A series of six papers from the European Commission “represent a wholesale effort to put governments in charge of the internet” writes Kieren McCarthy.”They would be put in a position to decide how the internet’s underlying naming structure – the domain name system – expands and evolves.”If the DNS evolves in the right way of course, governments won’t need to do anything, they will let others get on with it. But just in case people decide to do something that isn’t in the public’s interest, then governments will be there to firmly but politely inform them that they are not allowed to do that. Well, that’s the theory anyway.”To read McCarthy’s analysis of the papers and the players and what is going on, check out his posting on his Dot NXT site at news.dot-nxt.com/2011/08/31/ec-papers-analysis.
Tag Archives: European Union
CN Domain Registrations Slip Even Further
The number of .CN domain name registrations have slipped by over one million in the two months to 30 June according to statistics published on the China Internet Network Information Center’s (CNNIC) website this week.
The latest figure is 7,246,686 compared to 8,254,681 at the end of April. CNNIC, unlike many registries, often posts registration figures several months late. Others such as DENIC (.DE) and Nominet (.UK) have real time statistics.
The dramatic reductions are the result of the end of promotions that lasted for much of 2008 and 2009 where domain names could be registered for a few cents and the introduction of restrictions on registrants.
The latest figures mean .CN is still is the third highest ranked ccTLD behind .DE with 13,765,490 registrations as of 7 August and 8,654,260 for .UK (United Kingdom). .NL (Netherlands) is fourth with 3,981,555 registrations while .EU (European Union) is fifth with 3,227,644 registrations.
To register your domain name for any of the above ccTLDs, or any other, check out Europe Registry here.
European Union Gets Serious on Cybercrime Including Right to Revoke Domain Names
The Council of the European Union has proposed the establishment of a European centre be established to combat cybercrime that would include the right to revoke domain names and IP addresses, according to a statement from a Council meeting on April 26.The Action Plan says it “considers that is of a paramount importance to propose actions which would specify how the main points of the concerted strategy to combat cybercrime should be implemented, both in the short and medium term.”The meeting statement proposed the European Commission draw up a feasibility study on the possibility of creating a centre that would deal with cybercrime including crime related to the invasion of privacy, financial cybercrime, unauthorized access for the purpose of sabotage, crime against intellectual property, attacks on networks and against information systems, on-line fraud, child pornography and spam, and trafficking in illicit substances.The meeting statement noted as one of those medium term actions “to adopt a common approach in the fight against cybercrime internationally, particularly in relation to the revocation of Domain Names and IP addresses. The Commission, in cooperation with the Member States and Europol, is invited to facilitate this objective.”Among short term plans the meeting statement noted it has to find out more about the perpetrators of cybercrime and their modus operandi, to share knowledge within the EU to better understand the problem.Among the medium term plans were to ratify the Council of Europe Cybercrime Convention, consider raising the standards of specialization of the police, judges, prosecutors and forensic staff to an appropriate level to carry out cybercrime investigations, to encourage information sharing among member states and to adopt a common approach in the fight against cybercrime internationally.The Council statement from the meeting is available from:
www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/jha/114028.pdf