Donuts Launches Seven More gTLD Sunrises

Donuts announced yesterday (13 November) that it will launch the Sunrise phase for an additional seven new gTLDs on 3 December. In addition, Donuts has executed another 19 agreements with registrars who will distribute Donuts names including EuroDNS.

According to Donuts, the “Sunrise” period for these seven gTLDs — when trademark rights holders can secure relevant registrations before general availability — will close 31 January, 2014. General availability for this second set is scheduled for 5 February, 2014. Donuts’ gTLDs are available for registration by anyone without restriction.

The gTLDs opening for Sunrise on December 3 are:

• .CAMERA
• .EQUIPMENT
• .ESTATE
• .GALLERY
• .GRAPHICS
• .LIGHTING
• .PHOTOGRAPHY.

Donuts co-founder and Executive Vice President for Sales and Marketing Dan Schindler said, “The momentum is building toward not only the promise of new and relevant gTLDs, but toward a broad base of registrars who will extend the availability of these names to their worldwide customer base.”

“Signing the Registry-Registrar Agreement with Donuts is an important step in our new TLD plans for eNom and Name.com,” said Steve Banfield, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Demand Media Registrar Services on their signing of the agreement. “As the largest wholesale registrar working with the largest applicant in the new gTLD program, Donuts and Demand Media can make new domain options available to millions of potential customers. It’s an exciting time for the domain industry, and we’re pleased to be able to join Donuts in making it a success.”

Part 3 of 4 – Name Collision Mitigation Requires Qualitative Analysis by Burt Kaliski, Verisign

As discussed in the several studies on name collisions published to date, determining which queries are at risk, and thus how to mitigate the risk, requires qualitative analysis (New gTLD Security and Stability Considerations; New gTLD Security, Stability, Resiliency Update: Exploratory Consumer Impact Analysis; Name Collisions in the DNS). Blocking a second level domain (SLD) simply on the basis that it was queried for in a past sample set runs a significant risk of false positives.  SLDs that could have been delegated safely may be excluded on quantitative evidence alone, limiting the value of the new gTLD until the status of the SLD can be proven otherwise.

 

Similarly, not blocking an SLD on the basis that it was not queried for in a past sample set runs a comparable risk of false negatives.  

A better way to deal with the risk is to treat not the symptoms but the underlying problem:  that queries are being made by installed systems (or internal certificates are being employed by them) under the assumption that certain gTLDs won’t be delegated.

A query for an applied-for generic top-level domain (gTLD) provides initial evidence that an installed system may be at risk from name collisions.  Depending on what data is collected, that evidence may also include one or more SLDs, the IP address of the resolver that sent the query, and other forensic information such as the full query string. This information can be a good starting point for understanding why an installed system has made certain queries, what could happen if the responses to the queries were changed, and what other queries, not in the particular sample set, could also put the installed system at risk.  A comprehensive analysis requires much more than just a count of the number of queries for a given gTLD and/or SLD.  It also requires a set of measurements such as those described in detail in the New gTLD Security, Stability, Resiliency Update: Exploratory Consumer Impact Analysis, incorporating the context of those queries:

• Periodicity:  Do the queries repeat at a regular frequency?  This can help determine whether the queries are a result of user browsing, or of an automated process that depends on a certain response.
• Affinity:  Where are the queries coming from?  Are they correlated with one country?  One network?
• Impact:  Which network protocol generated the query?  The WPAD, ISATAP and DNS-SD protocols all generate DNS queries in support of internal network configuration that could result in queries to the global DNS.

The analysis in the New gTLD Security, Stability, Resiliency Update: Exploratory Consumer Impact Analysis applied these measurements to produce a qualitative “risk matrix” for applied-for gTLDs including risk vectors based on frequency of occurrence of WPAD, ISATAP, DNS-SD queries, internal name certificates, HTML references, and regional affinities, among other factors (such as queries that appear to be related to McAfee antivirus defenses).  

Verisign Labs’ analysis of the query data for the .CBA suffix offers an enlightening example of how mitigation should be conducted.  The data illustrated that a significant number of queries for this applied-for gTLD were originating from one large network.  The research team suspected that changes in the behavior of the global DNS might put those queries at risk if the gTLD were delegated.  As follow up, Verisign personnel reached out to the network operator, which has since reconfigured some of its internal systems to use a different suffix.  As a result of that remediation, as is shown in the figure below, the volume of queries for .CBA observed at the A and J root servers has already begun to decline. 

EuroDNS is Now Accepting Application for the New gTLD .SHABAKA

EuroDNS, announced today that it is now accepting applications for the first new gTLD to go live – .SHABAKA,which means “Internet” in Arabic.

 

You can read the press release after the jump:

“EuroDNS, an ICANN accredited registrar, currently offer their customers over 350 domain extensions and is fully committed to offering all the new gTLDs as they open for registration .شبكة is currently in its Sunrise period, the phase during which trademark holders can register the domain name matching their brand.

Anouar Adlani, EuroDNS CTO, has been working with his team to get everything prepared for the arrival of the new gTLDs, said, “The entire company is buzzing with excitement about this new landmark in Internet history. This new domain will begin knocking down the language barriers, and as a multilingual company this is especially significant.”

In 2011, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) introduced the new gTLD program, “To increase competition, choice and consumer trust online.” The release of IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names) was prioritized to further open up the Internet to a more international audience. Arabic is the fifth most spoken language in the world with over 380 million people in the MENA region, the launch of .SHABAKA opens up the Internet to over 120 million Arab Internet users.

Each time a new gTLD launches it first enters a ‘Sunrise period’ during which trademark owners can protect their brand against online infringement. Trademark owners need to have their trademark registered with the TMCH (Trademark Clearinghouse) to benefit from this initial period. Sunrise for .SHABAKA runs from now until December 29. Brand owners with a non-Arabic trademark will be able to register the transliteration of their name during the Landrush period and General Availability beginning in January and February.

You can find out further information about .شبكة, / .SHABAKA and how to register here .

About EuroDNS

EuroDNS has been managing domain names for its customers since 2002, and currently offers over 350 domain extensions. An ICANN accredited domain registrar, EuroDNS has strong relationships with over 90 registries worldwide, and has worked with thousands of fantastic customers.

EuroDNS, is headquartered in Luxembourg, and is proud to be part of the DCL Group.

 

 

 

 

 

DomainNameSales.com Reports $1,3 Million in Domain Name Sales,Led by Ride.com for $325,000

DomainNameales.com has just sent in their sales for October 16th-November 12th,2013.Sales add up to a total of $1,291,612.

 

The highest reported domain name sale was Ride.com,for $325,000.

Notable domain name sales include:

Ride.com    $325,000

Qiku.com  $80,000

baristas.com    $45,000

Couplet.com$40,000

Ziyi.com    $35,000

Apf.com  $35,000

BingeEatingDisorder.com  $30,000

HormoneTreatment.com  $29,000

SchoolHub.com    $27,500

IMoving.com  $27,000

seetheworld.com$25,000

ShakeShake.com  $20,000

Sgcp.com$20,000

DolphinFitness.com$20,000

AudioBooks.ca  $19,000

Copd.net  $19,000

TravelBrands.com$16,500

TextShield.com$16,020

justing.com  $15,000

LiquidHerbs.com$14,000

DigSite.com$12,000

truckbuyers.com  $12,000

zweet.com    $12,000

TheDentGuys.com$11,875

DentGuys.com$11,875

Uxmal.com    $11,000

GetFueled.com$10,350

GildedCage.com$10,000

GradTrip.com$10,000

PetProof.com$10,000

Azerbaijan.org$10,000

XOffers.com$10,000

SheridanAustralia.com  $9,500

ProRecruiter.com$9,500

RamRods.com$9,000

UltraGirls.com  $9,000

CoreStrengths.com$8,300

VideoBaccarat.com$8,300

Skyguard.co.uk  $8,000

PetDrugStore.com$7,800

NOWrinkles.com  $7,500

Wr.ca$7,500

srong.com  $7,000

DanceModel.com  $7,000

AdoptionAnswers.com    $7,000

AllergyDrops.com  $7,000

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scammer Websites Take The Shine Off .COM.AU Domain Names by George Pongas, General Manager, AusRegistry

Last week we were alerted to the existence of a number of websites maliciously posing as Australian online retailers in order to defraud unsuspecting shoppers out of thousands of dollars through the sale of non-existent mobile phones or other gadgets.

 

The con artists behind this scam set up websites by registering .com.au domain names using the stolen credentials of legitimate businesses.

Media reports from the Sydney Morning Herald and SBS suggest some customers lost thousands of dollars in purchases that never arrived.

Following an investigation by the Western Australia Department of Commerce and .au Domain Administration, the websites were taken down.

However, the damage had already been done and the trust built up in the .com.au domain name took a serious dent.

As the appointed technology operator for the Registry which runs .com.au, we were disappointed that this scam was able to occur. I understand the frustration the victims of this crime must feel and appreciate their desire to strengthen the regulations around website ownership.

The reason this issue cuts deep for me is that these scammers have exploited the trust we have worked so hard to build over so many years.  

Why people trust .com.au

It’s likely that the con artists involved in this scam strategically chose to use .com.au domain names to perpetrate their crimes.

They – like many Australians – recognised the inherent trust Australian consumers place in our national online namespace when purchasing goods over the Internet.

Locally, .com.au is Australia’s home on the Internet because it’s a trusted, regulated and well-recognised corner of the web for all Australian businesses, organisations and individuals. This means that when people navigate the Internet and see a ‘nab.com.au’ advertisement for instance, they can be confident that they will be directed to the official National Australia Bank website.

I imagine that end users would be far less trusting in this instance of a domain name that ends in something other than .au (check out where nab.com takes you!).

This speaks volumes to the effective policy and regulation of the .au namespace, the level of awareness the namespace enjoys in the Australian market, and the willingness of businesses and end users to adopt .au as their online presence.

However, scams perpetrated under the guise of a legitimate .com.au website erodes this trust and justifiably causes Australians navigating the Internet to question whether they can still trust .com.au domain names.

To this point, I want to ensure Australian Internet users can retain trust in .com.au and feel confident to navigate the Internet under it.

Maintaining the trust in .com.au

The unfortunate reality is that there will always be people seeking to exploit the trust of others – especially in the faceless realms of online shopping.

While it’s no comfort to those who were victims of the current scam, it is reassuring to know that the scam websites were taken down quickly after they were investigated. You won’t find this type of responsiveness in most other namespaces.

There have been calls to increase the regulations around registering a .com.au domain. However, there is a fine balance between over-regulating the namespace as a knee-jerk reaction to an incident and maintaining efficient and streamlined processes that encourage domain name ownership.

My feeling is that the current policies which require registrants to match domain names to a company or business entity are sufficient. While the introduction of a 100-point identification check would immediately weed out any fraudsters, it would also significantly burden the administrative process of managing registrations and would necessitate a large price increase to facilitate this new process.

By doing this, you would disadvantage many thousands of small business owners and the majority of Australian Internet users. Importantly, honest businesses will move to other namespaces in an attempt to bypass barriers and reduce costs and in turn end users navigating the Internet become desensitised about not seeing the .au at the end of a domain name.

Ultimately this would play straight into the hands of fraudsters as Australian websites hosted on other Top-Level Domains will no longer have the ability to be taken down quickly by Australian authorities and regulators.

While this incident shows the current system is not perfect, I think it does demonstrate it’s robust enough to do the job it was intended for.

Tips for shopping online safely

To reduce your chances of falling victim to online fraud, below are some helpful tips to keep in mind:

1.  .com vs .com.au

The effective regulation and registration policy reforms implemented by the .au Domain Administration more than 10 years ago have helped to make .au a trusted and secure namespace for both registrants and Internet users.

This is not the case in some national country codes or generic Top-Level Domains such as .com, .net or .org. For instance, there are no pre-conditions or requirements for registering domain names in .com or .net, meaning anyone may register a name and use it for any misleading purpose. This has been known to cause significant grief to many trademark holders and Internet users.

You can have greater trust in .com.au because you know that business details have been provided when the domain name has been registered. Also, you can trust that if an incident does occur, you will have an avenue of recourse through the .au Domain Administration to resolve fraud issues.

2.  WHOIS check on all .au domain names

Want to know who actually owns the .com.au domain name you are visiting?

AusRegistry hosts a directory portal called WHOIS that allows anyone to quickly search for the contact details of every .com.au domain name owner. These contact details can provide you with comfort that you are dealing with a legitimate business entity.

3.  .auLOCKDOWN

While performing a WHOIS search you may also notice that some domain names have a special additional security measure call .auLOCKDOWN.

.auLOCKDOWN locks a domain name at the Registry level, preventing unauthorised changes.

Importantly, if a domain name has .auLOCKDOWN applied, you know the registrant has gone to extreme levels to protect their domain name and website.

4.  Online security services

Online security is becoming ever more important as cyber criminals become more sophisticated in their activities.

Below are some helpful resources and online security tips from trusted authorities:

• Infoxchange Australia (not-for-profit ICT organisation)
• Stay Smart Online (Australian federal government initiative)
• iTaNGO (Infoxchange Australia initiative funded by the Victorian government)
• SCAMwatch (Operated by the federal government’s Australian Competition and Consumer Commission)
• auDA Consumer Alerts (.au domain name consumer alerts from the regulatory body for the .au domain space)
• CERT Australia (The national computer emergency response team)

5. Mobile phone buying tips

In this particular scam, the fraudsters chose to sell mobile phones online.

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association – Australia’s peak body representing the mobiles industry – has produced a helpful guide with practical tips for consumers who want to purchase a mobile phone.

Please visit www.mobiletips.org.au for more information.

By George Pongas, General Manager, AusRegistry

This article was sourced with permission from:
www.ausregistry.com.au/news/scammer-websites-take-the-shine-off-com-au