Tag Archives: .london

Domain Name Registry

Public Interest Registry joins the Internet Watch Foundation

Public Interest Registry has joined the Internet Watch Foundation as a Member, in a move which reinforces its commitment to protecting billions of internet users and the child victims of disturbing sexual abuse images and videos.

As the operator of .org, .ngo and .ong domain names, Public Interest Registry has over 10 million domains under management globally. By joining the IWF, Public Interest Registry is helping to further prevent the spread of child sexual abuse content.

PIR joins other registry operators such as Nominet, Afilias, Donuts (along with Rightside who they took over in 2017), ICM Registry (recently taken over by Minds + Machines), Dot London, webhost and registrar Names.co.uk as well as DNS Filter and Linx – the London Internet Exchange, who are all among the 130 members of the organisation that works internationally to make the internet safer by removing images of child sexual abuse.

Though a small organisation, Public Interest Registry, which is based in Reston, Virginia, operates popular domains that the world counts on to be platforms for the public interest. Its values have been echoed in this important move to join the IWF.

“The IWF represents the companies that are defining how the world tackles online child sexual abuse,” said Susie Hargreaves OBE, IWF CEO.

“With 137 organisations joined up as Members of the IWF, we now have more Members than ever before. These companies include some of the giants of the internet world, through to smaller filtering companies. What unites them, is their commitment to do the right thing.

“We can’t thank Public Interest Registry enough for joining us as a Member. It means that so many more domain names are now protected from child sexual abuse content. In turn, this is protecting billions of users of websites on these domains, as well as the victims themselves.”

“IWF’s global mission to eliminate online child sexual abuse imagery is among the most important work being done on the internet,” said Elizabeth Behsudi, Vice President and General Counsel at Public Interest Registry.

“Public Interest Registry is committed to making the .org domain space a safe and trusted environment for everyone. We are proud to work with the IWF and support the incredibly important services they provide.”

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

.LONDON Initiative Showcases Businesses Using Their new gTLD

It’s a crowded world out there for top level domains with good, and sometimes even compelling, reasons why a business should choose between a number of different ones. So .london has come up with an initiative to help showcase small businesses using .London domain names and empower those looking to set up their own business in London.

As part of the background, Dot London commissioned a survey that found 43% of Londoners have had an idea for a business that they never followed through with. Some of the factors that hold people back include fear of failure, lack of connections and lack of skills. Dot London’s new business portal hopes to stifle that trend.

The portal includes an interactive map of London highlighting businesses across a number of sectors, including retail, food and drink, property and venues, who are using Dot London domain names. It additionally features case studies from active London-based small businesses giving advice to their peers about key issues, such as networking, marketing and ecommerce.

Some of the inspiring businesses giving their fellow Londoners top tips include: family-run personal training gym, The Fitting Rooms; independent ethical clothing label, Henri; and Southern France inspired restaurant, Sardine.

Some of those highlighted by Dot London are:

  • David Jordan, Co- founder of the Southwark-based gym, The Fitting Rooms, said: “There’s nothing like the thrill of running your own business, but most people hide behind the fear and never go for it. Everyone gets scared. You just have to learn how to use it as fuel to keep on pushing through.”
  • Henrietta Adams, founder of Shoreditch-based fashion label, Henri, said: “My business has had its fair share of obstacles to overcome. I jumped in headfirst and was probably pretty naïve. The lesson is to build really good professional relationships with both suppliers and clients, so if there are any problems you can work out a solution. Good relationships mean that you can also be assertive and honest without causing offence.”
  • Prospective entrepreneurs visiting the portal will have the chance to get advice on some of the more fundamental parts of setting up a business, such as creating a business plan, how to finance your business and choosing a name that best reflects your brand.
  • Dan Hill, Head of Dot London, said: “Our interactive portal was created to support and encourage London’s thriving small business community. It aims to give entrepreneurs the chance to share their experiences with others and build a unique community platform for those who are proud to show that they are based in the capital by using a Dot London web address.”

All businesses with an active .London domain name can register and feature on the portal, free of charge. For more information, see makeyours.london/discover.

Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

MMX Shows There’s Money In New gTLDs As It Swings Into First Yearly Profit

With domains under management growing 67% to over 1.32 million as of 31 December 2017, compared to 800,000 12 months earlier, Minds + Machines announced they have shown their first annual profit.

As MMX anticipated when they released their interim results in September, MMX enjoyed a strong second half of the year building on the foundations laid in the first half. Billings for the second half of the year amounted to approximately $10 million (compared with $5.6 million in H1) resulting in total billings of approximately $15.6 million for the full year thereby enabling MMX to achieve its first year of profitability as an operating business.

“To have transformed the Company from a loss-making business to a profitable one on an ongoing basis within 24 months is an achievement the whole team should be proud of,” said Toby Hall, CEO of MMX. “2018 has started positively and I look forward to updating shareholders in April with our strategy for building on this profitable platform and delivering value to shareholders.”

As of today, there are 1.367 million domains under management across the 27 new generic top level domains managed by MMX. The largest of these is .vip with 907,000 DUM followed by .work (187,000) and .london (85,000), according to nTLDstats.

The mix of the billings has also continued to improve with renewal revenue now accounting for approximately $5.6 million (2016: $3.8 million). Importantly, recurring income for the first-time has exceeded fixed operating costs which have been reduced to below $5.5 million for 2017 (2016: $6.5 million).

As a result, with billings in line with market expectations, MMX expects EBITDA to be slightly ahead of market expectations, with profit being further boosted by $2.1 million through monies received by the Company from two contested TLD auctions that took place during 2017.

MMX has also continued to strengthen its balance sheet in the year. Net cash at 31 December 2017 had improved to $15.9 million (31 December 2016: $15.3 million) despite settling $3.1 million of balance sheet liabilities in the year associated with contracts restructured in 2016.

The strategic review continues to progress and the benefits of consolidation in the industry remain. Whilst the longevity of the discussions has been at times frustrating, it is hoped that the process can be brought to a successful conclusion by the time of the full year results which are expected to be released in April 2018.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

Meet our Dot Londoners

dotLONDON_Testimonial_image

The Dot London team showcases some of their Dot Londoners to find out more about their businesses and see what having a Dot London web address means to them.

Anthology

Anthology is a London-based residential property development company that believes heavily in working with local communities where they are developing their properties. This includes sponsoring local events, partnering with relevant councils and using a Dot London domain name to highlight their connection with the city. Anthology is dedicated to creating homes and enhancing neighbourhoods that inspire real life stories of people who, like them, are passionate about London.

 

Rise Bakery

Rise Bakery is a social enterprise that is part of charity Brick Lane-based Providence Row, which works to help the homeless in their area by teaching them new skills, such as baking. Rise Bakery was created to sell top-quality chocolate brownies made in their kitchen to local businesses as gifts, with all of the profits going back into Providence Row. Their main customer focus is London-based businesses, so equipped with a Dot London domain name, the bakery has taken on a slick, appealing and professional identity that is best suited to both their customers and the quality of their produce.

 

Vaulty Towers

Vaulty Towers is a “community living room” based in Waterloo. Created by the team at The Vaults, an arts platform underneath Waterloo station, it’s a hangout to enjoy some great drinks and tasty food while admiring the wonderful props and sets from past Vault’s productions that adhorn the walls of the pub. There’s also a lot of entertainment to try out, from cabaret nights, to real life drawing and quiz nights. For them, having a Dot London tells people where they’re based and the high quality that they can except with somewhere with a strong association with the capital.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

MMX and Radix Get Chinese Approval for 4 More TLDs Each as .BOSTON Launches

mmxco-logoMinds + Machines has just had 4 more of its 27 new gTLDs approved for use in China, adding to the prior approval for .vip. This now makes 5 of its extensions approved by the Chinese government regulator, MIIT – .vip, .law, .work, .beer and .购物(shopping) – with a further four currently still going through the MIIT approval process.

The Company will announce the release schedule on the newly approved top level domains for the Chinese market in due course.

Commenting on the approval, MMX’s Chief Executive, Toby Hall, speaking on the domain industry at Alibaba event ‘The Computing Conference’ in Hangzhou, regularly attended by over 40,000 delegates, said:
“We are greatly honoured to be the first western registry to receive a second round of approvals from MIIT.  China accounts for over half of global registrations in new gTLDs and from a revenue perspective it is important for the Company to have a dominant position in this market.”

MMX’s 27 new gTLDs have almost 1.095 million domains under management, the largest being .vip with 762,000 followed by .work with 116,000 and .london with 75,000 according to nTLDstats.

Another new gTLD registry, Radix, also had 4 of their new gTLDs approved for use in China according to a Domain Incite report. Their new gTLDs to get the nod were .fun, .online, .store and .tech.

Additionally, this week saw the General Availability launch of .boston. The new generic top level domain launched on 10 October and saw over 2,000 registrations being made in the first six hours and approximately $100,000 of billings already booked. According to nTLDstats, registrations are now over 2,150.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

MMX Sells Over $3.4m in Premium .VIP Domains Since late June in China

mmxco-logoSince late June, Minds + Machines (MMX) have sold over $3.4 million in premium .vip domain names, of which approximately $2.8million has closed in the 10 days to 12 September, and mostly to Chinese domain investors.

MMX is expecting a solid second half of 2017 in addition to the .vip sales. The .boston new generic top level domain (gTLD) which they provide registry services for launches in October and they’re entering the main renewal seasons for their leading new gTLDs.

MMX has 27 new gTLDs in their portfolio with 1.085 million domain names under management. The largest is .vip with 762,300 registrations followed by .work (107,500), .london (74,500), and .bayern (31,700). For all but their .country, backend registry services are provided by Nominet.

“We are building a strong, long-term, annuity based business with each of our regions now contributing well to the renewal revenue mix,” said Toby Hall, CEO of MMX.

“The exceptional renewal rates achieved in China in H1 are, in no small part, a direct result of the premium pricing policies introduced at the launch of the .vip TLD. The significant interest we are now experiencing in our 2017 premium inventory allocation follows our recent Beijing approval and, we believe, lays down further foundations for strong recurring revenues in subsequent years from the region.

“These latest sales also mean we are making excellent progress towards achieving management’s top-line billing targets for China for the current year, with more than 60% of our 2017 China premium allocation now sold in recent weeks. These sales, along with the launch of .boston in October, will however further accentuate the H2 weighted nature of our business as we now enter the main renewal seasons for our leading properties in Europe and the US.”

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

Dot London Engages London’s Visual Arts Community

dotLONDON logoDot London is engaging London’s vibrant arts community and launching Dot to Dot, a street and online art initiative that will showcase 20 of London’s leading contemporary artists, on display at Borough Market.

The 20 ’dot’ art works go on display from Tuesday 12 January to Sunday 28 February at multiple locations across London throughout January and February, including Covent Garden, St Christopher’s Place W1, One New Change, The Trunk at The Artworks in Elephant & Castle, BOX PARK Shoreditch and Borough Market’s Market Hall which will feature an exclusive show of large hanging dots.

The city-wide exhibitions will feature an eclectic mix of still and digital art works from established and up-and-coming artists. Showcased talent includes renowned conceptual artist Duggie Fields; influential and uncompromising duo, The DNA Factory; and urban art collective, Greyworld.

The art pieces will additionally be displayed within posters across London as large circular, or ‘dot’, stills. The artist’s fully digital pieces can also be viewed on their new, corresponding Dot London websites or visit makeyours.london to see the full collection.

Dan Hill, Head of Dot London, said: “London is a melting pot for creativity and technology, and Dot to Dot is where they intersect. Our art initiative will showcase the capital’s diverse range of artistic talent using contrasting modes – pop-up satellite exhibitions, street art and Dot London websites to help reach a wider online audience.”

The digital artworks created for the project include, ‘On Target’, a swinging Sixties inspired dot, by graphic designer and illustrator Rian Hughes; ‘Dotted Fox’, a seemingly randomly arrangement of smaller dots to creates the image of a walking fox, by Yoni Alter; and ‘Happy Dot’, a bright yellow smile evoking the phrase “Turn that frown upside down” by contemporary artist, Stuart Semple.

London art icon, Duggie Fields, said: “I was excited to animate ‘So Cool’ and bring it to life for Dot to Dot. I feel that the computer takes me into areas of creativity I never expected to find myself, so it felt right to align my identity and my work with the London I love, interactively, by displaying my piece using a Dot London web address.”

Dot to Dot is the first in a series of activities arranged by Dot London to take place over the next three months across the capital. For more information about Dot London visit makeyours.london and follow @dotLondon

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

Christmas Comes For New gTLDs As Total Registrations Pass 11 Million

ICANN new generic Top Level Domains logoOn 23 December, the number of domain names registered across all delegated new gTLDs passed the 11 million mark, according to nTLDstats.com, out of a total of just over 300 million domains registered across all TLDs.

According to the website that compiles a comprehensive tally of statistics for new gTLDs, they note that on 24 December there were 11,000,512 registrations. Going by how nTLDstats.com update their data, it means on the 23rd the 11 million mark was passed.

The largest of the 868 gTLDs that have been delegated continues to be .xyz with 1.769 million registrations, and still far ahead of the second largest, now .top with 955,000 registrations followed by .wang with 601,000.

Of the top 30 by registration numbers, the only strings that aren’t generic are one brand gTLD (.ovh with 79,400 registrations) and the geographic gTLDs of .nyc (79,900), .london (62,300) and .berlin (58,300).

Of the 868 delegated gTLDs, around 410 have entered the General Availability phase while a large number of those delegated are “not available” and are brand gTLDs.

Currently there are 16 gTLDs with more than 100,000 registrations, 33 with more than 50,000 and 140 with more than 10,000.

By registration numbers, the largest registry is XYZ.COM with 1.774 million domains across its six gTLDs, then Famous Four Media (15 and 1.686m), Donuts (191 and 1.543m). On gTLD numbers, Donuts is the largest followed by Rightside (40 gTLDs) and Uniregistry (23).

The largest backend registry provider is Neustar with 101 gTLDs and 2.354m domains followed by CentralNIC (34 and 2.331m), ZDNS (17 and 2.187m) and then Rightside (231 and 1.948m).

Over 72 percent (7.992m) of the registered domains are parked. And there are naturally, and unfortunately, domains that are linked to malware and phishing. But the percentage is tiny with 9,269 or 0.08 percent of all domains registered in new gTLDs having suspicious activity.

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry

Dot Londoners Get In the Festive Spirit with Twitter Advent Calendar

Advent calendar logo visual

The festive period has arrived, and with help from some of our very generous Dot Londoners, we are excited to launch the Dot London Christmas Advent Calendar 2015.

Our advent calendar, run through our Twitter account @dotLondon, is packed with some of London’s biggest names, such as the Museum of London, City of London Distillery, Harlequins rugby club and Meantime Brewery. It additionally includes some of the capital’s newest small businesses who are using Dot London web addresses, including leather-bound notebook specialists, BrownCow London; online children’s bedroom accessories boutique, Camomile London; luxury lingerie brand, NightProwl; and natural skin care brand, MOA.

Each day, from 1st – 24th of December, we will showcase a different Dot Londoner and, as with all Advent Calendars, there’s a nice surprise in store as we will be giving away a special prize a day. You can be in the chance of winning either a signed copy of Great British Bake Off 2014 finalist, Richard Burr’s, new cook book ‘Bake It Yourself’; a case of Iniesta Wine from Dot Londoner and Sky Sports pundit, Terry Gibson; or a cute cuddly Charlie Bear from Dragons Toys.

To be in with a chance of winning you need to follow @dotLondon and the featured Dot Londoner and retweet. The winner will be picked randomly on a daily basis.

Here is the list of participating Dot Londoners and the prizes that are up for grabs:

1st December: 2 Tickets to the Big Game 8 on 27 December at Twickenham, Harlequins

2nd December: Four Seasons Weekly Planner, I AM A

3rd December: Anniversary Mia Charlie Bear, Dragon Toys

4th December: Catalyst Triangle Bra, NightProwl

5th December: Signed Cook Book ‘BIY: Bake It Yourself’, Richard Burr

6th December: A Tall House Cushion, Camomile London

7th December:  2 tickets to The Crime Museum Uncovered, Museum of London

8th December: Charm Bracelet, MeMeLondon

9th December: A5 Navy Croc Notebook, BrownCow London

10th December: Bundle of 3 Children’s Books, Rock the Boat

11th December: Case of Iniesta Wine & Iniesta Football, Gibson Sport Media

12th December: A Cactus Collection Sweatshirt, Etrala London

13th December: A Course in Either Knitting, Crochet or Sewing, Fringe

14th December: Fortifying Green Bath Potion, MOA

15th December: Bundle of 3 Shakers, Shake It

16th December: 2 Brewery Tour Tickets, Meantime Brewery

17th December: Pair of Sunglasses & Jewellery, JYY.London

18th December: 2 Wristbands to the London Beer Week, DrinkUp.London

19th December: Limited Edition A3 ‘Dots and Dogs’ Print, Yoni Alter

20th December: Rimor Slouchy Hobo Silky Suede Bag, Hydestyle London

21st December: Bottle of Dry Gin, City of London Distillery

22nd December: Half Day Cooking Course Voucher, The Cookery

23rd December: Victoria Paper Rock Ring Triangle by Quazi Design, Birdsong

24th December: ‘Big Ben’ Tea Cup, Premium Earl Grey Tea & Brown Rock Sugar, ONYX London

Good luck and Merry Christmas from Team Dot London!

 

 

Terms and Conditions
  • The competition is open to all Twitter users with no purchase necessary, exempting any Dot London Domains Ltd, London & Partners, Minds & Machines employees.
  • Dot London Twitter Advent Calendar is a daily run competition running from 1st – 24th
  • To qualify to enter these competitions you must be resident in the United Kingdom and aged over 18 years.
  • Entrants are permitted to have one entry per prize draw.
  • All entries must be received by the advertising closing date, which is midnight of each day from 1st – 24th
  • Prizes cannot be exchanged for cash value and are of the quality received. Dot London Domains provides no warrantee to the quality of any competition prizes.
  • Prizes will be issued to the winners directly by participating companies, referred to as “Dot Londoners”.
  • Prize winners will be chosen at random daily from Tuesday – Friday. The winners for Friday, Saturday and Sunday competitions will be drawn on Mondays.
  • Winners will be contacted using Twitter Messenger and will be asked to supply their postal address which will be forwarded to the participating companies.
  • By participating in the competition you are providing your information to Dot London Domains Ltd only. You acknowledge and agree that Twitter has no liability in relation to the competition and to release Twitter from any and all claims in relation to the competition.
  • The promotion is not in any way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Twitter.
  • Dot London Domains Ltd reserves the right to cancel or amend the competition and the competition terms and conditions and associated rules at any time without prior notice. Any changes will be posted on the competition post and blog.
  • In the event of any dispute regarding the rules, conduct, results and all other matters relating to the competition, the decision of Dot London Domains Ltd shall be final and under no circumstances shall there be any correspondence or discussion in respect of said decision.
  • Dot London Domains Ltd will not be liable for any failure of receipt of entries. Dot London Domains Ltd takes no responsibility for any entries which are lost, delayed, illegible, corrupted, damaged, incomplete or otherwise invalid.
  • Dot London Domains Ltd reserves the right to disqualify any entrant if it has reasonable grounds to believe the entrant has breached any of these terms and conditions.

This Dot London announcement was sourced from:
http://domains.london/2015/11/dot-londoners-get-in-the-festive-spirit-with-twitter-advent-calendar/

Domain Name Registrants, Domain Name Registrars, Domain Name Registry, New gTLDs

New gTLD Registrations Soar Past Ten Million As Generic Keywords Dominate Top Strings

The total number of domain names under management across all new gTLDs soared past the ten million mark on 17 November, with the increase in the DUM increasing markedly in recent months.It was only back in mid-August that the total number reached seven million, taking two months to increase from six million. But then in early October total registrations passed the eight million mark, and nine million was reached on 3 November.This out of a total of around 300 million registrations across all gTLDs, given that at the end of June 2015 there were 296 million domains registered across all TLDs, according to Verisign. So it means new gTLD registrations make up a small but sizeable figure of around 3.5 percent of all registrations. Total registrations though are still dwarfed by .com with around 123 million registrations, 27.1 million for .tk, 16.0 million for .de, 15.2 million for .net, 12.8 million for .cn and 10.8 million for .org.The largest of the new gTLDs by a long way continues to be .xyz with 1.621 million registrations or 16.04 percent of all new gTLD registrations. Registrations jumped a dramatic 200,000 over three days at the end of October and early November and by around 150,000 since.The second largest of the new gTLDs is now .top with over 890,000 registrations which saw registrations grow by around 300,000 in early November, then .wang (592,000), .win (474,000) and then .网址 (website), which for quite a while was the second largest of the new gTLDs now fifth, dropping from a maximum of almost 376,000 to 365,600 registrations today as many domains aren’t renewed come renewal time.One issue that is becoming clearer is the prominence of generic strings among the top gTLDs by registration numbers. Of the top 20, they dominate along with a few gTLDs aimed at the Chinese market such as .ren and .xin.Of the regional gTLDs, .nyc continues to be the largest with almost 87,500 registrations in 19th place while .london (70,600) and .berlin (68,300) in 21st and 22nd easily the best in this category. Depending on how one classifies gTLDs, it would be a fair assumption that of the top 30 by registration numbers, only four are non-generic word strings. The other being the French .ovh.There are now 795 gTLDs delegated, and around 410 of these have entered General Availability. There are 13 that have passed the 100,000 registrations mark, 30 have past 50,000 and 138 have passed 10,000.On backend registries, CentralNic is the largest with 2.1 million domains registered across its 30 new gTLDs followed by the Chinese ZDNS with 2.0 million across 17 new gTLDs then Neustar (1.9m and 68 gTLDs) and Rightside (1.9m and 230). On actual registries, XYZ.COM is the largest with 1.6 million registrations and six new gTLDs followed by Donuts (1.5m and 191) and Famous Four Media (1.4m and 14).