big dollars.
domainnamewire.com/2008/08/12/me-auctions-getting-out-of-hand-brazilian-buys-toyotame/
Sedo Completes Website.org Sale for 20,500 EUR
It’s not often that a domain name sales venue’s top sale is a .org or .info domain name, but that was the case this week at Sedo. The company sold Website.org for 20,500 EUR (roughly $30,000 USD). The company also completed its sale of Printer.info for $21,500. That particular domain was sold at auction a while back but the transaction was just completed.
domainnamewire.com/2008/08/12/sedo-completes-websiteorg-sale-for-20500-eur/
