Global Domain Name and Internet Policy News
CentralNic has made yet another acquisition, this time Wando Internet Solutions GmbH for €5.4m (US$6.5m). Based in Berlin, Germany, Wando is a technology company operating in the fields of social marketing, display advertising and SEM Advertising.
On 1 January 2021 over 81,000 British-based .eu registrants found their domain names had become “suspended”, meaning their domain names would not resolve to websites and emails would not transmit. The reason was that at the end of the Brexit “transition period” on 31 December, they were ineligible to hold or register .eu domains. To comply, individuals had to prove they were a citizen of the European Union or the larger European Economic Area, an EU citizen no matter where they lived in the world or for businesses, be a legally established entity in the EU or EEA.
Nominet has given some ground in light of a number of members, currently around 17.4% of members, proposing to dismiss half the board including the entire senior executive team and a number of other changes. As part of its efforts to appease the insurrectors, Nominet is proposing to scale up its public benefit programme, freeze .uk prices for at least two years and freeze board-level pay through the end of 2022, among other proposals.
Verisign reported its fourth quarter and 2020 financial results Thursday and the highlight that will get most attention is the increase in the annual registry-level wholesale fee for each new and renewal .com domain name, which will increase by 7%, from $7.85 to $8.39, effective 1 September, 2021.
ShortDot is launching the Sunrise period for its fourth new gTLD on 10 March, the recently acquired .cfd, which they are promoting as being for #ClothingFashionDesign.
The UK-based CentralNic Group is seeking to raise €15 million (US$18m) from investors “for the acquisition of near-term identified targets.” Since 2015, CentralNic has acquired at least 10 companies, mostly domain name registrars.
[news release] To protect the rights and interests of domain name registrants, Friday ICANN issued a third breach notice against Net 4 India Limited (Net 4 India) for its repeated and ongoing failures to comply with the Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA).
Organizations adopting proactive domain management approach, prioritizing domain security, boosting annual spend despite COVID-19 uncertainty and grasping strategic value of gTLDs
The XYZ Registry recently launched Sunrise periods for five recently acquired new gTLDs – .quest and four new gTLDs for the beauty industry – .Beauty, .Hair, .Skin and .Makeup. Registrations for trademark holders commenced 1 December while General Availability will commence on 2 March.
[news release] ICANN Friday announced the launch of an audit program aimed at reviewing how registrars are fulfilling their contractual obligations related to addressing reports of potentially abusive domains. This audit follows the 2019 audit program that included all active registry operators, with the objective of understanding how registries were fulfilling their contractual obligations relating to the performance of Security Threats Reporting.