ICANN : Qualified Launch Program for New gTLD Registries

As contemplated by the TMCH Requirements, a Qualified Launch Program may be developed and incorporated into the requirements.

 

A draft of the Qualified Launch Program Addendum (the “QLP Addendum”) is being posted for comment to give the community an opportunity to review and provide feedback.

Comment Period Opens on     Date:     13 February 2014

Public Comment Box Link:     http://www.icann.org/en/news/public-comment/qlp-addendum-13feb14-en.htm

This announcement was sourced from :

http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-13feb14-en.htm

General Availability for .construction, .contractors, .today, .kitchen, .land, .technology and .directory Begins Today

Donuts entered general availability for other seven new gTLDs today : .construction, .contractors, .today, .kitchen, .land, .technology and .directory.

 

Donuts will continue its expansion of Internet namespace by opening eight new gTLD for general availability by the end of this month.The eight new gTLDs will be made available in two batches :

February 19 : .Diamonds, .Enterprises, .Tips and .Voyage
February 26 : .Shows, .Careers, .Photos and .Recipes

“Each new public launch brings us closer to a vision of an Internet addressing system with the specific and relevant online naming options for people, organizations and brands to use to identify themselves.By the end of this year, there truly will be a domain name for everyone,” said Donuts co-founder and CEO Paul Stahura said.

DomainFest 2014 Early Bird Pricing Ends Tomorrow

DomainFest early bird special registration rate of $695 ends on Friday, February 14th. The registrations price will increase to  $995 .

 

This year there will be day passes available for the first day of the conference at just $295. Onsite registration will be $1,495.

The DomainFest conference will be held at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood from March 31 to April 3, 2014.

“This year is proving to be the most impressive line-up of content, speakers and networking opportunities that Domainsponsor has ever assembled. DomainFest 2014 will give you the game-changing information and connections you need to expand your business. We will bring together experts from the domain name industry, search advertising, display advertising, social media, affiliate marketing and mobile.  Please consider this my personal invitation to join our industry’s movers and shakers,” said Dwayne Walker, SVP/Advertising & Domain Services.

The agenda for the conference can be found on the DomainFest website.

ICANN: Nominet Joins the EBERO Program

ICANN is pleased to announce that Nominet recently signed an agreement to act as Emergency Back-End Registry Operator (EBERO) for new gTLDs.

 

EBERO service providers offer an additional layer of protection to the Domain Name System (DNS). Should anything happen to a gTLD Registry, EBERO providers will step in and administer operations, ensuring that Internet users do not experience a disruption of service. Though new gTLD Registries are vetted for operational capacity, the EBERO program will help maintain a stable, secure and resilient DNS in the unlikely chance of Registry failure.

Nominet was among the 14 candidates that responded to ICANN’s original Request For Information. The selection process was stringent and candidates had to meet a variety of technical requirements, as well as demonstrate experience in operating domain name and registration data directory services. Nominet has extensive experience related to Registries and Registrars, and scalable systems and services. Additionally, they are geographically diverse and highly resilient.

About Nominet:

Nominet is a private, not-for-profit business, responsible for the smooth and secure running of the .uk Internet infrastructure. The company has over 2,800 members and is committed to acting in the public interest.

Nominet has also recently been chosen by several brands and communities to launch and manage new top level domains such as .wales, .cymru and .bbc.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/announcement-11feb14-en

Malls.com Wins Weekly Sales List at $320,000

Malls.com,sold for $320,000,topped Domain Name Journal sales list of reported domain names for the last week,ending February 9,2014.

 

There were four six-figure domain name sales this week.

Sedo had a great week in the sales chart,taking 8 of the top 20 positions .Correspondingly,Afternic/ GoDaddy took 6 of the top 20 positions .

.COM dominated once again the list,with 15 of the top 20 positions.

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

1. Malls.com     $320,000    
2. BitcoinWallet.com     $250,000    
3. DL.com     $210,689    
4. CornerstoneHomes.com     $150,000    
5. Stripe.co.uk     $33,198    
6. DreamExchange.com     $28,500    
7. Radiant.org     $23,000    
8. Oair.com     $20,100    
9. Elevated.com     $20,000    
10. WJ.co.uk     $18,600    
11. Trees.org     $18,500    
12.tie     AspireTechnology.com     $15,000    
12.tie     BusinessPromotion.com     $15,000
12.tie     PropertyCapital.com     $15,000    
12.tie     Teacha.com     $15,000    
12.tie     UltimateMattress.com     $15,000    
17. MRewards.com     $14,500    
18. AlHadath.com     $14,000    
19.tie     Gentz.de     $13,600    
19.tie     NXT.org     $13,600    
19.tie     TabletArt.com     $13,600    

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