ICANN : Public Comment Invited: .NGO and .ONG Registry Services Evaluation Process Request – Introduction of Technical Bundling
Public Interest Registry, the registry operator for .NGO and .ONG TLDs, submitted a request to provide a new registry service to offer support for mandatory technical bundling of second level domains for .NGO and .ONG.
Such technical bundling is defined as a set of two different gTLDs, with identical second level labels. The proposal, which was submitted through the Registry Services Evaluation Process, has been referred to the Registry Services Technical Evaluation Panel, and is being published to invite public comment as required by the Registry Services Evaluation Policy.
This announcement was sourced from :
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-3-2014-06-10-en
.Webcam Gets Over 3,500 Registrations On Its First Day
Famous Four Media launched three new gTLDs yesterday : .Trade, .Webcam and .Bid. The results from the first day of general availability are not so good.
At the time of writing this article, there are 506 .BID domain names registered . .Bid is numer 121 on the list of new gTLDs with the most domain name registrations.
.Trade has 3,235 registrations, while .Webcam did a little bit better with 3,657 registrations. .Trade is number 77 on the list of new gTLDs with the most domain name registrations, while .Webcam is number 70.These number also include sunrise registrations and registry owned domain names.
Donuts Wins Contention Sets for Three New gTLDs : .Sarl, .Restaurant and .Gifts
Donuts has added .Sarl, .Restaurant and .Gifts to its portfolio of new gTLDs.Two of the new gTLDs are the results of an Applicant Auction.
mySARL was the loosing applicant for .Sarl, Uniregistry was the loosing applicant for .Gifts and Minds+Machines and Famous Four were the loosing applicants for .Restaurant.All four applicants withdrawn their applications.
Restaurant will be competing against .rest, while .gifts will be competing against .Gift, which already has over 5,500 registrations.
GoDaddy To Sell Shares, Offer IPO, To Raise $100m
GoDaddy, the world’s largest domain name registrar and webhost, has announced plans to offer an initial public offering of shares that will raise around $100m.
The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the offering have not yet been determined, and the initial estimate is just a placeholder until closer to the offering date meaning the amount raised is likely to be significantly higher. But the company has not made a profit since 2009.
In a filing with the Security and Exchange Commission on Monday, it showed the company lost $279 million in 2012, bled another $200 million last year on revenues of more than $1.1bn and 2014 doesn’t look much better, with another $51 million lost in the first quarter, according to CNN and The Guardian‘s analysis of the filing.
“What’s going on? The company’s still recovering from a bad stretch. It was mired in debt back in 2011, when three private equity firms came to the rescue: KKR & Co., Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures.” The companies reportedly paid around $2.25 billion to buy a major stake in the company.
In a separate but related announcement, GoDaddy announced founder Bob Parsons has resigned his position as Executive Chairman of the Board in order to devote more time to his ventures outside of GoDaddy. Parsons will continue to serve on the board of directors.
“Bob’s vision and uncommon approach has created a great company, and a loyal customer base. Bob built GoDaddy into the world’s largest domain name and Web hosting provider, and his contribution to GoDaddy, and our industry in general, is immeasurable,” said GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving. “As a board member and principal shareholder, Bob will continue to play an important role as we define the next chapter for GoDaddy.”
“Blake and his team have chartered an awesome course for the company,” said Parsons. “They’ve got a true passion for our customers and a vision for how we translate that into products and services to help organizations of all types and sizes succeed. I look forward to focusing on my new ventures, while continuing to guide the strategic direction of GoDaddy in my role as a board member.”
A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission but has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective.
Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Citigroup Global Markets Inc. are acting as lead joint book-running managers for the proposed offering, Barclays Capital Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. and RBC Capital Markets, LLC are acting as book-running managers for the proposed offering, and KKR Capital Markets LLC and Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated are acting as co-managers for the proposed offering.
Stephen Fry Becomes First To Switch To 2nd Level .UK Domain
British icon and tech enthusiast Stephen Fry became the first person to make the switch to a .uk domain name as Nominet began to allow second level .uk registrations.
Blogging on his new site, he writes: “Fret no more, people of Britain. The day of .uk is upon us. And team stephenfry.com — as with all things — is proud to be ahead of the curve, or at least cresting it. stephenfry.uk is launched today with a fanfare and an unfurling of the Union Flag.”
UK domain registry Nominet is rolling out the world’s largest welcome sign – reading ‘welcometothe.uk’ – at Heathrow airport to mark the biggest change to the UK internet infrastructure since it began.
Visible from as high as 35,000 feet (10,700 metres), and measuring nearly 10,000 square feet (930 square metres), the welcome sign is positioned on the approach to the main runway at London Heathrow airport, to greet those arriving. 40% larger than the ‘Hollywood’ letters, and hundreds of times the size of the traditional British welcome signs that frequent motorways up and down the country, the welcometothe.uk sign took ten men over eight hours to put in place.
But it is Stephen Fry that is the public face of the launch of .uk registrations. The television presenter and actor is calling it “The New Adventures Of Stephen Fry” and made the change from a .com to a .uk address, after having expressed his hatred of the .co.uk domain at great length over the years.
“Fret no more, people of Britain. The day of .uk is upon us. And team stephenfry.com — as with all things — is proud to be ahead of the curve, or at least cresting it,” he said.
“It’s only three harmless key-presses, you may think. A year or so back I wrote that it seemed to me annoying and lax of the British internet authority (if such a body ever existed, which it didn’t and doesn’t) when domain names were being handed that they were so inattentive and their eyes so off the ball.
“How come Germany could have .de, France .fr, South Africa .za, Italy .it etc etc etc? And we poor British had to have the extra exhaustion of typing .co.uk. Three whole keystrokes. It doesn’t stack up to much when compared to other howling injustices in the world. The length of time poor students and tourists have to queue to get an Abercrombie and Fitch polo shirt for example, but nonetheless it has been a nuisance these twenty years or so.”
Nominet has conducted research into the preferences of internet users that found three quarters of British internet users prefer sites ending in .uk when searching or buying online, the introduction of ‘example.uk’ will allow businesses a more succinct web address, comparable to what is available internationally in the likes of Germany’s .de and France’s .fr.
When presented with a series of new domains, such as .company, or .london, sites ending in .uk remain the first choice for 93% of internet users. Those opting for a brand new .uk will benefit from being part of this trusted, popular namespace that is overwhelmingly preferred by Brits, while embracing the shorter option.
“We’re delighted that Stephen Fry has chosen .uk, given that he’s known for being an early digital adopter,” said Eleanor Bradley, Chief Operating Officer of Nominet. “We wanted to welcome him and everyone else to the brand new .uk domain in a big way – so why not do it with the world’s biggest welcome sign?”
“The new .uk is for people who want a short, memorable domain with the popular and trusted .uk ending. We know this combination appeals to our tech-savvy, digitally-engaged population.
“When asked if they wanted .uk to be an option alongside. co.uk, 72% of businesses questioned said yes. The UK is the world’s most internet-based major economy and it’s certainly one of the most active and fast-changing too – 67% of our current registrations are less than five years old. We can’t wait to deliver this addition to the UK namespace and continue to build its contribution to the UK’s digital economy.”
Nominet expects the new domain will appeal to tech-savvy entrepreneurs and start-up businesses wishing to tap into positive ‘brand UK’ attributes, such as tech start-up Lowdownapp – switching from a .co – and independent craft lager company Saint Lager, who will be switching from a .com to www.enjoysaint.uk.
Over ten million existing UK domain holders will be offered first choice on the shorter equivalent of their current address, with five years to decide whether they want to use it in addition to, or instead of, the domain they already have. Nominet will be contacting these customers to ensure they’re aware of their opportunity to exercise this right.
For more information please visit www.agreatplacetobe.uk.
