Uncontrolled Interruption? Dozens of “Blocked” Domains in New gTLDs Actually Delegated by Burt Kaliski, Verisign

The Mitigating the Risk of DNS Namespace Collisions report, just published by JAS Global Advisors, under contract to ICANN, centers on the technique of “controlled interruption,” initially described in a public preview shared by Jeff Schmidt last month.

 

With that technique, domain names that are currently on one of ICANN’s second-level domain (SLD) block lists can be registered and delegated for regular use, provided that they first go through a trial period where they’re mapped to a designated “test” address.  The staged introduction of new SLDs is intended to provide operators of installed systems the opportunity to assess the potential impact of an impending name collision on their own, before any external operators have an opportunity to exploit it.

The new technique is subject to a public comment period before being adopted (including discussion at the upcoming Name Collisions Workshop).  However, if this technique (or any other) were adopted, it would stand to reason the staged introduction would need to be monitored carefully.  Someone would need to check that SLDs on the block lists actually did go through the trial period, and were not put into regular use without the appropriate opportunity for assessment by operators of installed systems.

(Note that Verisign isn’t endorsing the technique; we are reviewing the just-published Mitigating the Risk of DNS Namespace Collisions report, and we’ve already expressed reservations about the statistical invalidity of SLD block lists as an indicator of name collision risk.  That being said, the point still remains that if such a technique were adopted, it would need to be monitored to ensure correct implementation.)

Given the anticipation of “controlled” interruption, it’s ironic that while ICANN specifically precludes the delegation of domain names on the SLD block lists, dozens of them were actually registered and delegated!

That fact was recently duly noted by one of Verisign’s researchers who has been analyzing the daily progress of new gTLDs.  As it turns out, nearly all delegated SLDs that should have been blocked were cancelled over the past weekend after independent reports citing the existence of inappropriate delegations began to circulate.

That the delegations of SLDs on the block lists could have caused name collisions with installed systems is not our primary concern.  (And, as noted above, we don’t consider the block lists – which are based solely on query frequency at specific points in time – to be the final word on which delegations might or might not cause name collisions.  As our chief security officer Danny McPherson has well explained in one of his blog posts, “Query frequency data without query context isn’t enough.”)

Our concern, rather, is that domain names on the SLD block lists were delegated at all, given ICANN’s clear direction to the contrary.  As Pat Kane and I have noted in a broader-ranging letter to NTIA on operational miscues in the new gTLD delegation process, a policy that’s unenforced is worse than no policy at all.

If this is the state of affairs when the answer is “no” – effectively, a state of “uncontrolled interruption” – what happens when the answer changes to “wait 120 days”?

This Verisign blog post by Verisign’s Burt Kaliski was sourced with permission from:
blogs.verisigninc.com/blog/entry/uncontrolled_interruption_dozens_of_blocked

ICANN: Video: Details on the President’s Globalization Advisory Groups

On February 17, 2014, ICANN ’s Board of Directors approved a resolution creating several President’s Globalization Advisory Groups to support ICANN ’s globalization efforts.

 

In this video interview, Theresa Swinehart, Senior Advisory to the President on Global Strategy, explains the rationale behind the creation of these Groups and how they will provide guidance on globalization issues.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-3-25feb14-en.htm

 

ICANN: Independent Report Maps Possible Way Forward in Mitigating Domain Name Collisions

An independent report commissioned by ICANN has offered a set of concrete recommendations on how to mitigate potential risks of domain name collisions.

 

A name collision occurs when an attempt to resolve a name used in a private name space results in a query to the public Domain Name System ( DNS ).

“This report takes an in-depth look at the collision issue and the potential risks and impacts, and gives us some very clear advice aimed at how to help system operators detect and mitigate those risks,” said Akram Atallah, President of ICANN ‘s Global Domains Division. “The next step is to seek input from our community on the report’s findings.”

The report stressed that name collisions are nothing new and that any issues that arise from expansion of the Top-Level Domains (TLDs) under ICANN ‘s New gTLD program would resemble those that occur in other parts of the DNS . But the report noted that expanding the number of TLDs will not fundamentally or significantly increase the risks of name collisions.

Specifically, the study outlines a set of recommendations on how ICANN and the TLD operators should handle the issue of name collisions in the expanding TLD space:

  • ICANN should require new TLD registries to implement and publish a 120-day controlled interruption zone monitored by ICANN immediately upon delegation in the root zone. 
    • After the 120-day period, there shall be no further collision-related restrictions on the TLD .
  • ICANN should have emergency response processes to analyze and act upon reported problems that present “clear and present danger to human life”.
  • ICANN and others in the community should continue to collect and analyze data relating to the root servers and to the controlled interruption.
  • The Top-Level Domains .corp, .home and .mail should be permanently reserved.

The report, Mitigating the Risk of DNS Namespace Collisions, is posted for public comment until April 21, 2014.

###

To review the report and/or make comments, go to: www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/name-collision-26feb14-en.htm

For more information on name collisions, go to: www.icann.org/en/help/name-collision

For more information about the new gTLD program, go to: newgtlds.icann.org/en/

This ICANN news release was sourced from:
www.icann.org/en/news/press/releases/release-26feb14-en

Sedo Reports $1 Million in Domain Name Sales! Copella.com Topped Sedo’s Weekly Sales List at $20,000

Copella.com topped Sedo’s weekly sales chart at $20,000. Highlights also include Apuestas.cl ,leading the ccTLD category at 7,500 and Evolution.org, leading the “Other” category at $2,999.

 

Other notable domain name sales include :

.COM

artofindia.com     13000     USD
assistcard.com     11500     USD
wejo.com     10000     USD
homestudio.com     10000     USD
casiola.com     9450     USD
onehotel.com     9000     USD
tmsoftware.com     9000     USD
azs.com     9000     USD
capitalcredit.com     8000     USD
youanimate.com     7500     USD
bondr.com     7200     USD
realfly.com     6580     EUR
defensemobile.com     5800     USD
econimo.com     5500     EUR
vegasweddings.com     5200     USD
screwsandbolts.com     5000     USD
inspiringpeople.com     5000     USD
thepainwhisperer.com     5000     USD

ccTLD

ads.es     5500     EUR
mouser.in     5000     USD
moneual.de     5000     EUR
jobzilla.co.uk     5000     USD
usenet.eu     4000     EUR
skins.es     3400     EUR
waffenwelt.de     3140     EUR
rencontresexe.fr     2900     EUR
hanfblätter.de     2500     EUR
hanfblüte.de     2500     EUR
merino.cn     2500     USD
raychem.cn     2500     USD
favor.me     2500     USD
grundstücksportal.de     2500     EUR
carbo.com.cn     2499     USD
onpage.nl     2400     EUR
semper.no     2400     EUR
salumi.it     2350     EUR
flg.co.uk     2200     GBP
gartner.kr     2000     USD
stylebook.tv     2000     USD
sosav.de     2000     EUR
hhp.us     2000     EUR
pie.me     2000     USD
motobecane.fr     2000     EUR

Other

evolution.org     2999     USD
topdomain.org     2500     EUR
innovex.net     2500     EUR
housemusic.org     2100     USD
saib.net     1800     EUR
engineoil.org     1777     USD
alojamientos.net     1750     EUR
lebed.biz     1277     USD
project.pro     1250     EUR
phpscripts.net     1000     USD
digitalb.net     995     USD
fuckoff.org     990     USD
dictator.org     945     USD
artopia.org     901     USD

Check out Sedo.com for more information .

.CLUB Domain Name Auction Ends Today! None of the Domain Names Have Hit Their Reserve

Sedo’s .Club domain name auction ends today. The auction features 25 .Club domain names and none of them have hit their reserve at the time of writing this article.

 

All the domain names included in the auction received bids. Skiing.club received the highest bid – $950, followed by Skate.club with a $750 bid. However, at the time of writing this article, none of the domain names included in the auction have hit their reserve.

One of the reasons for which no domains have hit their reserves so far is that some of reserves are rather high. Many domain names in new extension sell for under $1,000.In this case, many of them have a 1,000 – 4,999 USD reserve range and even 10,000-24,999 USD reserve range .

Here is the inventory :

icehockey.club 
snowboard.club 
snowboarding.club 
snowboarders.club
snowboarder.club 
skiing.club 
crosscountryskiing.club 
figureskating.club
figureskater.club 
skater.club 
skate.club 
bobsleigh.club
bobsled.club 
wintersports.club 
xcountryskiing.club 
xcountryski.club
sochi.club 
medals.club 
powder.club 
alpineski.club
alpineskiing.club 
iceskating.club
skier.club 
skiers.club
speedskating.club 

To place your bids check out Sedo.com