The European Union’s top-level domain .eu turned 15 this week, celebrating entering adolescence Wednesday.
.EU Enters Adolescence With 15th Birthday
Category Archives: Domain Name Registry
GoDaddy Registry Acquires Over 30 New gTLDs Including 28 From MMX
This week GoDaddy Registry announced it was expanding its registry services with the acquisition of more than 30 new generic top-level domains (new gTLDs), including 28 from Minds + Machines, .club and .design, plus the provision of registry services for .basketball and .rugby and Ally Financial’s branded .ally domain. The move will see the company add over 3 million domains under management to their portfolio, although GoDaddy Registry already provides registry services for .club’s 1.1 million domain names. Upon close of the acquisitions, it will see GoDaddy Registry own, manage or operate more than 240 top-level domains, with more than 14 million DUM.
Ethos Capital Acquires Majority Control of Donuts Inc.
Ethos Capital announced Thursday it has completed an investment to acquire a controlling interest of Donuts Inc. from Abry Partners. Based in Seattle, Washington, Donuts holds the world’s largest portfolio of top-level domains with 260 new gTLDs as well as providing registry services for a number of other top-level domains (both gTLDs and ccTLDs) through both its Donuts and Afilias brands.
Nominet’s Board Wiped Out Following Monday’s EGM
An Extraordinary General Meeting held Monday saw four of Nominet’s directors including Chair Mark Wood removed from their positions, while CEO and board member Russell Haworth stood down on Sunday, the day before the meeting. The Board clear-out follows a campaign for reform of the .uk ccTLD registry by Public Benefit .UK.
Nominet CEO Falls On His Sword To Avoid More Carnage At Today’s EGM
Nominet’s CEO Russell Haworth has become the sacrifice in the ongoing battles over management of the .uk ccTLD. In an announcement today, Nominet said Haworth “intends to step down from the Board and relinquish his duties as CEO. Russell will complete a short transition, arrangements for which details are being finalised. The board will announce interim leadership measures in due course.” Whether Haworth’s sacrifice minimises the fallout coming from today’s EGM remains to be seen.
ICANN Extends Date of Registry Reports Move to Open Data
[news release] ICANN org has extended the date that Registry Reports will permanently move to ICANN Open Data to 30 July 2021. This means Registry Reports will still be available on https://icann.org on the Registry Reports landing page beyond the previously announced 15 March deadline. The extension gives the community more time to adjust to the upcoming changes announced on 7 January 2021. On 30 July 2021, ICANN Open Data will become the permanent home of Registry Reports.
PIR Project Seeks To Improve Quality of Domain Name Space
PIR is on a mission to improve the domain name space for fellow registries, registrars and registrants. More than a year and a half ago – in May 2019 – the .org registry introduced the Quality Performance Index, or QPI. In doing so, they created a roadmap to identify best practices and incentives for registrars to reduce abuse rates and increase renewals of .ORGs.
US Govt Transfers Oversight of .GOV to CISA
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced it will begin overseeing the .gov top-level domain (TLD) as of April 2021. CISA is working closely with the U.S. General Services Administration, who currently oversees the TLD, to ensure a seamless transition of daily operations for .gov customers.
Crash In New gTLD Registrations Sees Global Domain Registrations Drop 4.4M In Q4: Verisign DNIB
Total new gTLD registrations have been on a downhill slide since late September 2020 according to nTLDstats.com and the decline is continuing. Verisign’s authorative Domain Name Industry Brief released this week reports that in the final quarter of 2020, new gTLD domain name registrations dropped 4.2 million to 26.0 million which equates to a drop of 13.8% compared to the third quarter of 2020. Over the year new gTLDs decreased by 3.3 million or 11.2%.
Here They Come: 4 Beauty gTLDs Plus a .QUEST Enter GA
The XYZ Registry launched 4 beauty-related new top-level domains this week plus .quest. .Beauty, .Hair, .Skin, and .Makeup which are being aimed at independent beauty brands, influencers, big-brand cosmetic companies, salon owners, medi-spas, dermatologists, skincare specialists/aestheticians, suppliers, hair stylists, barbers, makeup artists, fashion designers and other beauty industry insiders. Plus there’s the destination-driven .Quest domain that’s being pitched at gurus, experts and enthusiasts of any field, a go-to domain for anyone seeking a specific service and/or product.