Tag Archives: .cr

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

NIC Costa Rica Introduces Auctions for .CR

NIC_Costa_Rica_logoAccording to a recent announcement from NIC Costa Rica, both registrants and the registry now have the option of auctioning .cr domain names.

But the process isn’t as straightforward as for most top level domains. Only domains registered under .co.cr,. cr, personal or Premium domains are allowed for auction. Anyone wishing to buy a domain name through auction must register with NIC Costa Rica to be able to make an offer. The highest bid will win.

The original announcement is on the NIC Costa Rica website in Spanish at:
https://www.nic.cr/ver-noticia/90/nuevos-valores-agregados-al-cr-subasta-de-dominios/

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

.CR Offers Discounted New Registrations in September

NIC_CR_September_2017_discountNIC Costa Rica is offering discounts on one-year new registrations for second level .cr domain names in the first week of September.

The discount sees second level .cr domain names being available on Monday 4 September for US$1, with the registration fee rising by $1 each day to Friday 8 September when the registration fee will be $5.

The registrations fees are for one year registrations only and does not apply to registrations for 2 to 5 years, premium domains of 1, 2 and 3 characters, third level registrations such as .co.cr, renewals, transfers and  WHOIS privacy.

Once this promotion is complete, the cost of registering a second level .cr domain name will revert to the standard fee of US$70.00. And normal eligibility for .cr domain names will apply.

For more information and the official announcement, in Spanish only, see:
https://www.nic.cr/ver-noticia/79/reglamento-para-promocion-semana-del-internet/

Domain Name Disputes, Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registry

US Bullies Costa Rica and Refuses to Obey Local Laws Over Pirate Bay Domains

The United States Embassy in Costa Rica has been pressuring the local ccTLD operator, NIC Costa Rica, to take down thepiratebay.cr domain name with increasing urgency as the registry resists. And if they refuse there have been threats to take the registry operation away from NIC Costa Rica.

In a letter to ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee [pdf], Dr. Pedro León Azofeifa, President of the Costa Rican Academy of Science, parent of NIC Costa Rica, advises that since 2015 the US Embassy in Costa Rica, representing the interests of the US Department of Commerce, who in turn is acting on behalf of American intellectual property interests, has frequently contacted the registry operator regarding the domain name for one of the leading websites providing access to an index of digital content, much of it pirated. The Pirate Bay has been operational since 2003 and has moved to several top level domains, and sometimes back again, as court cases and government, mostly US, pressure to delete the torrent site’s domain names.

The country code top level domain operator writes that The Pirate Bay has more than 70 domain names registered worldwide. They further advise the GAC that the interactions with the US Embassy “have escalated with time and include great pressure since 2016 that is exemplified by several phone calls, emails and meeting urging our ccTLD to take down the domain, even though this would go against our domain name policies.” The letter also notes that the US Department of Commerce has urged the Costa Rican “Ministry of Commerce to carry out an investigation as to why our local Ministry of Commerce to carry out an investigation as to why our organisation does not take down this domain, even though the process they ask us to follow goes against our current domain name policies.”

NIC Costa Rica advises the GAC that the “Ministry of Commerce has carried out an investigation and informed us that NIC Costa Rica was acting following best practices and has clear mechanisms to take down domain names that required a local court order. The representative of the United States Embassy, Mr. Kevin Ludeke , Economic Specialist, who claims to represent the interests of the US Department of Commerce, has mentioned threats to close our registry, with repeated harassment regarding our practices and operation policies and even personal negative comments directed to our Executive Director , based on no clear evidence or statistical data to support his claims as a way to pressure our organisation to take down the domain name without following our current policies.”

The registry notes their “domain policies work in accordance with the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society.” The registry goes on to note that “in accordance with these guidelines, when confronted with a conflict related to a domain name registered under .cr, which infringes upon the legislation pertaining to intellectual property, the registration of marks, or in which there is a crime including–but not limited to–drug trafficking, child pornography, human trafficking, or bank fraud, then NIC Costa Rica will proceed to eliminate the domain name if ordered to do so by a final judgment from the Courts of Justice of the Republic of Costa Rica.”

The registry has advised the US Embassy that they need to have a local court order in order to proceed to take down or block any domain as exemplified above. However, despite these arguments, the pressure and harassment to take down the domain name without its proper process and local court order persists.”

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

NIC Costa Rica Reduces .CR Price by 50% for 12 hours on 25 April

NIC NIC_Costa_Rica_reduce_cr_domains_by_50percentCosta Rica has reduced the price of .cr domain names by 50% to US$35 for any domain registered for one year in a 12 hour special on 25 April.

The promotion doesn’t apply to domain names registered for longer periods and is only for .cr domain names registered at the second level and doesn’t apply to renewals.

The promotion period runs for 12 hours on 25 April only and registrations must be done through the registry website at nic.cr.

For more information on the promotion, which is only available in Spanish, see:
https://www.nic.cr/

Domain Name Aftermarket, Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, ICANN and Governance

CcTLD Updates: .au, .cr, .id, .nl, .ru, .sg

Following the 2010 Names Policy Panel, auDA, the .au policy and regulatory body, has announced they will be implementing some of the Panel’s recommendations.

There are two main policy changes. One relates to domain monetisation in .com.au and .net.au, which sees the policy rules in effect “incorporated into the Domain Name Eligibility and Allocation Policy Rules for Open 2LDs at Schedules C (com.au) and E (net.au).”

The second relates to the little used .id.au 2LD, previously open only to individuals using their actual name or nickname. Now registrants will be able to register a domain name in the 2LD that relates to “a personal interest or hobby of the registrant.”

NIC Costa Rica announced that on 16 October 2012, the registries from Germany (.de), Brazil (.br) and Czech Republic (.cz) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with NIC Costa Rica (.cr). In their announcement NIC Costa Rica notes “the agreements allows for mutually beneficial projects such as: promote the exchange of expertise, share best practices related to management, strategy and business models, work together on initiatives that can lead to more efficient processes among other projects.”

The registry for .id domain names (Indonesia) said there is a good chance the ccTLD will become the largest in south east Asia. According to a Tech In Asia report,  Indonesia’s 103,882 .id domains are still outnumbered by Singapore’s .sg and Malaysia’s .my domains, which have 144,591 and 206,663 registered domains respectively.” The ccTLD has seen a 62.5 percent increase in registration in 2012 with the registry, PANDI, forecasting a growth rate of up to 170 percent in 2013 which, if it happens, would mean there would be 300,000 more new .id domain names at the end of 2013.

The Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and SIDN have jointly written to ICANN on the subject of last resort redelegation. The move is linked to contingency arrangements that the ministry and SIDN made in the 2008 Covenant on Safeguarding the .nl Domain, with a view to ensuring the continuity and stability of the .nl domain under all circumstances. The letter informs ICANN about the Covenant and about the contingency arrangements made at the national level, in case a last resort redelegation should ever be necessary.

On 19 December, 2012, the Coordination Center for TLD RU/РФ hosted a press conference on the “Russian Domain Space 2012: the bottom line”. The press conference looked at the achievement os 2012 and emerging future trends.

Issues covered were the stability of Russia’s TLDs, .ru and .рф, the growth in registrations of both TLDs to go past a combined total of five million, the safety of the DNS and DNSSEC and Russian applications for new gTLDs.

And the Coordination Center for TLD RU also announced the Russian Domains stats portal now enables to compare the domain zones in a highly visual mode. Compare Data will prove useful for web analysts, media and other Internet community members as well as for the members of the domain industry.

The Singaporean registry, SGNIC, announced that from 2 January 2013, all new businesses and companies registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) via its BizFile system on or after 5 October 2012, will save at least S$30 for the first year of registration for their first .sg domain name (ending with “.com.sg” or “.sg”).

In another SGNIC announcement, from 1 to 31 January 2013, a selected group of Premium Domain Names (“PDNs”) will be released for application at a base price ranging from $642 to $21,400 (including GST). If the name has multiple applications, it will be allocated to the applicant with the highest bid.

Domain Name Registry, ICANN and Governance

DENIC & Other European Registries Joins ccNSO

DENIC logoTogether with the country code registries of Italy (.it), Belgium (.be), Slovenia(.si), Lithuania (.lt) and Croatia (.hr) the German domain registry DENIC eG has joined the country code Names Supporting Organization (ccNSO) of ICANN. The ccNSO is the forum for country code registries within the ICANN. Continue reading DENIC & Other European Registries Joins ccNSO →