Global Domain Name and Internet Policy News
If you’re wanting to know more about Universal Acceptance, ICANN is holding a second round of their “ICANN for Beginners: Universal Acceptance” (UA) webinars on 12 and 13 July 2023.
Registrants of .fr domain names, and those in the overseas territory ccTLDs the French registry Afnic manage, will have a new and free dispute mediation process available to them from 3 July.
The second of the two big global domain name registration reports, the quarterly CENTRstats Global TLD Report for Q4 2022, came out recently with its usual focus on its member European ccTLDs and how domain names across the continent are used. The other major report from Verisign, which I wrote on earlier this week, focusses on total domain registrations around the world. With 52 full and 8 associate members, CENTR’s members are responsible for over 70% of all registered country code top-level domain names worldwide, and 57% of the European domain name market, ccTLDs and gTLDs combined. .com, which accounts for 45.6% of all domain names registered globally, accounts for only a third (32%) in Europe while other gTLDs account for the remaining 11%.
Public Interest Registry, the .org registry, and the American Red Cross have joined together to curtail scammers seeking to take advantage of natural disasters and the Red Cross’ good name. It is the first time any registry operator has established a Trusted Notifier relationship with a major international humanitarian organisation like the American Red Cross.
The total number of domain names registered around the world increased incrementally in the first quarter of 2023, growing 1.0% or 3.5 million, which coincidentally was the same 1.0% and 3.5 million increase for the 12 months to the end of March, according to Verisign’s latest Domain Name Industry Brief.
Public Interest Registry has announced a call for nominations for the fifth annual .ORG Impact Awards. The Awards seek to promote the .org top-level domain as well as showcase some of the best work registrants are doing in the not-for-profit world. Plus in 2023, prize money has jumped dramatically and all finalists will be invited to attend the in-person award ceremony.
Highly regarded auDA Chair from 2000 to 2015 Tony Staley passed away this week, aged 83. Staley came to prominence as a “hard man” in Australia’s conservative Liberal Party, and as Minister for Posts and Telecommunications in late 1977 until he left politics at the general election in 1980. He was also Federal President of the Liberal Party from 1993 until 1999.
CENTR, the association which represents European country code top-level domain name registries (ccTLDs), such as .de for Germany or .no for Norway, has provided feedback to the United Nations’ initiative on a Global Digital Compact (GDC).
Ever wondered what the impact of registry fee increases for a top-level domain have on registrations? Afnic’s Loïc Damilaville has recently published a paper attempting to analyse the impact Verisign’s increases in the registry fee for .com and .net have had.
New Zealand’s Domain Name Commission and InternetNZ have announced the appointment of Barbara Pearse as the new Domain Name Commissioner.