DENIC Wins Domains Award At eco://award 2018 With Data Escrow Service

DENIC, the .de ccTLD manager, has won the Domains category at the 17th annual eco://award held in Cologne’s Wolkenburg on 28 November. DENIC won for their Data Escrow Service – a unique solution for registrars and registries to meet their contractual escrow obligations in accordance with European legal standards. DENIC also made the final 3 in the Domains category with their ID4me, a Single Sign-On solution

DENIC, the .de ccTLD manager, has won the Domains category at the 17th annual eco://award held in Cologne’s Wolkenburg on 28 November. DENIC won for their Data Escrow Service – a unique solution for registrars and registries to meet their contractual escrow obligations in accordance with European legal standards. DENIC also made the final 3 in the Domains category with their ID4me, a Single Sign-On solution.

The prize-winning DENIC service offers an unprecedented backup option for domain data in Europe. By choosing DENIC as their escrow provider, European customers comply with their escrow obligations under European law. A combination of computer centres located in Europe as the only place for storing the data and the freedom to choose the place of jurisdiction and arbitration within Europe that make the DENIC Data Escrow Service unique. To become an accredited escrow provider, DENIC successfully passed ICANN’s multi-stage accreditation process.

The accreditation by ICANN authorises DENIC to provide data escrow services for registrars and registry operators of generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). In addition, DENIC is a Designated Escrow Agent for registrars. This means that ICANN-accredited registrars can use DENIC’s escrow services free of charge, financed by ICANN.

“The eco Award confirms that our commitment to creating a strictly European escrow solution for the domain industry provides real added value,” said DENIC COO Andreas Musielak. The marketing of the escrow services is performed by DENIC’s wholly-owned subsidiary DENIC Services GmbH & Co. KG, which specialises in optimal customer service.

ID4me, a service from the German country code top level domain manager, was also a finalist in the Domains category. ID4me gives internet users full control over their digital identity and enables them to govern the use of their personal data. Unlike other Single Sign-On solutions, ID4me uses only open standards. DENIC is one of the initiators of ID4me and has made an inaugural contribution to the technical development of the domain-based application.

The other finalist in the Domains category was Hexonet with their Search and Help Me Find My Domain service. The service was developed with a view to reconsider domain name search technology. HEXONET’s new domain search framework is relevance- and speed-based, challenging the traditional search approach. In addition, we have launched a chat-like feature which is fast becoming a preferred interface.

Other winners in the German internet industry awards were KAMP Netzwerkdienste GmbH in the Hosting category for their KAMP Dynamic Hardware Pool. With DHP, companies can operate a secure virtual data centre that, combined with on-site colocation, offers the optimal IT platform for their specific application.

There were 7 categories, with the remaining 5 winners and their categories being:

CATEGORY Cloud:
Consultix GmbH for ProCampaign Lighthouse – the secure Customer Engagement Hub for individualized marketing campaigns, which fully complies with the requirements of the GDPR.

CATEGORY Data Centre Infrastructure:
ColocationIX GmbH for ColocationIX ­– the data centre in the former nuclear shelter with the highest level of digital and physical security and an innovative fire protection and climate control concept.

CATEGORY ISP/Interconnection:
ANEXIA Deutschland GmbH for Backbone Europe – the massive expansion of the European network (n*100G), with the highest level of network quality and best routing.

CATEGORY Security:
Rohde & Schwarz Cybersecurity GmbH for R&S Trusted Gate – combining a Cloud Access Security Broker with a data-centric encryption system to make data more secure in the public cloud.

CATEGORY Innovation/Digital Business Models:
eyeo GmbH for Trusted News – which checks the trustworthiness of information on the Internet, and through which malware, fake news, and clickbait is visible at a glance.

There was also a Special Prize for Tim Cole who was honoured by eco with a special prize for his life’s work. For many years, the German-American author and publicist has immersed himself in topics relating to the Internet, e-business, the social web, and IoT.

“When Internet visionaries were still dismissed as crackpots in the early 1990s, he recognized the potential of the global data network and made a significant contribution to the commercial breakthrough of the Internet in Germany,” explained eco CEO Harald A. Summa in his laudatory speech. Cole has managed “to present technical developments in such a way that people not only understand them, but also – thanks to him – understand the consequences for their own actions and the implications for society.”

Efty Streamlines Checkout Process With New Escrow.com Integration

To further streamline its payment processes, Efty has integrated the recently introduced Escrow.com Platform application programming interface (API) into its online payment processes for buyers and sellers of domain names using its services

To further streamline its payment processes, Efty has integrated the recently introduced Escrow.com Platform application programming interface (API) into its online payment processes for buyers and sellers of domain names using its services.

Escrow.com, the world’s most secure payment system from a counterparty risk perspective, already underpins Efty’s domain sales payments system with new integration while Efty has made a name for itself in the domain name sector with its popular commission-free, domain name sales platform.

In a statement announcing the integration Efty notes that Escrow.com has safely processed over US$3.5 billion in transactions with its secure escrow service. It released its API in public beta late last year, giving businesses and individuals the ability to build the functionality of the Escrow.com Platform directly into their online platforms.

Efty has become the latest prominent domain name industry player to adopt the full capabilities of the Escrow.com API. The integration protects both buyers and the sellers on the Efty site, with Escrow.com acting as a trusted third party, holding the funds for big-ticket items, allowing handover of the domain being transacted to occur prior to funds being released.

“Escrow.com has had a longstanding relationship with Efty, and together we have helped people sell and buy thousands of domains over the years,” said Escrow.com General Manager Jackson Elsegood. “With this new integration of the Escrow.com API, Efty is able to tap into the full potential and latest functionality of the entire Escrow.com Platform.”

“The new Escrow.com API allowed us to integrate Escrow Pay into Efty,” said Efty Head of Product Doron Vermaat. “With Escrow Pay, we remove a lot of friction from the escrow process because buyers are now redirected to a wizard on Escrow.com where they can complete an escrow transaction in a few easy steps.

“At Efty, we’re always looking for the most buyer-friendly workflow possible, and this new integration allows us to deliver on that while ensuring that sellers are protected from counterparty risk with no chargebacks, ever. At the same time, buyers can be assured that their money is safe and secure, held in trust, until they are satisfied they have received what they are paying for,” Mr. Vermaat said.

Apple has always been a control freak. But is it guilty of abusing its monopoly power?

If a seven-year-old antitrust case finds Apple guilty of misusing its position in the apps market, the ramifications could be huge

If a seven-year-old antitrust case finds Apple guilty of misusing its position in the apps market, the ramifications could be huge

A strange thing happened last week: Microsoft passed Apple (briefly) to become the world’s most valuable company. Two factors seem to have accounted for this. The first is that Microsoft (which many people – mistakenly – think of as the tech equivalent of the Singer sewing machine company) has been on a roll recently as its CEO, Satya Nadella, successfully pivoted the company to focus on cloud computing (in addition to Windows, the Xbox and its Surface tablets).

The second is that Apple shares have been on the slide because investors fear that iPhone sales may have reached a plateau and that the remarkable growth in Apple’s “services” business will not make up for the decline in iPhone revenues.

In that context, a case that was heard in the US supreme court last week has acquired a new salience. It concerns the App Store, the most important and profitable part of Apple’s services business, which was one of the big ideas Steve Jobs had in 2007 when he launched the iPhone.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/02/apple-control-freak-is-it-guilty-of-abusing-its-monopoly-power

Encryption bill could have ‘catastrophic’ outcomes for Australian business, industry leaders warn

Members of the Australian technology industry have warned that the Government’s encryption bill would devastate their reputation, triggering job losses and a reduction in exports.

Members of the Australian technology industry have warned that the Government's encryption bill would devastate their reputation, triggering job losses and a reduction in exports.

Under its proposed powers, the Assistance and Access Bill could require a company to create a new mechanism for law enforcement to access encrypted communications — for example, text messages from a terrorist suspect — while also demanding it keep the capability a secret.

Francis Galbally, chairman of the leading encryption provider Senetas, said this situation would breed serious mistrust of businesses like its own.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-11-30/encryption-bill-tech-business-damage-international-reputation/10570316

ICANN Announces Extension of the Public Comment for the CCT Final Report

The deadline to submit comments on the Final Report [PDF, 4.89 MB] of the Competition, Consumer Trust, and Consumer Choice (CCT) Review Team has been extended until Tuesday, 11 December 23:59 UTC

The deadline to submit comments on the Final Report [PDF, 4.89 MB] of the Competition, Consumer Trust, and Consumer Choice (CCT) Review Team has been extended until Tuesday, 11 December 23:59 UTC.

This Public Comment proceeding is aimed at gathering community input on the CCT Review Team’s Final Report and Recommendations.

The CCT Review Team was formed in January 2016 to assess the New Generic Top-Level Domain (New gTLD) Program in three areas: competition, consumer trust, and consumer choice. The review also assesses safeguards put in place to mitigate issues arising from both the introduction of new gTLDs, and the New gTLD Program’s application and evaluation process. The review, required by Section 4.6 of the ICANN Bylaws, examines to what degree the process of implementing the New gTLD Program was successful in producing desired results and achieving the stated objectives. The CCT Review Team analyzed both quantitative and qualitative data to produce recommendations for the ICANN Board to consider and adopt.

On 8 September 2018, the CCT Review Team submitted its Final Report and Recommendations to the ICANN Board of Directors. The Report was then issued for Public Comment to inform ICANN Board action on the CCT Review Team’s final recommendations.

Per the Bylaws, the ICANN Board shall consider the report and public comments to determine whether to approve the recommendations within six months of receipt of the Final Report [PDF, 4.89 MB] and Recommendations [PDF, 562 KB]. The Board will then direct implementation of the recommendations that are approved and provide written rationale for the decision if any recommendations are not approved.

Additional Resources

About ICANN

ICANN‘s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique, so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2018-11-29-en

Elon Musk’s SpaceX wins FCC approval to put 7,000 Starlink Internet satellites into orbit

Federal regulators are allowing entrepreneur Elon Musk to use an expanded range of wireless airwaves for his plan to deliver cheap, high-speed Internet access — from space.

Federal regulators are allowing entrepreneur Elon Musk to use an expanded range of wireless airwaves for his plan to deliver cheap, high-speed Internet access — from space.

The decision Thursday by the Federal Communications Commission paves the way for SpaceX to build its full network of about 12,000 satellites intended to blanket the earth in wireless Internet access. Proponents say next-generation satellite Internet technology could help developing countries and rural areas connect to economic opportunities currently out of reach for them because they lack competitive Internet access.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/11/15/elon-musks-spacex-wins-fcc-approval-put-starlink-internet-satellites-into-orbit/

Also see:

SpaceX's Next Launch Will Spark a Space Internet Showdown
Elon Musk has long promised a constellation of thousands of satellites, called Starlink, which Musk hopes will one day handle half of all internet traffic—and earn him billions in access fees. It's one of the ways he hopes to fund his future Mars adventures. SpaceX says two demonstration satellites it built and launched earlier this year already show that internet from space can be as fast and lag-free as people expect from cables on Earth.

Now a SpaceX rocket is poised to launch a raft of internet satellites from a host of startups—but this time, the target audience is machines.
https://www.wired.com/story/spacexs-next-launch-will-spark-a-space-internet-showdown/

Microsoft Is Worth as Much as Apple. How Did That Happen?

Just a few years ago, Microsoft was seen as a lumbering has-been of the technology world. It was big and still quite profitable, but the company had lost its luster, failing or trailing in the markets of the future like mobile, search, online advertising and cloud computing. Its stock price languished, inching up 3 percent in the decade through the end of 2012.

Just a few years ago, Microsoft was seen as a lumbering has-been of the technology world.

It was big and still quite profitable, but the company had lost its luster, failing or trailing in the markets of the future like mobile, search, online advertising and cloud computing. Its stock price languished, inching up 3 percent in the decade through the end of 2012.

It’s a very different story today. Microsoft is running neck and neck with Apple for the title of the world’s most valuable company, both worth more than $850 billion, thanks to a stock price that has climbed 30 percent over the last 12 months.

So what happened?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/29/technology/microsoft-apple-worth-how.html

Is a ‘Netflix effect’ killing prestige films?

Netflix may be great for independent-minded filmmakers. But it’s bad for a lot of the companies that produce independent films — and maybe the film business as a whole.

Netflix may be great for independent-minded filmmakers.

But it’s bad for a lot of the companies that produce independent films — and maybe the film business as a whole.

At least that’s the argument quietly being advanced by executives in parts of the movie industry — specifically the parts that produce and distribute the upscale independent movies that seize the public imagination this time of the year.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/11/29/is-netflix-effect-killing-prestige-films/

DotCoop Gets .COOP For 10 More Years

DotCoop has announced ICANN extended the contract for the .coop top level domain on 16 November to allow them to continue managing the TLD for the cooperative movement for the next 10 years

DotCoop has announced ICANN extended the contract for the .coop top level domain on 16 November to allow them to continue managing the TLD for the cooperative movement for the next 10 years.

.COOP launched in 2001 and is managed by DotCooperation LLC (DotCoop), which is jointly owned by the National Cooperative Business Association (NCBA CLUSA) and the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA).

It’s the second time the contract has been extended and negotiations began in 2016 for the current contract renewal. DotCoops’s communications officer Tom Ivey told Coop News the process took over two years due to the changing environment and regulations within domain name industry.

“Since 2012, ICANN has opened up the market and there are over 1,000 namespaces (TLDs) so the standards for operating them have changed,” Ivey said.

“We are in the age of the new internet. In this crowded space online where everyone has the space they want, we needed to safeguard this domain we have. We were one of the first to be added to the internet after .com. It’s important that we managed to secure this space for the co-operative movement.”

ICANN also agreed for the domain to continue to be available only to bona fide co-operatives and co-operative organisations.

“Most domain names out there have no such restrictions, they can be used by everybody. This is fundamental, it means that if a co-op uses this domain it’s like a badge, they are verified, they joined this co-op movement,” added Ivey.

MK.COM Sold In Big $700,000 Sale

Domain Name Journal logoLast week it was a short 2 character .de domain name topping the weekly charts, this week it was a 2 character .com domain name in a big $700,000 sale. In a sale through NameExperts, mk.com topped the Domain Name Journal chart of top reported sales for the week ending 11 November followed by avoid.com, selling for $117,500 through Nametra and then pickpack.com which sold for $59,000 through Sedo

Domain Name Journal logoLast week it was a short 2 character .de domain name topping the weekly charts, this week it was a 2 character .com domain name in a big $700,000 sale. In a sale through NameExperts, mk.com topped the Domain Name Journal chart of top reported sales for the week ending 11 November followed by avoid.com, selling for $117,500 through Nametra and then pickpack.com which sold for $59,000 through Sedo.

Sedo had a hand in 14 of the top 20 sales, while NameCheap had 2. On the top level domain (TLD) side of things, there were 15 .com sales, 3 for .club and one each for .de and .org.

To check out the Domain Name Journal chart of top reported sales in more detail, go to:
http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2018/20181121.htm