London’s Own Domain Launches on April 29

It has been confirmed that the applications for the new gTLD .London will be open from April 29,2014.London will be one of the first cities to have its own domain .

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved last year the new gTLD .London.

Even though the applications for .London will be open from April 29,2014, thee will be a three months period for the first domain names to be issued. Companies or individuals holding a trademark registration will have priority.

Pricing was not revealed, but it will depend on the popularity and the importance of the chosen domain names.

London is one of the first cities to have its own suffix. New York was the first city in the United Stated to have approval from ICANN for .NYC in June,2013.

Sedo’s DotAsia Premium Auction is Underway

Sedo is hosting these a .asia auction. The auction consists of 53 premium .ASIA domain names and will end on February 20,2014.

Three domain names already received bids :

OK.asia Current Bid   $288
HI.ASIA   Current Bid   $150
UK.asia   Current Bid   $140

Here are all the domain names included in the auction :

00.asia        1,000 – 4,999 USD
    20.asia        500 – 999 USD
    3q.asia        500 – 999 USD
    65.asia        500 – 999 USD
    6t.asia        500 – 999 USD
    du.asia        500 – 999 USD
    f4.asia        500 – 999 USD
    kd.asia        500 – 999 USD
    m7.asia        500 – 999 USD
    r8.asia        500 – 999 USD
    ru.asia        500 – 999 USD
    w9.asia        500 – 999 USD
    wi.asia        500 – 999 USD
    zz.asia        500 – 999 USD
    38.asia        500 – 999 USD
    40.asia        500 – 999 USD
    4g.asia        500 – 999 USD
    7x.asia        500 – 999 USD
    80.asia        500 – 999 USD
    an.asia        500 – 999 USD
    jx.asia        500 – 999 USD
    le.asia        500 – 999 USD
    ll.asia        500 – 999 USD
    oo.asia        1,000 – 4,999 USD
    pj.asia        500 – 999 USD
    xs.asia        500 – 999 USD
    yx.asia        500 – 999 USD
    11.asia        500 – 999 USD
    2k.asia        500 – 999 USD
    86.asia        500 – 999 USD
    g6.asia        500 – 999 USD
    ii.asia        1,000 – 4,999 USD
    mi.asia        500 – 999 USD
    mr.asia        500 – 999 USD
    qp.asia        500 – 999 USD
    qw.asia        500 – 999 USD
    u2.asia        1,000 – 4,999 USD
    vk.asia        500 – 999 USD
    33.asia     500 – 999 USD
    77.asia        500 – 999 USD
    93.asia        500 – 999 USD
    9z.asia        500 – 999 USD
    a7.asia        500 – 999 USD
    er.asia        500 – 999 USD
    f8.asia     500 – 999 USD
    j2.asia        1,000 – 4,999 USD
    nx.asia        1,000 – 4,999 USD
    rr.asia        500 – 999 USD
    uk.asia        500 – 999 USD
    ok.asia        500 – 999 USD

Check out Sedo.com for more information.

SWITCH Welcomes Separation Of Functions Regarding Registration Of .CH Internet Addresses

[news release] The public consultation on the new Ordinance on Internet Domains (OID) runs from 12^th February 2014 to 17^th April 2014. The Ordinance stipulates, among other things, that end customers will no longer be able to register their .ch Internet addresses directly with SWITCH in future and must instead register them via a registrar. SWITCH welcomes this new regulation.

The SWITCH foundation is currently tasked by the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) with performing a dual role for .ch domain names. In its role as the registry, it is responsible for maintaining the domain name database. At the same time, it also has the role of registrar, which involves selling .ch domain names directly to end customers. This dual role is to come to an end. With effect from 2015, SWITCH will focus on regulated registry activities. It will thus continue to ensure the secure and stable operation of the country-specific top-level domain .ch.

Regulation no longer necessary
«We welcome this separation between the sovereign, regulated function and the business with end customers. Over the years, SWITCH has built up a market for domain names that works well,» says Dr Andreas Dudler, Managing Director of SWITCH. «There are now around 60 registrars offering complete services for end customers to choose from. These include our subsidiary switchplus, which also markets .ch domain names. As a neutral, independent foundation, we will in future concentrate on the secure and stable operation of the registry, together with our services for the Swiss universities.»

Regulated process
SWITCH and OFCOM have set up a working group to regulate and oversee the transfer of end customers from SWITCH to the registrars. SWITCH will inform its clients in good time once OFCOM has set deadlines and determined the transfer processes.

The registry:working to ensure a secure and stable Internet in Switzerland
In operating the DNS (Domain Name System) infrastructure for .ch, SWITCH makes sure that the Swiss Internet is stable and accessible worldwide and protects it against failures and attacks. Protecting the Internet in Switzerland is SWITCH’s top priority. SWITCH’s renowned Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) has been successfully combating malware (harmful software) on Swiss websites since 2010, making .ch one of the most secure top-level domains in the world. The registry for .ch is a critical infrastructure for Switzerland and must therefore meet particularly high security standards. SWITCH’s many years of experience and proven track record guarantee the robust design and stable operation of this critical infrastructure. At the international level, meanwhile, SWITCH works together with the authorities and is in contact or involved with key organisations such as ICANN, CENTR and ENISA as well as the IGF, ITU, OECD, DNS-OARC, IETF, FIRST and the Anti-Phishing Working Group.

Explanation of terms

Registry
A registry is an organisation that centrally administers the operation of a country’s Domain Name System (DNS). In particular, it is in charge of registering the country’s domain names. Examples include nic.at in Austria and denic.de in Germany. SWITCH is contracted by OFCOM in Switzerland to register domain names ending in .ch and by the Office for Communications in the Principality of Liechtenstein to register domain names ending in .li.

Registrar
A registrar is a company that offers its customers domain name registration services as well as additional services such as e-mail and web hosting. It thus acts as a resale partner of the registry and an interface between the registry and the end customers (domain name holders).

Links:

This SWITCH news release was sourced from:
www.switch.ch/about/news/2014/separation.html

Moniker & SnapNames Announce Premium Domain Name 2014 Kick-Off Auction

[news release] Moniker® and SnapNames®, both KeyDrive S.A. companies and leading providers of domain name solutions, today announced their 2014 Kick-Off Premium Auction catalog. This auction offers quality hand-selected domain names that businesses can leverage to build marketing strategies and attract customers. Standing out amongst the more than 920 million websites worldwide today is no small feat, with a quality domain name as the foundation, businesses can gain a head-start over the competition.

The 2014 Premium Kick-Off Auction is now in-progress online and ends Thursday, March 6 at 3:15 pm EST. Details can be found at: https://www.moniker.com/domainauction/events/2014-kickoff-premium/

To speak directly to a domain name sales specialist regarding domains for sale and bidding options contact us by email or phone – Email: auction[@]Moniker.com; Phone: Toll free in the U.S. and Canada 866-690-6279 Option 3; Outside the U.S. 503-241-8547 Option 3.

About Moniker and SnapNames

Moniker® and SnapNames®, both KeyDrive S.A. companies, offer registries, registrars, businesses and individuals an array of services for domain registration management, acquisition, brokerage and sales. Moniker introduced the live domain name auction concept and is a top worldwide registrar. SnapNames pioneered and operates the largest online auction of registered, expired and deleting domains, giving its customers access to the world’s best selection and most valuable names every day. For more information visit www.moniker.com and www.snapnames.com.

This Moniker/SnapNames news release was sourced from:
https://www.moniker.com/domainnewsresources/news/moniker_snapnames_announce_premium_domain_name_2014_kick-off_auction

German Court Blurs Lines of Registrar Responsibility, by Philip Corwin, Internet Commerce Association

A German court has reached the rather startling conclusion that a domain registrar can be held responsible for alleged copyright infringement at a website even though its only contact with it was to perform the original domain registration. As reported by PC Advisor on February 7th, “A domain name registrar can be held liable for the copyright infringements of a website it registered if it is obvious the domain is used for infringements and the registrar does nothing to prevent it, the Regional Court of Saarbrücken in Germany has ruled.”

(http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/tech-industry/3501030/german-court-finds…)

The dispute involved Universal Music, which is rather notorious for its litigiousness, and the website h33t.com, a torrent tracker site that allegedly contained a link allowing downloads of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” CD (we’d provide a link to the #1 hit song’s rather salacious lyrics, but if we that did Universal might come after us).

Key-Systems, which registered the domain but was not hosting it, argued that it was not responsible for the copyright infringement, but the court ruled that it had a duty to investigate and to take corrective action if the copyright infringement was “obvious”. According to Key’s General Counsel, Volker Greimann, “The courts’ definition of what is obviously violating is however extremely broad and the duty to act is expanded to deactivation of the entire domain even if only one file or link is infringing.” We know Volker well from interactions at ICANN meetings, and in an e-mail exchange he explained that Key directed Universal to the webhosting company and the registrant, but that Universal continued its litigation against them instead – we can speculate that their aim may have been less to shut down the offending link than to set a broad new legal precedent.

Key is currently considering whether to appeal, with Volker observing, “If left unchallenged, this decision would constitute an undue expansion of the legal obligations of each registrar based in Germany, endangering the entire business model of registering domain names or performing DNS addressing for third parties.” If the ruling stands Key-Systems faces a potential fine of 250,000 Euro ($339,000).

For now, the disturbing decision is simply one of a single German court and only has ramifications for registrars subject to German jurisdiction. In the United States, Section 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides a safe harbor for online service providers (OSPs) that provide notice-and-takedown capability for the expeditious removal of infringing material and the removal of repeat infringers; OSPs include Internet service providers and certain other online intermediaries (for more background see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_Copyright_Infringement_Liability_Lim… and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_service_provider). U.S. registrars regularly receive notice-and-takedown requests from copyright owners when they are hosting a particular website alleged to be infringing.

We wish Key-Systems well if they decide to appeal this disturbing decision. The registrar marketplace is highly competitive, and the German decision heaps a huge amount of responsibility on a company that only collected a few Deutschemark for facilitating a domain registration and had no further business relationship with the domain registrant or the website.

As Mr. Thicke sang in his summer of 2013 hit song:

Talk about getting blasted
I hate these blurred lines

So do we.

This article by the Internet Commerce Association’s Philip Corwin was sourced with permission from:
www.internetcommerce.org/Blurred_Lines