Goldstein Report

Tag: .ie

  • IEDR Deploy DNSSEC for .IE

    IEDR are pleased to announce the deployment of DNS security extensions (DNSSEC) for the .ie country code top level domain (ccTLD).  This protocol will enable service providers to offer additional security for DNS transactions for .ie domain holders, their customers and the internet at large.
    DNSSEC provides data origin authentication and data integrity verification to the global domain name system through the use of public key cryptographic signatures.  It prevents many potential attack vectors via the unsecured DNS.
    This deployment is the culmination of research and development starting in 2010, designing and building the IEDR DNSSEC infrastructure in 2011 and today the deployment of the first signed IE zone. The addition of DNSSEC for .ie domain users means many other security protocols such as DANE can be used by .ie domain users.

    Commenting on the deployment, the IEDR DNSSEC Programme Manager, Billy Glynn said “we’re delighted to have pushed out our first DNSSEC signed zone. We’ve been signing the IE zone in parallel systems for over two years now and we feel this is a good time to deploy in production. This is an exciting initiative that will allow IE domain holders to leverage other security protocols such as DANE and it’s variants which will add extra security to email and websites.”

    IEDR would like to thank the Irish DNSSEC Task Force members for their patience and commitment to DNSSEC in Ireland. For additional information on DNSSEC click here and to join Ireland’s DNSSEC Task-force membership please email dnssec-tf-subscribe@iedr.ie.

    This IEDR announcement was sourced from:
    https://www.iedr.ie/2014/11/iedr-deploy-dnssec-ie/

  • .IE Domains Grow 5% In 2012

    IEDR logoThe total number of .ie domain names grew by just over five percent in 2012, Ireland’s registry IEDR reported.

    Registrations per capita for the Irish republic are quite low compared to other developed countries with the total number of .ie domains being 182,284, a growth rate of 5.3 percent. The growth rate would be quite impressive for most industries, but in the domain name world, not so impressive.

    Undoubtedly the growth is hampered somewhat by restrictive registration policies, but this hasn’t hampered .au (Australia). In the year ending June 2012, registrations of .au domains increased by 9.53 percent to 2,673,939. Undoubtedly Australia’s economy has performed better than Ireland’s, but this isn’t the only reason for the disparities.

    The registry in making the announcement was much happier promoting what it considered a solid core trading performance for 2012 where there was a total volume growth of 19.3 percent in new .ie domain registrations while Members’ Funds increased to €3.6 million. The registry anticipates it will enable them to further consolidate the safety, stability and resilience of the ccTLD.

    However IEDR remains bullish saying that while new registration growth in the first quarter of 2013 is down by 6.4 percent compared to the same period in 2012, they are still optimistic of future growth. The drop, IEDR says, reflects a Europe-wide slowdown and ongoing difficult trading conditions in the Irish economy, in particular for the SME community. Nevertheless, the Irish internet ecosystem continues to evolve and the company’s current trading performance is positive, as costs remain under control.

    IEDR also note they continue to be ready to implement technologies and products such as internationalised domain names (IDN) and secure DNS (DNSSEC) when there are sufficient indicators of market interest. On the international front; IEDR continues to monitor ICANN’s decision to significantly expand the DNS by adding potentially one thousand new generic top level domains (gTLDs) within twelve months. IEDR has continued its support to the Irish Internet community by extending the OPTIMISE Fund to a value of €150,000 in 2013.

  • .AU and .IE Announce Funding For Projects To Assist Internet Development

    The .AU policy and regulatory body and .IE registry have announced funding for a wide range of projects that are intended to assist the development of the internet in Australia and Ireland respectively.

    In Australia, auDA announced their Foundation will fund a PhD thesis that enables Indigenous communities to access and use three dimensional (3D) models of Australian landscapes. Another project that won funding will explore the use of the internet by young people at risk of self-harm or suicide to seek help.

    This year twelve projects were awarded a total of A$371,431, including the funding of two three-year PhD scholarships, taking the total number of projects funded to 84 over six annual funding rounds totalling $1,657,769.

    “We were delighted by the number of applications we received, many of which were exemplary,” auDA CEO Chris Disspain said in a statement. “We feel that funding these initiatives could significantly improve the lives of many Australians through their creative use of the internet.”

    Meanwhile in Ireland, IEDR’s OPTIMISE Fund announced funding for a total of 15 companies to raise awareness of low levels of e-commerce activity by Irish SMEs and micro-enterprises. The funding also aims to provide practical assistance to a targeted number of companies to upgrade their online presence and grow their business using the internet as a sales channel.

    Each of the 15 winners will be provided with practical assistance to begin the process of upgrading their existing online presence to fully featured websites which incorporate e-commerce functionality and other facilities designed to support business development. The intention is that recipients will be better placed to harness the potential of the internet as a 24 hour sales and marketing channel and gain a competitive advantage.

    Recipients will also receive up to 11 days professional technical and marketing support to allow them to plan and execute a major e-commerce upgrade.

    The winners of both funding rounds are below.

    From auDA:

    • Hello Sunday Morning
    • Prahran Mission UnitingCare
    • RMIT University
    • Reef Check Foundation
    • University of South Australia
    • WorkVentures
    • University of the Sunshine Coast
    • Monash Indigenous Centre, Monash University
    • Ballarat City Council
    • Guide Dogs Victoria
    • Deaf Services Queensland
    • Griffith University.

    From IEDR:

    • Catering Equipment
    • IFA Telecom Ltd.
    • Waterford Technologies
    • Tour America
    • Parade Ring
    • Just Dance
    • Project 51
    • Rossmore Furniture
    • Gaga Baby Ltd
    • Doolin Cave
    • Oideas Gael
    • OPTICKS SB Ltd
    • Morris Oil Co. Ltd.
    • Sheridan Insurances Ltd.
    • Digital Business Services Ltd.

  • Daily Wrap: EU Says ITU Should Not Have More Power, Kiwi Fight Over TLDs, .SA, .EE, .IE Awards And Aeroflot.xxx Dispute

    There may be a case for governments having more say in the way the internet is run, EU digital commissioner Neelie Kroes told ZDNet last week, but — even if this were to happen — it would not necessitate giving the ITU more power.

    “Of course there are voices saying it would be better with the UN [but] I’m not in favour of the line that, if you have a problem, you can only solve it in a new structure,” Kroes said, adding that it was first worth examining the calls for more government input.

    “I still think that the remarks that are made [about giving governments a greater voice] can be included in a solution within the structure of today,” she said. “I’m not aware that that can’t be done, so I’m not willing to [favour] a new structure.”

    The creation of the kiwi.nz second level domain will only cause confusion, the applicant for the .KIWI gTLD has said.

    Tim Johnson, chief executive of Dot Kiwi Ltd told the New Zealand Herald approving kiwi.nz was not in the best interests of internet users “or in fact the internet in New Zealand”.

    “Why would potential registrants want .kiwi.nz when they could have .KIWI?”

    SaudiNIC has started a process of updating Whois details for .SA domain names, sending out requests to registrants to check and if necessary update their registrant details.

    ICANN’s board of directors is set to approve مليسيا., the Arabic name for Malaysia, at a meeting next week, Domain Incite reported.

    The Estonian Internet Foundation announced the public procurement for an audit of the code of the information systems (Domain Registry Software Security Audit) it uses, the organisation announced last week. The bid submission deadline is 10 September 2012.

    Over to Ireland and the Irish Internet Association has announced the shortlist for this year’s Dot ie Net Visionary Awards and online voting is now open.

    Aeroflot, the Russian airline, has won a dispute lodged with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center over the aeroflot.xxx domain name, however the original registrant does not agree with the ruling and is threatening to appeal.

  • .IE Domains Grow Strongly in 2011

    IEDR logoRegistrations of .IE domain names continue to grow relatively strongly, albeit from a small base, with total registrations increasing 13 per cent in 2011 to 173,145 according to the IE Domain Registry (IEDR) 2011 Annual Report.

    39,398 of these domains were registered during 2011, an increase of 7.7 per cent on 2010 when 36,587 new .IE domains were registered.

    The .IE ccTLD is also increasing its market share within Ireland, accounting for 42.8 per cent of all registrations within the Republic in 2011, up from 41.5 per cent in 2011.

    In Ireland there is one domain name for every 27 people, the same as in France, while there is one domain for every 25 people in Italy. However the numbers compare unfavourably to across the Irish Sea in the United Kingdom where there is one .UK domain name for every six people.

    Looking to 2012, IEDR note that new registration growth in the first half of 2012 is down by 14 per cent compared to the same period in 2011. This reflects a European-wide slowdown and ongoing difficult trading conditions in the Irish economy, in particular for the SME retail community.

    “The past year has been an extremely difficult one for the Irish economy so we are particularly pleased to have been in a position to grow registrations, provide new promotional resources and formalise policy development programmes, while generating operating profit for the Registry,” said David Curtin, Chief Executive of the IEDR. “This has further strengthened our balance sheet and will enable us to increase investment in the .IE domain by providing new services and DNS infrastructural improvements that will deliver even greater security, stability and resilience for the .IE namespace.”

  • Irish Domain Registrations Continue Rapid Growth

    IEDR logoNew .IE domain registrations increased by 9398 in the first three months of 2012, the IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has reported, in one of Europe’s smaller ccTLDs.

    Registrations grew steadily each month at 3053, 3184 and 3161 for January, February and March respectively. The figure for Q1 represents a 12.2% increase on new registrations recorded in the previous quarter (Q4 2011), which totalled 8,694.

    The figures indicate steady demand from Irish micro-businesses and sole traders for .IE domain names, the registry reported. The total number of .IE domains now stands at 177,720. In the first quarter of the year, IEDR reached another milestone with the registration of Ireland’s 175,000th .ie domain. The registrant was www.teaemporium.ie, the website of Camilla’s Tea Emporium based on Eyre Square in Galway city. The company, owned by Modestas Ramanauskas and established in 2005 specialises in selling a wide range of fine teas and coffees from around the world to customers and trade.

    “We’re really pleased with the growth in .IE domain registration figures in the first three months of the year,” David Curtin, Chief Executive of the IE Domain Registry, said. “I’m delighted to see that Irish businesses are continuing to make .IE, which is one of the world’s safest and most respected domain names, part of their brand and online identity. The New Year can be a tough time for small business owners in particular, so it’s really encouraging to see that many of the new registrations came from sole traders, some of them just starting out.”

    Congratulating Camilla’s Tea Emporium, David Curtin added; “We’re proud to have reached another milestone in IEDR’s twelve year history with the registration of Ireland’s 175,000th .IE domain. I’d like to congratulate the 175,000th .IE registrant TeaEmporium.ie and wish them continued success with the growth of their online business, which already benefits from a great website and an established presence in the heart of Galway.”

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

  • IE Registry Says Irish SMEs Slow To Realise Benefits of Internet

    IEDR logoIn its inaugural Domain Name Industry Report, the Irish registry IEDR says Irish small to medium enterprises (SMEs) remain slow to realise the revenue potential of the internet. The registry believes Irish SMEs need to make greater use of internet technologies to build fully featured e-commerce websites in order to achieve greater competitive advantage online.

    The report found that only two-thirds (66%) of Irish businesses had any kind of website in 2009, compared with 40 per cent in 2000. Of those, two-thirds, only one in five (21%) had e-commerce functionality on their site, a level that has grown by a marginal 3 per cent since 2000.

    While slow broadband speeds and a lack of financial support were identified as inhibitors to SME growth online, the report urges small firms to take action, upgrade their websites and tap into the 24 hour sales channel that is the Internet. To highlight the issue, IEDR has announced it will provide a €100,000 e-commerce fund for ten Irish SMEs to develop or upgrade their web presence, details of which will be announced early next year.

    But while Irish business has been slow to take advantage of the internet, the registry is keen to report that new registrations have grown by an average of 37 per cent per annum over the previous five years, albeit from a low base.

    The report shows there were a total of 145,653 registrations, which works out at 31 domain names per 1,000 people. This is quite a low rate of registrations when compared to many other European countries such as the Netherlands with the highest rate of domain names per person in the world at 237 domains per 1,000 people.

    Compared to other ccTLDs in Europe, it is behind Germany (.DE), the world’s largest ccTLD with 167 registrations per 1,000 people, United Kingdom (.UK – 138), Belgium (.BE – 101), France (.FR – 27), Sweden (.SE – 107), Portugal (.PT – 33) and Italy (.IT – 33).

    Within Ireland though, .IE domain names accounted for an estimated two in five (41%) of all domain names registered while .COM names accounted for 29.5 per cent. In total, other gTLDs accounted for 44.7 per cent of registrations and .EU for 14.3 per cent of registrations.

    Unsurprisingly, the report found that the county of Dublin had the highest number of .IE domain name registrations with 44 per cent, or 64,788, of all registrations.

    To download the inaugural .IE Domain Name Industry report, click here.

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

  • Irish Registry Warns of “Internet Register Ireland” Scam

    IEDR logoA company operating under the name “Internet Register Ireland” is contacting Irish businesses with .IE domain names by post and fax soliciting domain holders to register their domain name with them the registry for .IE domain names, IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has warned.

    The notice from “Internet Register Ireland” requests you to fill out their form and return it to them signed. It should be noted that they charge an excessive fee of approx €958 for the registration of your domain name in their database. The “Internet Register Ireland” previously operated the same practice in Ireland in late November 2006 and has been operating similar schemes throughout Europe and Canada throughout the past year.

    IEDR would like to reassure all .IE registrants that no such organisation has been authorised to act on behalf of the IEDR.

    Europe Registry logoTo register your .IE domain names, check out Europe Registry here.

  • Irish Registry Warns of "Internet Register Ireland" Scam

    IEDR logoA company operating under the name “Internet Register Ireland” is contacting Irish businesses with .IE domain names by post and fax soliciting domain holders to register their domain name with them the registry for .IE domain names, IE Domain Registry (IEDR) has warned. (more…)