Tag Archives: FICORA

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

FICORA Lowers .FI Prices And Ends Registrar Services

Dot FI logoThere are some big changes coming for .fi domain names in early September. The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) is lowering the registry fee and registrants will need to deal with a registrar and not FICORA.

The new prices charged to registries as of 5 September will be lower than before with the prices being €9 per year and domains able to be registered for up to five years at a time.

On the move to what is recognised by many as an international registry/registrar model, the current system for .fi and all related user IDs will cease to exist on Friday 2 September at 16:15. It will not be possible to modify domain names between 16:15 on Friday 2 September 2016 and 10:00 on Monday 5 September.

After 5 September, if a registrant wishes to place a domain name under a registrar’s management and does not have a registrar yet, the customer will need a registrar transfer key. The key can be requested at FICORA’s customer service and FICORA sends it directly to the customer.

A registrar transfer key may only be sent to an address that FICORA can verify either through its own register or the registers of the Finnish Patent and Registration Office or the Population Register Centre. The registrar transfer key may also be sent by email or text message provided that the email and telephone number details in the register are up to date.

If the contact details entered in FICORA’s register are outdated, the customer should check that the information at the Finnish Patent and Registration Office or the Population Register Centre is correct. The contact details in FICORA’s register may then be verified and updated on the basis of the other registers.

Other changes coming is that from 7 September a list of domain names currently banned by law will become available. The domain names include generic or country code top level domains (gTLDs or ccTLDs), abbreviations of enterprise, foundation or association forms and expressions that are insulting or incite into criminal activity. The banned domain names will be released for registration at 10:00 on Wednesday 7 September.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

ccTLD Updates: .NO Reaches 700,000, .KE Cuts Fees and New .FI Registry/Registrar Model

Norid UNINETT logoThe Norwegian ccTLD, .no, reached the 700,000 registrations milestone in late June with individuals adding significantly to the number of registrations since they were allowed to register domains in the ccTLD in June 2014.

But today the total number of registrations has dipped backed below the milestone and number 6999,876 of which 408,793 are DNSSEC secured.

Since June 2014 the number of .no domain names registered by individuals has reached 50,000.

Kenya Network Information Centre Kenic logoThe Kenya Network Information Centre (Kenic) has reduced the price charged to registrars for .ke domains to Sh650 ($6.40) per domain from Sh1,000 ($9.85); with a recommended retail selling price set at Sh1,000, according to a report in the Kenyan Business Daily.

There are also “plans to make it compulsory for new companies seeking registration to have a website as part of efforts to get at least half of local enterprises” to use the Kenyan ccTLD.

Kenic “also plans to make it possible to register for the domain name at any Huduma Centre countrywide.” Huduma Centres provide Kenyans access to various Public Services and information from One Stop Shop citizen service centres.

Ficora is transitioning to a new registry-registrar model and as part of the plans to implement the change .fi will undergo maintenance operations between 16:15 on 2 September and 10:00 on 5 September.

FICORA dot FI logoThe current domain name system and all related user IDs will cease to exist on Friday, 2 September at 16.15. This means that domain names cannot be modified between Friday, 2 September 2016 at 16.15 and Monday, 5 September 2016 at 10.00. Which also means it will not be possible to renew or change registrant information during this period. The new system which will only be for registrars will open at 10:00 on 5 September.

Other changes that will occur as a result of the new system will be that the registration of certain domain names currently banned by law will become available. Domain names that will become available include:

  • generic or country code top level domains
  • abbreviations of enterprise, foundation or association forms
  • expressions that are insulting or incite into criminal activity.

These restrictions are abandoned in the Information Society Code and the banned domain names will be released for registration on Wednesday, 7 September 2016 at 10.00. The release takes place on Wednesday in order to provide registrars a chance to check their account balance and deposit enough money to their account for the registrations.

Other changes for registrars include:

  • Those who have registered as registrars in the new system act as account administrators and can create new user IDs for other users within their organisation.
  • Users log in to the system by entering a user ID, password and one-time password that is sent via text message to the number provided by the user.
  • Domain name registration fees are charged to the deposit account which registrars may top up through their online bank, either via credit card or bank transfer. Users may set a balance alert which means that the system sends a message when the account balance falls below a chosen limit.
  • It is easy to keep a domain name holder’s details up to date since contact details are automatically updated to all of the holder’s domain names.
  • it is possible to set domain names to automatically renew once a year.
Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

ccTLD Updates: .FI Domains For All and Registry To Stop Selling Domains, .EU in Cyrillic and .ES Requires Updated Data

Dot FI logoThe Finnish ccTLD registry is to stop selling domain names as part of a number of changes being introduced from 5 September. From this date, registrants will be required to register their domains with their own registrar while FICORA, the .fi registry, will act as the registry and policy and regulatory body.

Additionally, the local presence requirement for applicants is abandoned. This means that foreign companies, organisations and private persons become eligible to register .fi domain names regardless of their place of residence. The age limit of 15 for domain name holders is also abandoned. Furthermore, domain names that consist of a combination of a person’s first and last names may be freely registered. .FI domains may also be registered with the purpose of redelivery which is currently still illegal.

EURid, the .eu registry, has announced that preparations for the launch of .eu in Cyrillic are nearing completion. The official launch date for .eu in Cyrillic is 1 June. EURid will fully enforce the basic rule that the second level script must match the top-level script. This means that the current domain names registered in Cyrillic under .eu (Latin string) will undergo a “script adjustment” phase.

All policies, procedures and features currently available for .eu (Latin string) such as transfers, bulk transfers, multiyear, DNSSEC, registry lock, Customised Reduction Schemes, Co-funded Marketing Programme, etc., will also apply to .ею (Cyrillic string).

The current .eu Registration Policy, Terms & Conditions and WHOIS policy will apply to domain names registered under .ею (Cyrillic string).

A complete list of important administrative, legal and technical guidelines regarding the implementation of .eu in Cyrillic is available here.

Red.es is advising that registrants of .es domain names need to update the data associated with their .es domains.

Red.es or the accredited registrar s currently contacting registrants to ensure that the date is correct, truthful and updated, which it is required to be at all times. Any registrant that doesn’t comply with the terms and conditions may find their domain is cancelled.

Another change for .es domains is that as of 28 May, the current SSL certificate will be replaced with a new one, with a key length of 2048 bits and SHA-256 algorithm. With this update, Red.es will improve its portal protection and increase the security of established connections with the website.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

.FI Exceeds 300,000 in Finland, But Low DNSSEC Deployment

Dot FI logo[news release] Finnish domain name applicants favour reliability and Finnish origin in their choice of domain name, because the demand of fi-domain names has remained high. The popularity of the fi-domain name does not reflect on their information security, because only a fraction of domain name holders deploy the Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSec) FICORA has offered for a year now.

About 52,000 new domain names are granted each year, but despite the success of the fi-domain name, the deployment of the DNSSec extension is at its infacy in Finland. There are only 63 domain names protected by DNSSec, which is very low in the international comparison. For example, as many as 145,000 Swedish domain names ending with .se use DNSSec extension. The world’s fourth most common top-level country code, the Netherlands’ .nl domain has more than a million domain name holders using the DNSSec.

DNSSec (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is an extension improving the information security of the name service, which ensures the origin and integrity of the information received from the name server. When DNSSEC is in use, responses to name system queries are digitally signed. DNSSEC ensures that responses to name system queries come from the right sender and that the response information has not been modified. This guarantees that people using the internet are only shown the actual website that they intended to call up.

FICORA recommends strongly that fi-domain name holders deploy DNSSec. More information on the extension can be found at domain.fi. Domain name holders may inquire about the DNSSec support from their service provider.

To continue reading this FICORA news release, go to:
https://domain.fi/info/en/index/tietoa/ajankohtaista/2012/P_50.html

Domain Name Disputes, Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

FICORA intervenes in case of exceptionally large numbers of misspelled FI-domain names

FICORA dot FI logo[news release] The Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) is examining hundreds of deliberately misspelled fi-domain names of Finnish companies and services. A total of 886 fi-domain names are being examined. They were applied for via a Maltese registrar but registered under a Finnish holder.

FICORA has contacted the Finnish holder and the Maltese registrar and continues to investigate the case. The Maltese registrar’s right to apply for new fi-domain names has been denied until further notice.

Spelling mistake leads to advertisement site

It is typical of the misspelled domain names that the difference between them and a business name, trademark or similar protected by the Domain Name Act is hardly noticeable, which is when the internet user ends up on a false site due to e.g. a spelling mistake. For example, http://www-mol.fi/ is such a misspelled address.

Typically, a website utilising a misspelled address contains advertisement links to various services. If the user, who has entered the site by accident, clicks on the advertisement link, the site maintainer gets paid by the advertiser. The phenomenon is called ‘typosquatting’ in English.

This FICORA news release was sourced from:
https://domain.fi/info/en/index/tietoa/ajankohtaista/2012/P_29.html

Europe Registry logoTo register your .FI domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Cybersecurity

FICORA Introducing Improved .FI Service

.FI logoFICORA is promising to introduce an improved registry service for .FI domain names next week that they say will offers users a more user-friendly way of applying for, renewing, terminating and paying for .FI domain names taking into consideration the modern requirements for electronic services better than before.

The renewed service introduces DNSSEC support to improve the information security of FI domain names. The service also contains full IPv6 support, which is critical since it is believed that IPv6 connections will grow strongly in the future as available IPv4 addresses can no longer be assigned.

The improvements in the service contain added information on domain names for different user groups, such as companies, organisations and private persons. The service provides answers to such questions as who is entitled to apply for a domain name, to whom are FI domain names granted, what can be registered as a domain name, what are domain names used for and how are they applied for.

The service has a specific section for service providers who can be authorized to apply for a domain name and assist domain name applicants in matters concerning the name server, server status and email servers.

To implement the new service, which also includes a new website that is currently working, it will not be possible to apply for new .FI domain names or make changes to existing ones this weekend, from 08:00 Saturday 17 September till 10:00 Monday 19 September local Finnish time.

Europe Registry logoTo register your .FI domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

.FI To Introduce DNSSEC

[news release] FICORA will introduce the Domain Name System Security Extension (DNSSec) for Finnish domain names. The security extension provides a powerful protection against forgery of domain names as well against other forms of attack. The introduction of the system guarantees that people using the internet are only shown the actual website that they intended to call up.

The security extension will be taken into production in the fi-domain name service in autumn 2010, but the testing of the system begins in summer 2010. At this point no measures are required from Internet users or domain name holders, but network operators are responsible for the introduction of the security extension. The service will be opened for the users of Finnish domain names in March 2011.

About DNSSec

DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) is an extension to the domain name system, with the purpose of improving the information security of the name service. The name service can be compared to a telephone directory that covers the entire world, and every domain name (e.g. www.dnssec.fi) in this directory has been given a unique IP address (e.g. 87.239.124.120) of its own.

When DNSSEC is in use, all responses to name service queries are digitally signed. This technology allows you to ensure that responses to name service queries come from the correct sender and that the information has not been modified en route. In other words, DNSSEC guarantees the integrity and origin of information.

A key pair, consisting of a public key and a private key, is needed in order to create a digital signature. The private key is kept secret and the holder alone has access to it. The public key is published in its own record in the name service. The digital signature can be verified by using the public key corresponding with the private key.

This news release was sourced from:
www.ficora.fi/en/index/viestintavirasto/uutiset/2010/P_22.html

Europe Registry logoTo register your .FI domain name check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

Record Number of .FI Domains Registered in 2009

A record number of .FI-domain names were registered in 2009. The total of registrations was  48,009 taking the total number of registrations to 225,625 at the end of the year.

This means a growth of 20 per cent year-on-year 2008. However, the statistics only comprise new registrations, not renewal of domain names.

FICORA, the policy and registry body for .FI domain names says there are most likely many reasons behind this growth including .FI-domain names gaining wider publicity than before.

For more detailed information on .FI domain name statistics and other activities relating to domain name, see the report from FICORA here. [PDF, 41 KB](in Finnish)

To register your .FI domain name, check out Europe Registry here.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

FICORA Proposes Reduction in .FI Domain Registration Fees

FICORA has proposed to the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications that fees for .FI domain names should be reduced as of 4 January 2010. The proposed new fees apply to the application, transfer or renewal of .FI domains and will be €13 for one year, €36 for three years or €55 for five years.

FICORA also announced that domain name fees will be dropped so that .FI domain name activities would defray the costs in the future.

The proposed reductions come about following a substantial increase in the total number of .FI domain names registered in 2009. FICORA estimate that the total number of new domain names registered in 2009 will be 45,000.

Europe Registry logoTo register your .FI domain name, check out Europe Registry here.