Freenom Relaunches Equatorial Guinea ccTLD With Free Domains. Will It Be A Future Phishing Target?
Following in the footsteps of .tk (Tokelau), .ml (Mali), .ga (Gabon) and .cf (Central African Republic), Freenom has taken on the role of registry for .gq (Equatorial Guinea) and the ccTLD is now its fifth ccTLD where domains are given away free.
The move to give away domains in ccTLDs from smaller countries has had some success, particularly with .tk, which is now the world’s second largest TLD behind .com and largest ccTLD with over 26.5 million registrations.
But the move to give away domains is not without problems. In the latest Anti-Phishing Working Group report, Global Phishing Survey 1H2014: Trends and Domain Name Use, it was noted that phishing occurred in 227 TLDs, but 90 percent of the malicious domain registrations (20,565) were in just five TLDs: .com, .tk, .pw, .cf. and .net.
And on a score of the number of phishing domains per 10,000 registered domains, .cf comes out way on top with a score of 320.8 followed by .ml with 118.9. The .ga TLD comes in fourth with 42.9.
In this latest venture Freenom has partnered with GETESA, the largest telecommunication operator in Equatorial Guinea and a joint venture with Orange, to relaunch .gq in various stages. Before .gq domains are available for free to the general public on 1 December, trademark holders and trademark agencies have their first pick in the .gq Sunrise Period that started on 1 October.
From 1 December onwards free GQ domains will be offered to all internet users in Equatorial Guinea and internationally. There will be no restrictions to registrations of free domains and anyone can claim their own .gq domain. Free .gq domains will work exactly like any other extension and can be renewed an unlimited number of times at no charge.
“The need for free domains continues to grow exponentially,” says Joost Zuurbier, CEO at Freenom. “Especially in countries like Brazil, Russia, Vietnam and China, we see the demand for new domains is growing and growing. We are happy to announce that we have opened up more domain space to fulfil these needs.”
Freenom has already partnered with four nations and has become the largest country code domain registry operator worldwide with more than 28 million active domains under management.
Following the success of .TK, Freenom has opened its model to other nations eager to develop their top level domain and looking for an alternative to the unprofitable pay-per-year model. By leapfrogging the traditional approach and offering free domains, they are able to create an immediate impact on their digital landscape and empower their internet users to build an online identity at no cost.
“Free domains make a lot of sense in countries where the banking penetration is in the single digit range,” continues Joost Zuurbier. “The demand for free domains is enormous because people in those nations may not have a credit card to buy domains, but they do have a profound need to communicate and build their presence online. Free domains are an important catalyst that directly enable local content creation and internet entrepreneurship.”
To support its African partners, Freenom opened an office in Dakar in 2013 and will continue to grow its operations in Senegal. Most African countries have been traditionally very weak in the domain name space, but its increasing technology-savvy population and modernizing digital landscape make it the perfect place for the free domain model. Just as free SIM cards and prepaid phones have revolutionized communications, free domains can dramatically change how African internet users are represented online.
In Equatorial Guinea, GETESA sees free .GQ domains as an opportunity to empower young internet users and help them embrace their digital flag. Through GQ free domains they will be able to create websites and learn about technology.
Freenom’s experience and technology will directly benefit the local internet community of Equatorial Guinea, who will be able to enjoy a modern platform and unlimited domains at no cost. Together with GETESA and in line with ICANN’s bottom-up multi-stakeholder model, the partnership will ensure that the .GQ extension is accessible to all internet users.
Public Interest Registry Seeks Leaders To Serve On Its NGO Community Advisory Council
The Public Interest Registry, the not-for-profit operator of the .org domain, announced that it is accepting nominations from individuals to join the Public Interest Registry NGO Community Advisory Council.
The Advisory Council helps Public Interest Registry better serve the users of .ngo|.ong by providing input on issues facing the NGO community.
For more information, see the news release below:
Public Interest Registry Seeks Leaders To Serve On Its NGO Community Advisory Council
Call for Nominations is Now Open for Candidates to Advise Registry on Issues within the NGO Community
Public Interest Registry – the not-for-profit operator of the .org domain – today (1 October) announced it is accepting nominations from individuals to join the Public Interest Registry NGO Community Advisory Council. As part of the Advisory Council, members will provide input on issues facing the NGO (non-governmental organisation) community to help Public Interest Registry better serve users of .ngo|.ong – soon-to-be-launched top-level domains intended exclusively for NGOs across the globe.
Today through October 31, 2014, interested individuals can nominate themselves or other candidates to serve in one of the seven open positions on the Advisory Council. The role of the Advisory Council is to focus on the unique issues of the NGO community, ranging from policy to the introduction of new services. Members are expected to provide input on new policies, strategies and services to advance .ngo|.ong as a thriving non-commercial Internet community.
“Before we pursued the development of .ngo|.ong, we at Public Interest Registry traveled all around the globe to meet with NGOs about their online challenges and how these new domain extensions could be beneficial,” said Brian Cute, CEO of Public Interest Registry. “The NGO Community Advisory Council will help us continue this effort by ensuring that NGOs have active representation in the decision making process of the .ngo|.ong suite of online services.”
With the .ngo|.ong domain, NGOs of all sizes and reach will have access to an exclusive online identity and membership to a community website with a searchable directory to improve visibility, raise funds and connect with other NGOs. The validation process – managed by Public Interest Registry – reassures Internet users worldwide that websites with .ngo and .ong identities represent genuine NGOs.
Advisory Council members will represent a diverse spectrum of the non-commercial community, chosen from each of the following seven regions: Asia; Oceania; Africa; Europe; North America; Latin America and the Caribbean; and the Middle East and North Africa. Members will be drawn from various sectors of the non-commercial community such as educational, artistic, cultural, human rights, political, religious and scientific sectors. Advisory Council members will serve a three-year term beginning in December 2014.
Eligible candidates should have significant leadership experience in the nonprofit and NGO arena, an acute understanding of the issues and policies that affect the community, and an affinity with the values of Public Interest Registry. Candidates should submit their expression of interest detailing their experience, expertise and qualifications online at pir.org/ngo-community-advisory-council-nominations.
The above news release was sourced from:
pir.org/public-interest-registry-seeks-leaders-to-serve-on-its-ngo-community-advisory-council/
T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Prices Increase Friday
The T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference will be held in Miami at the Fontainebleau Hotel from October 30-November 2,2014 and the prices will increase soon.
The conference organizers announced that they are extending the $1295 price until Friday, October 3 at 6 PM.The organizers also announced that the hotel room rates will be going up significantly,so this is your last chance to register.
You can read the announcement after the jump:
“Prices for T.R.A.F.F.I.C. go up on October 1, however we are extending the $1295 price until Friday. at 6PM. Hotel Room rates will also be going up significantly. So this is your last call before rising rates and a sold-out hotel.
And as a special bonus if you sign up before Friday we will give you a link to watch and listen to Howard Lefkowitz of Vegas.com fame at the TRAFFIC Las Vegas show last spring. Howard was one of the most electrifying speakers we’ve ever had. The seminar is worth the price of admission alone and you’ll see the kind of bang for the buck you get at T.R.A.F.F.I.C.
It IS priceless and those that have never come to TRAFFIC will quickly see what I mean.”
The T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference will be held from October 30 to November 2,2014 at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.
ICANN: New gTLD Auction Rules Update
The Auction Rules were recently updated to clarify the use of the Auction Date Advancement/Postponement Request Form. The form is due at least 45 days prior to a scheduled Auction Date.
In addition, clarification is added to the default process. If a Winner is declared in default, any remaining Bidder that withdraws its Application from the New gTLD Program will not be eligible to receive an offer to have its Application accepted. Please find the latest version in the link below.
- View the New gTLD Auction Rules v.2014.09.30 [PDF, 328 KB]
- View the REDLINE New gTLD Auction Rules v.2014.05.19 to 2014.09.30 [PDF, 241 KB]
- View Auction Resources
This ICANN announcement was sourced, and is available with previous announcements, from:
newgtlds.icann.org//en/applicants/auctions
ICANN Updates Application Change Request Process
Today, 30 September 2014, ICANN published updates to the application change request process. Updates can be viewed at the Change Request page of the Microsite. The major changes include:
- Certain types of changes will no longer be posted for comments for 30 days:
- Changes to confidential portions of the application
- Changes to primary and secondary contacts of the application
- Changes to the applicant’s contact information (address, phone, fax, web address)
- Changes to applicant’s stock symbol
- Changes to applicant’s business/tax ID
- Changes to applicant’s officers/directors
- Changes to name of applying entity*
- Changes to parent entity
The application will no longer be held for 30 days for the community to comment on the above changes because details of changes to confidential portions are not published, and the other changes listed above are updates to the application as a normal course of business. ICANN reserves the right to make exceptions to these practices and post changes for public comments in its discretion.
- In cases where the change request requires re-evaluation, the re-evaluation will no longer be a part of the core change request process. Spitting re-evaluations into its own process will allow ICANN to better report on SLAs for change requests and prevent applicants from gaming the process and delaying other applications in the same contention set.
ICANN will also start reporting on change request statistics on a monthly basis. These monthly statistics will be available on the Change Request page of the New gTLD Microsite.
* This item refers to a simple name change of the applying entity only. It does not apply to changes in the applying entity itself such as the case of the application being assigned from a parent entity to a wholly-owned subsidiary.
This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-30sep14-en