Category: Domain Name Registry

“Solid” 2018 Sees PIR Reorganising and Boosting Revenues and Renewals in Challenging Times

Public Interest Registry published their 2018 annual report Thursday, highlighting what for them was a “solid year for .org, from exceeding financial goals to continuing to grow a strong user base with high renewal rates. These results are a direct reflection of PIR’s commitment to promoting quality domains in the .org base.” For 2019, the .org registry is ‘putting an even greater focus on combating abuse and making significant investments in education and outreach initiatives.’

It was a year that saw domain names under management for .org drop to 10.3 million at the end of 2018 from 10.4 million at the end of 2017. Renewals though increased by 100,000 from 6.7m to 6.8m while the renewal percentage increased from 75.7% to 77.4%.

But .org wasn’t the only top-level domain in the top 10 by registration numbers to drop with .de and .uk also dropping by around 100,000 according to Verisign’s Domain Name Industry Brief, but .net (500,000) and .ru (400,000) dropped even further while .info dropped from being the eighth largest TLD with 6.4 million registrations to sliding out of the top 10 meaning their registration count was somewhere below 4.8 million registrations which is what the tenth largest TLD (.tw) had at the end of 2018.

As the annual report notes, they are challenging times with there now being 1,250 gTLDs including PIR’s .ong and .ngo and 4 others, currently with just shy of 8,000 registrations, compared to the 6 when .org was created in 1984.

Financially 2018 was a year in which PIR note they exceeded their financial goals with net bookings growing $1.1m to 93.0m and operating income jumping $7.0m to $45.9m. For 2018 mid-year PIR made some “bold” business decisions, that led to a strong financial performance, and results specifically reflecting an ongoing commitment to high ethical standards. Mid-year also saw a realignment of marketing incentives a renewed focus on the quality (not just the quantity) of .org registrations. The .org Community grew as the result of this change. There were more quality registrations and more users. This led to significant contributions toward Internet Society’s work for an open, globally-connected, secure and trustworthy Internet for everyone.

Other achievements in 2018 highlighted in the report were reorganising the management structure to align with strategic priorities, sharpening efforts to further improve the quality of the .org base, maintaining the robust .org renewal rates, and producing strong financial results in support of the Internet Society and their work to keep the Internet free and open for all. The report also details PIR’s plans for 2019, which include initiatives aligned with PIR’s mission to help educate those who are making a difference in their communities through the power of .org.

In 2019, PIR is building upon these efforts through the launch of the Quality Performance Index (QPI) initiative, which helps reward those registrars who are growing and maintaining trust in the .org domain while identifying areas of improvement for registrars when it comes to online trust.

The Report also details PIR’s robust anti-abuse program, its policy and privacy initiatives, and expanding education and outreach efforts. For 2019, PIR is putting an even greater focus on combating abuse online and making significant investments in education and outreach initiatives. PIR also is establishing a .ORG Impact Awards program to recognise the incredible work of organisations across the globe, and creating a PIR Grants Program to connect PIR with highly motivated individuals and groups with mutual aspirations to help them further their missions.

“PIR achieved the ambitious goals we set for ourselves in 2018, thanks in no small part to the inspiring work of the .org community. It’s the people and organisations using .org to make a positive impact on the world who motivate us to remain diligent in our stewardship of the .org domain,” said Jon Nevett, who was appointed President and CEO of Public Interest Registry in December 2018.

“This year, we are in the midst of a number of exciting initiatives aimed at providing even more support for the broad .org community and our domain industry partners. These include maintaining .org as the most trusted domain extension, amplifying our education and outreach efforts, and continuing to expand our already robust anti-abuse program.”

To download the 2018 Annual Report in full, go to: https://pir.org/pir-2018-annual-report/

Facebook’s Libra Announcement Sees Flurry of New Domain Registrations in June

Facebook’s announcement of their new Libra cryptocurrency in mid-June had a big impact on .com and .net domain name registrations with “libra” topping the top 10 trending keywords in English registered in June for both top-level domains.

“Currency” also made it into the .com top 10 while gambling-related keywords had an impact on .net keywords with “casino”, “bet” and “poker”.

For May “coupons” and “coupon” topped the .com top 10.

The top 10 trending keywords for .com and .net registered in June 2019 were:

.COM .NET
LibraLibra
SnafuCasino
PsychedelicBet
CurrencyLong
CeramicAsera
EmployerClinic
PotteryPoker
ImpactBoat
RegenerativeLondon
ManualDust

The top 10 trending keywords for .com and .net registered in May 2019 were:

.COM .NET
couponsabuse
couponapple
finestchild
biocharphone
mushroomaccount
trialboy
shroompain
podsthai
bringlend
simplicityweed

.BE New Registrations At Lowest Level in 10 Years

Belgium’s ccTLD saw domain name registrations climb marginally by around 1% to 1,603,508 at the end of 2018 to a new record high, but for new registrations these were at their lowest since 2008, a sign of a maturing market where new growth is becoming difficult to find. It’s a situation that’s mirrored in many ccTLDs in Europe and other developed countries.

Within Europe, growth among its 57 ccTLDs was only 1.9% in the year to the end of April 2019, while globally the figure was 3.4%, a new record low according to the latest CENTRstats Global TLD Report published in May.

According to DNS Belgium’s annual report for 2018 there were 226,727 new registrations in 2018 and a healthy renewal rate of 86.55% which is on the rise. But one of the other 2 top-level domains managed by DNS Belgium had an even higher renewal rate with .brussels at 87.01% while for .vlaanderen the figure was 86.47%. However total registrations for both of these are much lower with 7,670 for .brussels and 6,607 for .vlaanderen making up 0.32% and 0.28% of all domain names in the country.

Within Belgium, 54.42% of all domain names are .be domains, 15.09% .com and .eu at 6.95%. Rounding out the top 10 were .loan with 5.51% of all registrations, .net (5.50%), Netherlands’ .nl (2.76%), France’s .fr (1.63%), .org (1.55%), .info (0.65%), and Germany’s .de (0.54%).

When it comes to how .be domain names are used, 81.83% of them have a website, 75.27% for email, 69.81% for both, 12.72% of .be domain names only have a website and 5.46% only have email while 12.02% have neither. For the types of website content, 58.65% of all websites have what is described as “low content” (websites with minimal content: pay per click, error messages, holding pages), 2.41% for personal content (for example, blogs) and 38.95% for industry or business.

When it comes to where .be registrants come from, naturally most are from Belgium with 68.92%. Next is the Netherlands with 17.68% of registrants, France (4.79%), Germany (1.85%) and the US (1.47%) being the only countries above 1.0%.

Almost three-quarters (74.84%) of .be registrants have only one domain name and 12.64% have 2 domain names. The distribution of .be domain names to companies and individuals sees 72.36% going to companies and 27.64% to individuals.

There are 408 registrars for .be domain names with the top 3 accounting for 26.89% of all registrations, the top 10 for 54.21% and the top 100 for 90.50%.

Zimbabwe Seeking To Bring .ZW Into The 21st Century

Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) logo

Zimbabwe’s ccTLD management is about to be brought into the 21st century with the government calling for public comments on a DNS Framework Consultation paper that was released Monday. The paper outlines the limitations of the current setup such as no single registry, no functional WHOIS, registrations are manual and difficulties in implementing security initiatives, no IPv6.

According to the paper published by the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ), “Zimbabwe does not have a DNS Policy in place. A DNS policy is an essential pierce of legislating that clearly defines roles or industry players, define standards to be set, and also define levels of security to be put in place by data processors.” The paper mentions “many countries with successful DNS implementation have DNS policies in place, South Africa included.”

The current set up for .zw is POTRAZ delegated the administration of the technical and operational aspects of the DNS in Zimbabwe to TelOne in 2004. TelOne acts as registrar and registry for .org.zw while other second level domains were delegated to the University of Zimbabwe (.ac.zw) , ZISPA (.co.zw) and GISP (.gov.zw).

“Currently, the paper notes, “in Zimbabwe every registry [has] their own DNS policies and that they use in registering domain names under their delegated SLDs. As a result, implementation of security measures depends on the willingness and capacity of each registry/registrar to implement their own measures.”

And while this has served .zw satisfactorily, there are some “weaknesses and shortcomings”. These include:

  • registration has remained manual and time consuming
  • the fragmented manner in which the DNS has been implemented has presented a lot of security loopholes affecting DNS availability and reliability with the implementation of DNSSEC a challenge
  • there is no functional WHOIS service
  • growth has been slow because there is no dedicated entity to make sure that DNS industry thrives

The paper also notes that Zimbabwe has the highest IPv6 usage in Africa, but not one .zw domain name utilises the protocol.

To help bring Zimbabwe’s country code top level domain into the 21st century, POTRAZ is planning on remaining the sponsoring organisation and selecting a registry operator for .zw. The new registry “will be responsible for the registry database and the supporting infrastructure of DNS servers, WHOIS systems and so on. It will implement the policies and processes defined by the ccTLD registry and Sponsoring Organisation.” The registry will then appoint registrars. POTRAZ is seeking comment on whether they should implement a registry solely set up for managing .zw and whether this body should be “part of government, outsourced, independent -externally regulated or independent-self regulated.”

The Consultation Paper On Domain Name System (DNS) Framework and .ZW ccTLD Management can be downloaded here [pdf]. Public comments are open until 9 August 2019.

.VEGAS Releases Over 2,000 Previously Blocked Domains

Dot Vegas is releasing 2,200 previously blocked .vegas domain names from 1 August.

The registry says that the domain names will be released “in an ongoing effort to increase awareness and usage.” Upon their release the domains will go through the appropriate process of a claims period before they go to open registration.

The claims period will begin on 1 August and run for 90 days. After that time the domain names will go to the open period, which starts on 1 November and be available through their usual registrars and resellers.

An online contact form [here] on the Dot Vegas website can be completed to obtain a complete list of the domain names being released.

End of 5 Year ‘Right of Registration’ Period For .UK Registrants

The opportunity for .uk registrants with third level domain names to get the second level equivalent has now closed. All remaining domain names will be made available to the public in July.

In an announcement Nominet, the registry for .uk, said the registrants of around 1.8 million out of 10 million domain names hadn’t taken up the opportunity as of late last week.

The 5 year ‘Right of Registration’ period set aside by Nominet in June 2014 was to allow third-level (.co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .plc.uk or .ltd.uk) domain registrants ample time to consider whether they would like to register their second-level equivalent.

“With the deadline approaching, companies and individuals need to take action now to avoid missing out on securing the shorter domain,” said Eleanor Bradley, MD of Registry Solutions, Nominet. “By taking up the equivalent .uk they guarantee they – and no-one else – can use it now and in the future.”

“But it’s a choice. In a world with hundreds of different domain endings already available, from .uk and .com to .london and .vip, we know not everyone will feel it’s a priority.  For those happy with the .co.uk domain they already have, it is important to know that it will continue as normal.”

Registrants can check if they had rights at theukdomain.uk/do-i-have-uk-rights/

Afilias To Acquire .GLOBAL From Cloud Names

Afilias announced Monday it was acquiring the .global new gTLD from Cloud Names to add to its stable. It will be Afilias’ 22nd new gTLD and add 48,650 domain names to the 172,700 domain names under management it currently has. It’s currently 63rd on the nTLDstats chart when it comes to total registration numbers.

Afilias already provides backend registry services to .global and given Cloud Names, the current operator, only has this one new gTLD under its management means it’s likely they will exit the new gTLD business as a company. .cloud was delegated in June 2014 and entered General Availability in September 2014 and has been on a gradual but continuous rise ever since. Originally there were 2 applicants for .cloud, with Donuts withdrawing its application in what appeared to be a privately negotiated deal.

Afilias also provides backend registry services for 191 new generic top level domains, the largest of which is .xin with 94,000 domain names under management and .global is second, and in total has close to over 452,000 DUM.

As Afilias has been the registry services provider for .GLOBAL since it was delegated, the change of ownership has little practical impact on registrar customers and none on registrants. Afilias in their announcement says that some paperwork will need to be updated, and Afilias will provide support for the administrative changes.

“Ailias is pleased to acquire another successful TLD” said Hal Lubsen, Chief Executive Officer of Afilias. “Rolf Larsen and his team have done a great job building .GLOBAL to the success it is today, and Afilias looks forward to continuing to work with our registrar partners to expand the franchise.  Many website owners want to give their message a global appeal, and a .GLOBAL address is, by definition, a great platform.”

“We are glad that Afilias is taking over .GLOBAL” said Rolf Larsen, Chief Executive Officer of Dot Global Domain Registry Limited. “As our technical partner from inception, Afilias has the scale, organisation and financial resources to enable .GLOBAL to reach its full potential” he continued. “We are working closely together to minimise the impact of this change on our customers.”

CIRA launches D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training platform to help defend Canadian institutions

CIRA has added another tool to its growing portfolio of cybersecurity solutions with the introduction of D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training. CIRA, the Canadian ccTLD registry manager, has partnered with Beauceron Security to bring Canadian institutions an advanced cybersecurity training and awareness platform to help turn their users into defenders.

While D-Zone DNS Firewall and D-Zone Anycast DNS defend at the DNS layer, CIRA D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training mobilises any organisation’s most critical layer of defence—its users—to add extra vigilance to its security footprint.

“The responsibility for cybersecurity is no longer solely on the IT department; all users have a role to play,” said Dave Chiswell, vice president, product development, CIRA. “Employees who are cyber aware can be a company’s biggest asset in the escalating battle against cybercrime. Beauceron has created a platform that delivers cybersecurity training in a simple and engaging way. We are proud to have them as a partner in our growing suite of cybersecurity services.”

Cybersecurity is a significant issue for businesses, not just in Canada but around the world. CIRA’s 2018 Cybersecurity Survey found 43% of all Canadian organisations still suffered business-impacting cyberattacks. As the organisation size increased that number increases. This underscores the importance of adding employees to the defensive posture and not just treating them as a risk to be managed with technology.

“Beauceron is proud to be partnering with an organisation that shares our goal of making a more secure online experience accessible to all Canadians,” said David Shipley, chief executive officer, Beauceron Security. “CIRA is a trusted partner with a methodical approach to meeting the needs of their clients and community. We’re excited for what this partnership will bring.”

The D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training is a highly integrated and comprehensive cybersecurity awareness training platform that provides user assessments, surveys, training, phishing simulation, and risk management to empower organisations to turn their employees into a robust layer of security.

Organisations implementing D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training, CIRA says, see an average three-times reduction in users being tricked by phishing emails.

D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training includes industry-leading integration testing, simulation and reports to provide a fully automated platform that requires minimal IT management. The platform automatically adjusts the frequency and level of testing and training based on user behaviour.

D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training makes cybersecurity awareness more engaging through gamification. Personal dashboards accessed via SAML-based identity provide a snapshot and score for users and departments to track their improvement. It also allows organisations to manage and compare against NIST cybersecurity standards.

CIRA is adding D-Zone Cybersecurity Awareness Training to its portfolio of cybersecurity products as part of its mission to help Canadian institutions protect their networks, safeguard user data, and do it all with a made in Canada solution.

.CLUB Reduces Prices of Some Premium Domains

The .club registry has reduced the prices of some of their premium domain names, part of their twice a year adjustments to their premium domain name inventory available through registrars. The .club team is suggesting that for those in the market for a great, SEO friendly, brandable keyword domain this is their best update yet.

The reductions have come about so a number of their domain names available at registrars could fit within authorised premium tiers. This means some names that were formerly in the “super premium” category are now available at very attractive prices, in many cases at $10,000 or less. Many of these domain names were previously only available at aftermarket platforms. They’re now available through registrars. In addition, some domain names that were previously registry reserved have now been released for sale. All .club premium names have standard renewal fees.

Among the newly repriced domains are:

  • NYC.club
  • Travellers.club
  • Delivery.club
  • Biking.club
  • Fun.club
  • Growth.club
  • Home.club
  • Movies.club

The domain names are also available through names.club for those who require financing. There are over 90 new high-value domain names in this release as well as thousands of new domains in lower premium tiers, so there are quality .club premium domains available at every price level.

.NZ Consultation Looks At Reimagining Dispute Resolution

New Zealand’s Domain Name Commission is seeking input to review how dispute resolution services for .nz are handled. They’re asking interested parties to tell them what type of dispute services should be available from the DNC.

To help provide background, the DNC has compiled a consultation paper [pdf]that examines how other jurisdictions have tackled the same or similar problems, what constitutes best practice and possible options for resolving domain name disputes more efficiently and effectively into the future.

The consultation is steering clear of making in-line changes to its existing dispute resolutions policy framework. Rather, its focus is on dispute resolution as a ‘service’ offering and asking open questions about what types of services, how might they be delivered, for whom and by whom and what processes might be needed to support the delivery of speedy, independent, fair and efficient digital justice.

It’s not that the number of disputes for New Zealand’s country code top-level domain are high. There have been 300 disputes since the existing dispute resolution service was introduced in 2006, and according to the DNC’s 2017/18 annual report there were 22 valid complaints received during the 12-month period with 6 going to mediation and 3 reaching settlement. However, closer inspection by the DNC revealed that 4 of the disputes validly lodged last year did not progress any further, because of unpaid fees. The reason for this lack of progression is unknown.

So the DNC wants to know if their processes are putting stakeholders off. The consultation paper also notes 6 further complaints, (more than a quarter) were never responded to by the registrant, voiding the Complainant’s access to cost-free mediation and making a fee payable for an Expert Determination. In the context of the overall total number of disputes made each year, the DNC notes these numbers are significant. In each case, the determination resulted in the disputed domain name being transferred to the Complainant. Arguably says the DNC, that is unfair to the Complainant. Other jurisdictions faced with the same circumstances either grant a discount (Canada) or give the option of a summary judgment (UK). Similar to the .uk model, .za (South Africa) makes use of a process called a ‘Summary Decision.’ If a registrant does not submit a response, the adjudicator must decide the matter based on the dispute contemplated in regulation and issue a summary decision.

The consultation could be a world first among top-level domain registries and will examine current procedures, fees, whether there are barriers to lodging disputes, ensuring natural justice is met, what innovation is possible such as utilising Blockchain technologies and artificial intelligence. The consultation paper also looks at tightening point of registration controls to lower the risk of a complaint occurring and providing ‘without prejudice’ early indicative judgements.

There are 4 ways for anyone interested to make a submission: to submit a response to their consultation paper by 19 July, to complete an online survey that should take around 5 to 10 minutes, attend one of 2 6 hour workshops to be held in Wellington (24 July) and Auckland (26 July) or an online brainstorming exercise from 3 July.

For more information, see the Domain Name Commission’s Dispute Resolution Review page here.