ICANN Grants Data Retention Waiver to French Registrar OVH SAS

OVH SAS (“Registrar”) submitted to ICANN a Registrar Data Retention Waiver Request (“Waiver Request”) on the basis of Registrar’s contention that compliance with the data collection and/or retention requirements of the Data Retention Specification in the 2013 RAA violates applicable law in France.

ICANN hereby grants Registrar a limited waiver from compliance with certain provisions of the 2013 RAA on the following terms:

ICANN agrees that, following Registrar’s execution of the 2013 RAA , for purposes of assessing Registrar’s compliance with the data retention requirement of Paragraph 1.1 of the Data Retention Specification in the 2013 RAA , the period of “two additional years” in Paragraph 1.1 of the Data Retention Specification will be deemed modified to “one additional year.”
In all other respects the terms of the Data Retention Specification will remain AS-IS. The waiver granted to Registrar applies only to the post-sponsorship period of retention of the data listed in the Paragraphs 1.1.1 through 1.1.8 inclusive of the Data Retention Specification, and it does not constitute a waiver of any other provisions of the 2013 RAA or other ICANN policies applicable to registrars. Without limiting the foregoing, nothing in this waiver limits Registrar’s obligation to comply with Consensus Policies or Temporary Policies developed and adopted in accordance with ICANN ‘s Bylaws (” ICANN Policies”) or limits Registrar’s obligation to comply with any amendment, supplement or modification of the 2013 RAA approved and adopted in accordance with the terms of the 2013 RAA (” RAA Amendments”). In the event of any inconsistency between this waiver and the terms of any ICANN Policy or RAA Amendment, the terms of the ICANN Policy or RAA Amendment will control.
The waiver granted to Registrar shall remain in effect for the duration of the term of the 2013 RAA signed by Registrar.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-12mar14-en.htm

ICANN Releases New Contracting Statistics To 14 March

Below are the key Contracting statistics, as of 14 March 2014:

1092 applicants have been invited to Contracting
498 applicants have responded to their Contracting Information Request invitation
416 contracts have been sent out for signature
331 Registry Agreements have been signed
- All signed Registry Agreements can be viewed here: www.icann.org/en/about/agreements/registries

View Contracting Statistics From Previous Weeks »

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-14mar14-en

General Availability for .UNO Starts in Five Days

.UNO, the first extension dedicated to Spanish-speaking world, will become available for purchase by the general public on March 19th,2014.

You can read the press release after the jump:

“On March 19th .UNO joins dozens of other new gTLDs that have recently been made available for purchase by the general public. The introduction of these new domains marks the biggest transformation the Internet has undergone since its inception.

Of these new domains .UNO is the first dedicated to Spanish-speakers online. Imagine if whenever you see a site with a .com, you could retype it using .UNO and get the Spanish-language version of that site. By doing away with the tiny en españolbuttons and long URLs for Spanish sites, Spanish-speakers will finally enjoy a truly efficient online experience that was made for them. Resources and information available to the Spanish-speakers will expand significantly and businesses, consumers and individuals will be able to connect easily with the 490 million Spanish-speaking people worldwide.

Latin Americans are the fastest growing Internet population in the world (IMS) and U.S. Hispanics are the most active of any U.S. population on social media (IAB). .UNO recognizes that Latinos are quickly becoming leaders in digital consumption and that it is both logical and necessary that there exists a space for Spanish-speakers online.

At .UNO we believe that we are transforming the Internet for millions of users in a significant way. .UNO will not only unite the Spanish Internet under a single short and memorable domain, it will give authority to Latinos everywhere as valued and influential digital consumers.

On March 19th, 2014 at 15:00:00 UTC thousands of .UNO domains will be made available to the general public. By visitingwww.nic.uno anyone can join major brands like McDonalds, Amazon and Apple who have registered their .UNO domains.”

37.com Wins Weekly Sales List at $1,960,800

37.com,sold for $1,960,800,topped Domain Name Journal sales list of reported domain names for the last week,ending March 9,2014.

Afternic had a great week in the sales chart,taking 13 of the top 20 positions .Correspondingly,MostWantedDomains took 3 of the top 20 positions .

.COM dominated once again the list,with 17 of the top 20 positions.

Here are the top 20 positions for the two weeks ending March 9,2014 :

1. 37.com     $1,960,800
2. DDOS.com     $100,000
3. CancerDiet.com     $50,000
4. Juwan.com     $32,500
5. Umbrella.co.uk     $29,050
6. FreshlyPicked.com     $18,888
7. GoZone.com     $15,000
8. How.co     $13,890
9. Josephine.com     $12,000
10. AVUS.com     $10,807
11.tie     2992.com     $10,000
11.tie     IntervalFunds.com     $10,000
13. ECBlends.com     $9,760
14. MeetBlackPeople.com     $9,500
15. Platform.net     $9,088
16. iServed.com     $8,500
17. AutoLoansCanada.com     $7,450
18. Nadis.com     $6,588
19. Rocan.com     $5,506
20. MadeInMinnesota.com     $5,500

See here the Domain Name Journal list of top reported sales .

2014 Final 4 Selected for .ECO Internet Registry

planet.ECO® has successfully completed an extended and detailed evaluation by ICANN , as it continues its quest against its 3 competitors to be designated as the .ECO Registry, functioning similar to the .COM Registry owned by VeriSign.

The company’s mission, in part, is to create a multifaceted information & services’ platform for all-things ecological, and is uniquely reflected in their valued CARE, SHOW, & LEARN campaigns, which continue to gain broad appeal. planet.ECO® is embracing and executing a strategy that meets the challenge of building diverse and information rich communities for individuals, organizations and corporations, as well as offering premium services to ensure sustainability.

On the heels of this great news, planet.ECO® has announced that Emmit McHenry has officially joined the planet.ECO® team, further strengthening the company’s quest for the .ECO Registry. “We are extremely excited and proud to have the Founder of Network Solutions on board. Emmit brings decades of experience and innovative solutions to .ECO which we envision will ultimately become the Environmental .COM,” states Jean William, planet.ECO LLC Chairman and CEO. McHenry has also expressed his excitement about lending his vast experience and influence with the development of .ECO® and the planet.ECO® platform.

planet.ECO® is excited about its recent success, demonstrating solid financial, technical capabilities and premier market positioning as news reporting .ECO ranking is one of the “Top 10 Most Popular New gTLDs” from nearly 2,000 applications, according to UnitedDomains.com. Throughout the year, planet.ECO® will undoubtedly continue to expand its influence and clearly demonstrate why it should be regarded as the digital ecological leader.

About .ECO®

Stamford, CT based planet.ECO LLC, founded in 2011 by entrepreneurs Jean William and Moses Boone, is the exclusive owner of the US .ECO trademark, and the only US-based small business which applied to become the world’s only .ECO Registry, functioning similar to the .COM Registry owned by VeriSign. The planet.ECO® team has, in part, created an Internet communication platform uniting users who care and want to translate their passion into action by connecting and engaging others to provide or find goods and services that promote sustainability. planet.ECO®’s own concern for the planet is reflected in their commitment to ensure that 5% of pre-tax operating costs go to environmentally conscious organizations and causes. Visit the planet.ECO® website: http://planetdoteco.com/.