Registry Services

Nominations Now Open for Public Interest Registry (Operator of .ORG) Board of Directors

Would you be interested in helping guide the future of the Public Interest Registry (PIR), the non-profit operator of the .ORG, .NGO and .ONG domains? If so, the Internet Society is seeking nominations for three positions on the PIR Board of Directors. The nominations deadline is Monday, February 4, 2019, at 15:00 UTC. There are three positions opening on the PIR Board. Directors will serve a 3-year term that begins mid-year 2019 and expires mid-year 2022. more

Verisign's Attempt to Increase its Fees Still Unjustified Despite Diversionary Tactic

Shortly after the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)'s recent announcement allowing Verisign to pursue increased .com registry fees, Verisign published a blog post questioning the business practices of registrars and domain name investors. The ICA, on behalf of its registrar and domain name investor members, had previously spoken out against a .com fee increase, as did others in the domain industry. more

The .BEST Acquisition: 3 Months After

The .BEST new gTLD Registry was acquired 3 months ago by Cyril Fremont, a French Entrepreneur from Paris, and a team of investors. I took the time to meet with Cyril in the latest ICANN63 meeting in Barcelona to ask him a few questions about his future new gTLD project, three months after it was acquired from the previous owner... .best has just released the MVP (Minimum Viable Product) of the social network. The ".best" social network will be officially present at the next Namescon... more

Law Enforcement Agencies Will Have Authority on Registries and Registrars

Accessing Whois information and acting on a litigious domain name is becoming a nightmare for law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement agencies must have an access to the information provided by registrants in the Whois database and, in specific cases, have authority to act FAST on a domain name. The EU has a solution for this and it's coming in 2020. more

DK Hostmaster Wins Award for Transparency and Trust Online

The nonprofit Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP Global) presented its annual Internet Pharmacy Safety E-Commerce Leadership Award to .DK Hostmaster at the 2018 ICANN63 today in Barcelona, Spain. The domain name administrator for Denmark, DK Hostmaster, was selected for the award based on their commitment to ensuring citizen safety by maintaining transparent WHOIS data, proactively enforcing identity accuracy policies to increase consumer trust and safety online. more

"In the Public Interest"

Prior to November 30th of this year, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) must decide whether to renew or allow to expire its Cooperative Agreement with Verisign, the private-sector corporation that operationally controls the root of the Internet.. The Cooperative Agreement is unusually obscure, especially considering its central role in the operation of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS). more

Thankful for a Domain That Gives Back

Thanksgiving is just around the corner in Canada. It's a time of year when the harvest is in, the weather grows colder and families gather to give thanks for all they have. It is in this moment of gratitude that I want to highlight one of the most valuable and unique offerings in our industry: the ways in which country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) give back. Canadians who choose to use a ccTLD, which for us is .CA, help contribute to investments in the internet community. more

The Road Less Traveled: Time Is Running Out for NTIA-Verisign Cooperative Agreement

It is remarkable  -  for all the wrong reasons  -  that only two months remain before the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) must make a fateful decision on how it will address its' long-standing Cooperative Agreement with Verisign  -  the private-sector corporation that edits the authoritative address book of the Internet's Domain Name System (DNS), maintains two of the DNS root servers, and operates the .com and .net registries of the Internet, undoubtedly one of the most lucrative concessions ever granted. more

The .BEST New gTLD: Second Interview

This is a one hour podcast giving all details about what the .BEST social network is going to be and how users will be able to generate an income from it... Cyril Fremont gives lots of details on how his social network, focusing on reviews, is going to be different from Google Reviews, Facebook, Yelp and TripAdvisors. If one would be tempted to think that ... well, "that's just going to be another social network", then, I strongly suggest to listen carefully the part of the interview on the decentralization of this network. more

Addressing Technical and Operational Needs with TechOps

In the ICANN realm, TechOps stands for Technical and Operations and its goal is to simplify processes, to find solutions, and to advise on technical and operational matters. There are three TechOps groups: The Registry, the Registrar and the joint Registry and Registrar, also known as Contracted Party House (CPH). How did we get there and what exactly are we doing? more

French Acquire the .Best New gTLD - Interview with the New Owner

This is an interview with Cyril Fremont, the first French entrepreneur to have acquired a new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD). We long waited for innovation in the new gTLD industry and reading between the lines of this interview, one will understand that the reason behind this acquisition is "not" to sell domain names - the way registries do it in 2018. If ".Best" domains remain open to all here, this registry is planning to create innovative projects that will be launched in the near future with some possibly big surprises. more

When the Backend Domain Name Registry Is Too Expensive

What we call a "backend registry" is the mandatory technical platform to operate a domain name extension and all registries have one. It is the backend registry that allows accredited registrars to technically sell domain names for each top-level domain (TLD). The question here is: what happens to a registry, who sells domain names to accredited registrars when his backend registry solution provider is too expensive? more

7th Registration Operations Workshop (ROW), Vancouver, Thursday May 17th 2018

The Registration Operations Workshop (ROW) was conceived as an informal industry conference that would provide a forum for discussion of the technical aspects of registration operations in the domain name system. The 7th ROW will be held in Vancouver, Canada on Thursday, May 17th 2018 in the afternoon, at the end of the GDD Industry Summit, in the same venue. more

Changes to the Domain Name Marketplace

The new gTLD program and the introduction of 1200+ new domain name registries has significantly altered the marketplace dynamics. New domain name registries must navigate an environment that is, to an extent, stacked against them. This article recommends creation of some improvements and a general de-regulation of the marketplace to encourage innovation and promote its overall health. ICANN, or a combination of Registry Operators, should fund a brief, thorough study of the current marketplace because of the changes that have occurred from the original marketplace for which current regulations were developed. more

Experience 'a Walk in the Shoes of a Registry Operator' at ICANN 61

One of the ever-present questions in the domain name community is "have new TLDs been a success in the marketplace?" As many within the industry will appreciate, it's a difficult question to answer using traditional metrics (such as domain registration volumes), and it is important to remember that the new TLD expansion in 2012 was all about diversity, competition and choice. more