Digital Branding Blog

EURid, the registry for .EU, has announced it will switch to dynamic DNS updates on October 9. On that date, .EU DNS servers will begin updating instantaneously in response to changes as they occur. This will affect certain services (e.g. Web site and email) since domain names will become active as soon as they are registered. The registry also says that while it is currently possible to correct any mistakes that have unintentionally been made before the next scheduled update takes place, any mistakes made after dynamic updates have been implemented will be effective immediately. Conversely, any unintentional mistakes can be corrected immediately as well.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 3:20 PM | Permalink

dotMobi just celebrated their one year anniversary and appears to be gaining momentum with over 700,000 registrations and several well-known brands launching their direct-to-consumer mobile distribution channel via the utility of a the .MOBI domain, notably Bank of America (bofa.mobi), Zagat (zagat.mobi), Time Magazine (time.mobi) and the American Automobile Association (aaa.mobi). Demand has also been increasing for their 5,500 name Premium Name inventory that was held back from traditional first-come, first-served public allocation methods. dotMobi is beginning to auction off a portion of these names, including domains such as credit.mobi, loan.mobi, ask.mobi and atm.mobi.

Hundreds of Premium Names are being auctioned through Sedo.com. The first auction of 100 names began September 26 and lasts for one week. Details on the next two auctions, to be held beginning October 31 and November 28, will be announced soon. Additionally, dotMobi plans to offer selected names at the Targeted TRAFFIC Conference on October 12.

Any company or individual will be able to bid on the Premium Names offered by Sedo. The auction rules will follow Sedo's standard auction terms and conditions. However, dotMobi says they are serious about fostering relevant content for the mobile consumer in the .MOBI domain and thus has added new minimal requirements for the buyer, such as:
- Domain to be registered by auction winner within 10 days of receiving authorization code
- Site to initially consist of a dotMobi compliant parking page (available via Sedo.com)
- Best efforts to create, launch and operate a live web site with relevant content within six months. For example, acupuncture.mobi should not display a site for car sales.
- Fully compliant site with a score of at least 4/5 (highest score is 5/5).

Full information, including the list of auction names, is located on the dotMobi Web site.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 1:09 PM | Permalink

Nominet, the registry for .UK, has proposed a change in the way name disputes are handled. Under Nominet's plan, the dispute resolution process would be streamlined so that unopposed disputes are automatically resolved in favor of the party claiming the rights to a domain name. While the plan aims to help brand holders with the growing problem of cybersquatters and domainers, the proposal is being met with criticism by some who say that it does not go far enough in dealing with the problems they cause for legitimate businesses.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 11:28 AM | Permalink

The latest VeriSign Domain Name Industry Brief reports that the number of new domain name registrations hit an all time high in the second quarter of 2007 with 14.5 million new registrations, exceeding the previous high mark hit in the fourth quarter of 2006. The largest top-level domains (TLD) in terms of total base of registrations are .com, .de (Germany), .net, .uk (United Kingdom), .cn (China) and .org. A factor in the expansion of domain name registrations in the second quarter was strong growth in country code TLD (ccTLD) registrations, such as China (.cn), Russia (.ru) and South Korea (.kr). ccTLDs grew to about 51.5 million by the end of the second quarter, approximately 13 percent more than the first quarter of 2007, and 36 percent more than the same quarter of last year. Other gTLDs saw growth as well, including .com and .net, which grew to 73 million domain name registrations.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 12:45 PM | Permalink

Paris, France will host ICANN's 32nd International Public Meeting June 22 - 27, 2008.

At its August 14, 2007 meeting, the ICANN Board accepted the proposal put forward by Association pour la Gouvernance de l'Internet en France, en Europe, et dans le monde (AGIFEM). "ICANN is looking forward to working with AGIFEM and welcoming the global Internet community to Paris," said Paul Levins, ICANN's Executive Officer and Vice President - Corporate Affairs. "We had two highly competitive proposals to host the meeting slated for ICANN's European region - a testament to the great local Internet communities in France and Serbia."

ICANN has received a number of competitive bids to host the 31st Public Meeting, slated to be held February 10 - 15, 2008 in the Asia-Pacific region. They are being closely evaluated and a decision will be made shortly.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 8:40 AM | Permalink

The Register reports that EURid is attempting to strip a suspected cybersquatter of 10,000 .EU domains registered in her name. Although EURid can block alleged cybersquatters themselves, the registry is choosing to take legal action through the Belgian court system. Usually, EURid itself cannot bring litigation against a cybersquatter. Instead, the person who holds the rights to a domain name can bring litigation. In this case, however, EURid believes the cybersquatter, Zheng Quingyin, is not actually a resident of the European Union. Therefore she cannot legally own a .EU domain. Quingyin is filing a countersuit against EURid through the Court of First Instance in Brussels.

Posted by Tempy Wright at 8:36 AM | Permalink