Fraudulent ICANN Domain Name Certificates

It has been brought to ICANN’s attention that some online entities have attempted to sell fraudulent “certificates”, which they claim are required to protect generic top-level domain names.

The perpetuators of this scam threaten registrants on the protection service with the objective of securing a fee from the registrant. The “certificates” look official and include an unauthorized use of the ICANN logo.

Please note that ICANN does not issue certificates to registrants and does not collect fees from registrants directly.

ICANN is currently investigating these cases and advises registrants who encounter similar incidents to report to ICANN immediately via an email to Contractual Compliance at
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ICANN recommends that any individual or legal entity wishing to register a domain name under a generic top-level domain name to do so using an ICANN-accredited registrar. More information, including a list of all current ICANN-accredited registrars can be found here: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/registrars-0d-2012-02-25-en
About ICANN

ICANN’s mission is to ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet you have to type an address into your computer – a name or a number. That address has to be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN coordinates these unique identifiers across the world. Without that coordination we wouldn’t have one global Internet. ICANN was formed in 1998. It is a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with participants from all over the world dedicated to keeping the Internet secure, stable and interoperable. It promotes competition and develops policy on the Internet’s unique identifiers. ICANN doesn’t control content on the Internet. It cannot stop spam and it doesn’t deal with access to the Internet. But through its coordination role of the Internet’s naming system, it does have an important impact on the expansion and evolution of the Internet. For more information please visit: www.icann.org.

This announcement was sourced from :

https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2014-07-15-en

.BAR – Over 1,200 Registrations On Day One of General Availability

Punto 2012 launched two new gTLDs yesterday : .BAR and .Rest. 1,220 .BAR domain names have been registered during the first 24 hours of its General Availability.

 

.REST, the abbreviation for Restaurant had only 307 registrations.

At the time of writing this article there are 2,464 .BAR domain name registrations,according to ntldstats.com.

“.REST and .BAR will connect the food and beverage industry with customers online.This is a perfect opportunity for businesses to grab a simple and easy-to-use domain name that describes their bar or restaurant with a descriptive name. Our industry needs to stand out online and be found — with .REST and .BAR they can be,” said Aaron Grego, CEO of Punto 2012.

Today, July 15,2014, .Wien ( Austria’s capital) entered General Availability.

.SCOT Pioneer Domains Go Live As Independence Referendum Pushes Scottish Identity

The .scot Pioneer Programme goes live today with the 50 or so registrants picked to be part of the programme seeing their domain names, and websites, up and running.

Among those who have signed up and are part of the Pioneer Programme for the new gTLD are the Scottish government, the main yes and no campaign groups for the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence, Yes Scotland and Better Together, as well as WWF Scotland, NHS Scotland and Scouts Scotland. International pioneers include the Louisiana Scots and the Clan Wallace.

The launch of .scot has come at a perfect time with Scottish identity a big issue due to the upcoming referendum and the Commonwealth Games being held in Glasgow next week. The gTLD is being pushed as for use of the Scottish community around the world whose online activities:

• contribute to Scottish social, cultural, business or academic life
• utilise the spoken and visual languages of Scotland
• explore Scottish heritage
• have made Scotland their home.

The launch has the support of Scottish politicians including Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon who said:
“It is entirely right that Scotland should have its own distinctive and recognisable internet domain – in particular, one that will resonate internationally, helping to promote Scottish business and culture throughout the world.”

“I am confident that the .scot domain name will prove to be a real asset to the people of Scotland and to the worldwide family of Scots. I am looking forward to the Scottish Government being able to make use of this new domain, and to having gov.scot up and running before the end of the year, as well as our pioneer domains including welcome.scot, which go live today.”

Speaking of the launch of the Pioneer Programme, Dot Scot Registry director Gavin McCutcheon described it as a “fantastic day for Scotland online”.

“Owning a .scot domain will allow people and organisations a new unique way to express their identity online.”

“It’s a community domain intended for everybody who lives and works in Scotland – and for the 50 million people around the globe who are part of Scotland’s diaspora.

“After such a long campaign to secure the new .scot domain, we’re delighted that we can launch when the eyes of the world are on Scotland, with the Commonwealth Games coming to Glasgow next week.”

The Scottish branch of WWF is also in on the act with WWF Scotland director Lang Banks saying:

“From world-leading climate change targets to innovative approaches to securing more fish and healthier seas, Scotland is a pioneer in creating solutions to some of the most important environmental challenges facing the planet. However, as well as being able to learn from others globally, we’d like these examples to help provide inspiration to others facing similar challenges.

“By using WWF.scot we hope to create a space to better share these and other great ideas so that everywhere people and nature can thrive.”

For the next 60 days only launch pioneers’ domains will be online, but from 23 September General Availability will commence for anyone who wants to be part of the Scottish community around the world.

Domain Names Could Include Armenian Alphabet Starting Next Year

According to a press release sent out today, internet domain names may appear written in the Armenian alphabet starting next year.

 

You can read the press release after the jump:

“Internet URL’s may appear written in the Armenian alphabet starting next year, as the governing body of Internet domain names continues to announce major changes to the system, Deputy Director of the Internet Society of Armenia Grigori Saghian told reporters.

According to Saghian, Armenia has applied to ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) – the non-profit organization that governs the Internet’s domain name system — for the possibility of registering domain names in the Mesrobian alphabet.

“According to procedure, we should receive an answer within one year after applying,” Saghian said, noting that Armenia applied at the beginning of 2014. “Having domain names in the Armenian alphabet is inevitable, and, to some extent, necessary,” added Saghian.

ICANN has been a focus of discussion in the news recently after announcing a host of proposed changes to the domain name system, including the introduction of a plethora of new suffixes like .wine and .London, some of which have produced controversy.”

.MOSCOW and .МОСКВА Sunrise Shows Latin Characters Most Popular

The Sunrise period for the .moscow and .москва gTLDs has ended resulting in in 154 domain name registrations in .MOSCOW and seven registrations in .МОСКВА. Which is not overly surprising given those registered within the Trademark Clearinghouse are more likely to be for larger brands.

The Sunrise period in .moscow and .москва was popular mainly among global brands including Gucci, McDonalds and H&M. The applicant with the most domains applied for was Apple with 11.

There were also a couple of generic terms registered, these being МЫ.МОСКВА (which can be translated as we.moscow) and скачать.москва (download.moscow).

Commencing 15 July, and ending 13 August, the first limited registration period commenced for the owners of trademarks and service marks valid in the Russian Federation.

The second limited registration period will run from 19 to 25 August and this will be limited to trade names, media and non-profits registered in Moscow as well as Moscow appellations of origin.

To register a domain name, a trademark owner shall contact one of the registrars accredited for the Moscow’s domains and submit the following documents:

1. a document confirming the trademark owner’s registration as a legal entity or a sole trader
2. a trademark certificate or an enacted judicial decision on the exclusive right to a trademark protected in the Russian Federation.

Then from 24 September to 18 November will be a Landrush period and finally General Availability will commence on 1 December. Both of these will be on a first-come first-served basis for individuals and legal entities from anywhere.

“Domain names in the Moscow extensions will now be available for a wider range of users, because they won’t have to pay for including their trademarks in the Trademark Clearinghouse,” says Dmitry Burkov, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Assistance for Internet Technologies and Infrastructure Development (Registry Operator for the .MOSCOW and .МОСКВА TLDs).

“We hope that this limited registration period in the Russian capital domains will be especially popular among Russian trademark owners associated not only with large businesses but also medium-size and small businesses.”