Microsoft Files Complaint for MicrosoftsWay.com Domain Name
Microsoft has filed a UDRP ,seeking control of MicrosoftsWay.com domain name.The complaint was filed with the National Arbitration Forum a few days ago.
According to whois records, MicrosoftsWay.com was first registered in August,2014.
The National Arbitration Forum will examine if MicrosoftsWay.com domain is confusingly similar to Microsoft’s trademark,if the current owner has rights over it and if the domain is being used in bad faith .The disputed domain name will be passed over to Microsoft if it falls under all three of these stipulations.
The case is still pending compliance checks with the National Arbitration Forum .
ICANN : WHOIS Accuracy Study Preliminary Findings Reflect Improvements in Accuracy
In the pilot introduction of the WHOIS Accuracy Reporting System (ARS), ICANN has collaborated with inter-governmental and private sector specialists to deliver the most recent assessment of WHOIS accuracy.
For the first time, ICANN has brought together experts in the fields of study design and validation services to produce an accuracy study that uses the latest technology available.
The Preliminary Findings paper [PDF, 668 KB] published today describes the result of this unique collaboration. This paper is being released by ICANN in advance of its October Los Angeles Meetings to illustrate the features of the ARS under development, as well as to solicit feedback on the approach, methodology and reporting formats. This feedback will help shape the final design of the ARS. After the Los Angeles Meeting, ICANN will publish the full Pilot Report, which provides detailed findings and explanations of the methodology deployed in the Study.
When fully developed, the ARS will produce ongoing reports capable of tracking trends in accuracy rates, and reporting on the specific factors that affect accuracy. This data may be useful to assess the effectiveness of recent efforts at improving accuracy rates, and to support ongoing policy development activities related to WHOIS.
Preliminary Findings
The Pilot study examined accuracy rates from multiple perspectives to give a realistic picture of today’s WHOIS. While the study results are still being confirmed, the preliminary findings reveal that:
Operationally, Registrars under the 2013 RAA have more accuracy for email addresses than Registrars under the 2009 RAA;
New gTLDs have slightly better operational email accuracy rates than prior gTLDs;
Prior gTLDs have more operational accuracy on telephone numbers, but the two groups are equal on operational postal address accuracy.
These preliminary findings are being published to facilitate discussion on the methodology sample sizes, and approach at the Los Angeles Meeting. The statistics published today are subject to further analysis and confirmation, to be included in the Full Pilot Study to be published after the Los Angeles Meeting for Public Comment.
Global Expertise
The findings in the Paper are the product of an in-depth examination of postal addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers. Postal address statistics were developed with guidance from the Universal Postal Union (Switzerland), a specialized agency of the UN that coordinates postal policies worldwide for its member countries. Other validation expertise was provided by leading commercial firms, including StrikeIron (USA), utilizing its proprietary email validation systems, DigiCert (USA), a provider of digital certificates and telephone validation services, and aided by a unique data parsing service by Whibse (USA).
Study Design
ICANN turned to NORC to design, work with validation providers, and conduct the analysis necessary to produce and deliver this analysis. NORC’s past accuracy studies influenced the WHOIS Review Team. The Review Team’s Final Report called for ICANN to publish ongoing statistics on WHOIS accuracy.
The Pilot study examines accuracy levels by applying syntactic validation and operation validation tests to a Registrant’s postal address, email, and telephone numbers listed in a WHOIS record. Although the study did not attempt to apply identity validation techniques, ICANN is exploring the feasibility of including identity validation in subsequent development phases of the ARS.
This announcement was sourced from :
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-10-10-en
ICANN : Revised Enhancing ICANN Accountability: Process and Next Steps
ICANN published Revised Enhancing ICANN Accountability: Process and Next Steps, a document that describes the process to examine how ICANN’s accountability mechanisms should be strengthened to address the absence of its historical relationship with the U.S. Government.
This revision incorporates comments from a further 21-day comment period from 6-27 September 2014.
We appreciate and apologize that this is being posted so close to the ICANN meeting. However, we wanted to provide the revised process to the community so it is available for the ICANN 51 meeting.
On 14 March 2014 the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced its intent to transition its stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions to the global multistakeholder community. NTIA asked ICANN, as the IANA functions contractor and global coordinator for the Domain Name System (DNS), to convene a multistakeholder process to develop a proposal for the transition, which would end ICANN’s contractual relationship with the U.S. Government that has existed since 1998. That historical relationship has been perceived as a backstop with regard to ICANN’s organization-wide accountability.
ICANN received 17 comments during the 21-day further comment period. Based on the input received, ICANN proposes integrating the originally proposed two-group structure into a single Cross Community Working Group (CCWG), in reflection of the strong community support for the CCWG model. Additionally, given the input over the course of the discussions on this process, it’s suggested that the CCWG has two work steams: one focused on accountability in light of ICANN’s changing historical relationship with the U.S. Government; and the second, on the broader accountability issues the community would like to bring to the forefront.
The Revised Enhancing ICANN Accountability: Process and Next Steps document can be found here [PDF, 350 KB]
This announcement was sourced from :
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2014-10-10-en
CENTR Paper Outlines Myths and Facts On New gTLDs
Brand owners are not registering their trademarks across the new gTLDs, following a pattern of legacy TLDs whereby they do not unless the TLD has reached a critical mass of registrations and/or have a particular reason. And as expected following patterns of the launch of previous TLDs. This is one of the findings of a paper commissioned by CENTR to sort out myths and facts for the new gTLDs.
It was largely touted during the consultations that led to the launch of the new gTLD programme that brand owners would be forced to register hundreds or thousands of domain names in the new gTLDs to protect their brands. But when they do not do this already across the existing 250 or so existing ccTLDs and the 21 gTLDs that existed prior to the new gTLD launch, why would they do this in all new gTLDs?
The analysis of registrations by Architelos who wrote the report for CENTR found CSC and MarkMonitor had registered around 10,000 domains across a wide range of new gTLDs, although how many cannot be precisely determined. So it works out that they have not registered that many domains in each gTLD for their clients. And Donuts offered an innovative solution previously offered by .xxx for defensive registrations across all their 150 plus gTLDs. So it’s largely been a myth.
Another myth exposed by the CENTR report was that domains would need to be priced at a level similar to .com to compete while there would be some premium domains as well as premium gTLDs such as .luxury, .lawyer and .attorney. So there have been a wide range of pricing levels, but the typical pricing is the report notes two to three times that of .com.
The battle for who owns the customers, the registry or registrar, has not been determined. Larger registrars have been able to extract premiums such as through placement and being selective about what new gTLDs they offer while smaller players have been taking more of a scattergun approach often signing up as many as possible. The report judgement is that it’s too early to tell who wins this battle.
Smaller registrars have also done well in the battle for registrants of new gTLDs with ten of the top 15 based on registrations being either newcomers or smaller players. This defies another claim in the lead-up to the launch of new gTLDs and becomes another myth according to the report.
Architelos concludes the report by saying they “believe that although history may not exactly itself exactly, … it does follow familiar trends and curves. The hype surrounding new gTLDs prior to launch and the relative disappointment now, nine months into the programme very closely resemble the Technology Adoption Hype Cycle, first introduced by Gartner.”
Architelos also note they believe “the success of many ccTLDs is a fair predictor of the success of sector or geo new gTLDs. They also believe “successful new gTLDs will reflect the economic, geographic and social affinity groups that naturally emerge in society and … this is the long game and there will under-capitalised applicants that cannot survive to play.”
The paper is available for download in full from:
https://centr.org/CENTR-Paper-Myth_and_Fact_New_gTLDs_registries_and_registrars
Sedo and CentralNic Partner to Distribute New and Premium Domain Names
Sedo, the world’s largest domain name marketplace, announced that it has partnered with CentralNic to distribute new and premium domain names.
You can read the press release after the jump :
” Sedo, the world’s largest domain marketplace and monetization provider, and leading backend registry provider, CentralNic, today announced a partnership that enables the distribution of premium domain names via the Web’s largest domain distribution network, SedoMLS. For the first time, this partnership will give a Registry Operators the ability to sell premium registry reserve names through a network of hundreds of sales partners, including top registrars around the world.
“CentralNic’s integration with SedoMLS Premium Fast Transfer network is a game changer. Through its vast network, SedoMLS will enable CentralNic and its registry clients to reach the widest audience and ensure that the right names end up with the right people,” said Ben Crawford, CEO at CentralNic. “SedoMLS offers us the easiest and most straight forward way to distribute an increasingly large inventory of premium domains through a global registrar network.”
The .co.com extension, which utilizes CentralNic for back-end registry services, will be the first to benefit from the ability to list and sell their inventory using the SedoMLS distribution channel. “Participating in SedoMLS’ extensive distribution network will provide critical exposure for .co.com premium domains on major registrar sites, and will surely generate an uplift in transactions,” said Ken Hansen, CEO at co.com.
“To become a leading TLD in a historic expansion of the Internet’s domain name system with hundreds of new TLDs coming into the market, it is crucial that registries make their valuable premium domain names highly visible and position them to be easily found by interested buyers,” said Tobias Flaitz, Sedo’s CEO. “Domain buyers and end users have enumerable options for finding the perfect name; our solution to address the target group of interested domain name buyers globally is SedoMLS, where CentralNic can extend the reach of their premium names.”
Check out Sedo.com for more information .
