The registry fee for domain names under Iceland’s ccTLD will increase for the first time since the ccTLD was delegated over 30 years ago, the registry ISNIC announced.
.IS Domains Registry Fee To Increase For First Time Ever
Tag Archives: ISNIC
.IS, .NO and .UK Announce How They’ll Comply With the EU’s GDPR
The GDPR is coming and a number of ccTLD registries are giving registrars heart palpitations. Itâs a month till the European Unionâs General Data Protection Regulation comes into play and the Icelandic, Norwegian, Slovakian and United Kingdom ccTLD operators are only just announcing how theyâll deal with it.
For Icelandâs .is they will stop publishing names, addresses and telephone numbers of personal contacts by default from the ISNIC WHOIS database. For individuals who wish to continue to publish their information, they must log in, go to “My Settings” and select “Name and Address Published”.
ISNIC will however, at least for the time being, continue to publish email addresses, country and techincal information of all NIC-handles associated with .is domains. Those customers (individuals) who have recorded a personally identifiable email address, and do not want it published, will need to change their .is WHOIS email address to something impersonal. However the Icelandic country code top level domain isnât happy with the new regulation. They note the GDPR âwill neither lead to better privacy nor a safer network environment.â
For the sake of the internet community, e.g. Individual users, Service Providers, Hosting Companies, and many other stake holders, ISNIC will continue to publish email addresses and the country name of all contact types until further notice.
For NORID, the registry for Norwayâs .no, they have made a few changes to their policies that come into effect on 5 May. NORID state they will âonly collect data that we need, and that the domain holder shall be informed about which data is being processed by Norid. Starting on 5 May, we will collect less data about the holder than what we currently do.â Following consultation with the with the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, NORID will launch a new version of WHOIS on 22 May.
And Nominet, the .uk registry, has announced their changes. Following a consultation period that outlined their proposed changes that were published for comment between 1 March and 4 April, Nominet have announced that:
- Registrant data will be redacted from the WHOIS from 22 May 2018, unless explicit consent has been given.
- Law enforcement agencies will nonetheless be able to access all registry data via an enhanced Searchable WHOIS service available free of charge.
- Other interested parties requiring unpublished information will be able to request access to this data via our data disclosure policy, operating to a 1 working day turnaround.
- The registration policy for all .UK domains will be standardised â replacing the separate arrangements currently in operation for second and third-level domains.
- The .UK Registrar Agreement will be updated, renamed the .UK Registry-Registrar Agreement, and will include a new data processing annex.
- The existing Privacy Services framework will cease to apply.
âWe have taken a conservative approach to publishing data, to ensure that we do not fall foul of the new legislation,â said Nominet COO Ellie Bradley. âWhile, as a result, we will be publishing less data on the WHOIS â we have comprehensive procedures already in place that ensure that we will continue to respond swiftly to requests for information to pursue legitimate interests.â
The proposals also outlined an approach to replacing the existing privacy services framework with recognition of a Proxy Service offered by registrars. In response to the feedback, Nominet has decoupled this proposal from the bulk of the GDPR-related changes and will consult further on this topic in June 2018.
ISNIC Extends Free Web Forwarding Service For .IS Domain Names
ISNIC has offered a simple web forwarding services for free for .is domain name registrants since 2010. The Icelandic ccTLD registry has now expanded this service to allow users to define custom CNAME records and custom TXT records in addition to the already possible A/AAAA and MX records. The service if free of charge until decided otherwise.
ISNIC Looking at Options After Neo-Nazis Register .IS Domain Name
The alt-right neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer, is back online using a .is domain name, the ccTLD for Iceland. But the .is registry, ISNIC, doesn’t appear too happy with a report saying they’re looking into their options as to how to deal with the issue.
“What we are doing right now, in this particular situation, is we are writing to the National Police,” ISNIC CEO Jens Pétur Jensen told Icelandic English news site Grapevine. “We are asking them if or how we should respond and asking them for guidance.”
“One of the reasons why this matters is because Iceland does have hate speech laws; specifically, Article 233(a) of the Icelandic Penal Code specifically forbids the dissemination of speech that in ‘a ridiculing, slanderous, insulting, threatening or any other manner’ targets an individual or groups based, amongst other things, on their race or religion,” reported Grapevine.
“Jens emphasises that this is a delicate situation with serious implications. He says though that ISNIC has received some complaints about DailyStormer, and he therefore feels compelled to respond.”
“What we worry about is the reputation of the .is domain,” Jensen said. “Of course ISNIC does not want to have the reputation that we’re a safe haven for criminals. That’s something we’re constantly looking into.”
For now ISNIC has asked the registrant Andrew Anglin “to correct his registration, by providing proof of his identity in the form of legal documents. He has one week to do this, otherwise the domain will be closed.”
“He has to provide ISNIC with legal documents of his being,” Jensen says. “This is something all registries can do, but it has nothing to do with the content. It only has to do with the registration itself. If [Anglin] doesn’t reveal himself and prove his being, we will close his access to the domain. After two weeks, the domain itself will be moved from the DNS that is hosting it now onto the ISNIC’s parking site. It will be unable to connect to any DNS server whatsoever, and it will automatically expire. We wouldn’t be taking the domain from him; we would just not enable him to renew it.”
The Daily Stormer has been booted by a few ccTLDs and registrars following the horrendous events in Charlottesville, Virginia, and an article was published on the site attacking Heather Heyer, the anti-racism activist that was killed Saturday while demonstrating against the “alt-right” white nationalist movement.
The alt-right white nationalist group was first booted by registrars GoDaddy and then Google who deleted their .com domain names. They then briefly tried a .ru (Russia) and then .at (Austria) domains, both of which were quickly deleted. According to a BBC report, they were also booted from Albania’s ccTLD, .al and set up on the “dark web”.
“Iceland has some of the world’s most stringent free speech protection and privacy laws, a point stressed by one of the latest stories on The Daily Stormer site,” the BBC reported.
Currently the site is being hosted in Wyoming, USA, by a company called BitMitigate, through the ISP FranTech Solutions according to Grapevine, not as previously reported in Iceland.
ISNIC Reckons .IS A Great Choice For Your Domain Name
There are only around 61,5000 .is domain names registered, and Icelandâs registry wants you to know there are plenty of great options to choose from, no matter where you are in the world.
About two-thirds of .is domain names are registered in Iceland, using icelandic words, names and even letters! ISNIC, the registry says about 20,000 to 25,000 .is domains are English words and names meaning that even in English there are plenty of great opportunites.
The highest ranked .is domain name according to the country code top level domain (ccTLD) registry is who.is, coming in 762nd followed by good.is (10,383rd) and google.is (13,976th).
ISNIC Announces .IS Renewals Now Available For Up To Five Years
Registrants now have the choice of renewing their .IS domain names for periods of up to five years, although initial registrations remain at one year.
The changes to the terms and conditions means article 19 of the .is registration rule now reads:
The domain registration period is at least one year, paid in advance on or before the domain expiration date. All domain registrations shall be accompanied by a payment.
Added security for .IS domains
[news release] ISNIC has made an important change in the .is domain registry system. The domain’s registrant (owner/holder) now has direct control of the domain registration, the same control as the administartive contact has. The registrants can now log in and manage their domains directly if they so wish (and if they have confirmed their registration in the same way as the other contacts have).
The processes of deleting and transfering a domain has also been changed. From now on, not only does the administrative contact have to confirm the action, but the registrant as well, as long as the registrant has a valid email registered. If not, only the administrative contact has to confirm the request as before. ISNIC belives these changes will further enhance the registration security of .is domains.
This ISNIC news release was sourced from:
www.isnic.is/en/news/view?id=399
VIDs Coming For .IS Domains
Youâve heard of VIPs (Very Important Persons). Now ISNIC, the registry for .IS domain names, has launched VIDs, or Very Important Domains!
The change, which the Icelandic registry describes as âa very important changeâ is designed to increase the security of .IS domains further.
VID’s will get special treatment, especially regarding rights and renewals. So called VID insurance means that a VID’s registration never expires accidentally. It will also be harder to transfer VID’s to new registrants, since it will require confirmation from the registrants themselves, either digitally or a signed confirmation.
To prepare for this change, ISNIC are asking for domain registrants to update the registrants email at ISNIC, which can be done under “Modify Registration” on My Page. Only the administrative contact can edit the registrant information. In the northern autumn, all administrative contacts and registrants with a registered email address will get an email where these changes will be explained in detail.
ISNIC Issues Statement On Possible Reasons For Wikileaks.is Deletion
The registration of wikileaks.is has caused the Icelandic registry, ISNIC, to issue a statement stating under what conditions they would delete the domain name.
The registry states the answer is simple – such an action would require a formal court order from an Icelandic court. But in 25 years of the organisation’s existence ISNIC says they have never been handed such a verdict about any .IS domain during its close to 25 years of history.
This is similar to Switzerland, where the registry also issued a statement stating the conditions on which they would delete the wikileaks.ch domain name. The registry there, SWITCH, also issued a statement on the issue saying that for them to delete a domain name in such circumstances would require a statutory decision, such as a court order, for the deletion of a domain name.
And similarly to the Swiss registry, ISNIC stated that ISNIC it “is not responsible for the registrant’s usage of his/her domain, the contents of email sent from the domain’s email addresses (e.g. wikileaks@wikileaks.is) or the content of the domain’s web pages (e.g. www.wikileaks.is). It is ISNIC’s duty and prime function to maintain uninterrupted service to all .IS-domains, at all times, anywhere in the world. Only Icelandic authorities, armed with a court order, can order ISNIC to delete or close down a particular .is-domain. This has, as said before, never happened.”
For more information and to read the ISNIC statement in full, see www.isnic.is/y/news/view/id/204.
The SWITCH statement and more information on .CH domain names is available from www.switch.ch/about/news/2010/wikileaks.
To register your .IS or .CH domain name, check out Europe Registry here.
New Law To Confirm .IS Policy
[news release] The Icelandic ministry of Communications has published a proposed a new law concerning the country code top level domain .is. The proposed new law also covers any future top level domains that in some way reference or are related to Iceland . For almost 25 years (since hi.is, the first .is domain was registered) the rules of ISNIC have been applied to the registration of .is domains. They will continue to apply but in the future (if the proposed bill is signed into law) will be backed up by laws and regulations.
ISNIC encourages the registrants of .is domains to study the proposed bill, and accompanying comments. The proposed new law about .is, in Icelandic, is available here.
ISNIC has several reservations, but it is our wish that the new law will result in better protection for the registrants and preservation of the quality of the .is neighbourhood. ISNIC has proposed amendments to better protect the independence of the domain, as an address on the internet, but not regulate and restrict so as to limit future development.
ISNIC is also of the opinion that questions regarding content stored on websites are unrelated to the domain itself. Domains are first and foremost addresses on the Internet. Domains as such do not have any content.