Source: Saturday, April 6th, 2013
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/the_dot_music_row_asym5DRCixkpLtmbQJKpwI

Two firms battle for domain at ICANN meet

The dot-com monopoly could be nearing the end.

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, kicks off its annual meeting in Beijing today as it moves closer to freeing up potentially hundreds of new top-level domains to the public.

Competition to land some of the more popular domains is fast and furious. In all, there are 1,930 applicants vying for a wide variety of domains that will eventually augment the .com, .net and .org. that are the most common endings for Internet addresses. The process will add hundreds more with what are called generic top-level domains (gTLDs).

"It's never been done before," said Ben Crawford, chief of London-based CentralNic, which has been a consultant for more than 60 applicants. "It's breaking totally new ground."

One of the more hard-fought gTLD names up for grabs is the one for .music, which has attracted much attention.

Two of the rivals are striving to short-circuit a full-blown auction by showing that they represent the wider community in the music world: a Nashville, Tenn.-based company called Far Further, which has the backing of the Recording Industry Association of America and close to 40 other trade groups; and a Cyprus businessman, Constantine Roussos, whose company has been doing business as dotMusic Ltd. since 2005, and has backing from a number of agencies across the globe.

If either can prove to ICANN that it legitimately represents the community of musicians worldwide, it can avoid the domain going to the highest bidder at auction.

"If you can prove you have community status, it gives you kind of a trump card," said Crawford, who will be in Beijing this week jockeying for his clients. "You have to be able to demonstrate that you do represent the community."

Amazon and Google have been particularly active in applying for domain names. Amazon is reportedly seeking 76 gTLDs, including one for .music. Google is also in the hunt for .music; it has applied for 101 names altogether.

In a bid to strengthen his hand, Roussos has filed a legal-rights objection against all other .music applications with the World Intellectual Property Organization. "It is clear that if ICANN grants the applied-for .music gTLD to any of these applicants, it will create intended material harm to us [and] take unfair advantage of and unjustifiably impair the distinctive character and goodwill reputation of our .music-related trademarks," he claimed.

By April 15, ICANN will publicly notify participants if there are any objections to their requests; parties will have 30 days to respond.

Source: Monday, April 1st, 2013
http://www.tradearabia.com/news/IT_233221.html

Etisalat has become one of the first companies in the world to pass the initial stages of a procedure to get its own top-level domain as part of a revolutionary shake-up in the way the World Wide Web is used.

TLDs are the letters after the final dot of a domain name. The approval could pave the way for Etisalat to use "etisalat" in Arabic letters as its domain extension, a statement from the company said.

"As one of the most innovative companies in the Middle East, it makes sense for Etisalat to progress toward getting a top-level domain before virtually anyone else," said Ahmed Bin Ali, group senior vice president of corporate communications, Etisalat Group. "Being a pioneer of the telecoms industry has been essential to our success and we plan to continue to be a leader in building an online brand."

In the past, top-level domains have been restricted to generic strings, such as "com" and "net", and country codes, such as "ae" for the UAE and "uk" for the United Kingdom. Changes to the rules have enabled businesses, governments and communities to apply for new domain names, using letters from languages including Arabic, Korean and Chinese.

"These changes are a natural step in the internet's evolution and they will promote the diversity of language and culture and give billions of people a more convenient way to access the web in their native tongues," Bin Ali said. "Giving more Arabic speakers access to our websites will help us build relations with communities in some of our operating countries."

Since earlier this month, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global regulator of web addresses, released the initial evaluations of around 60 applicants. Etisalat passed its first application for the top-level domain "etisalat" in Arabic letters and has also applied for the TLD "etisalat" in English. The initial evaluation of this application will be released later this year, the statement said.

The evaluation process includes a rigorous due diligence review of the applicant's technology, financial resources, management and directors, and its business plans for the top-level domain.

"This new programme is the result of many years of policy development and implementation work aimed at increasing diversity, competition and innovation to the domain name system, and applicants such as Etisalat have spent countless hours to prepare," said Fadi Chehade, ICANN's president. "The release of the first initial evaluations is an important moment in our programme and marks a milestone in the evolution of the internet."

Ben Crawford, CEO of global registry operator CentralNic, said: "We have worked with companies trying to obtain TLDs in four continents, and Etisalat stands out with the magnitude and quality of resources they dedicated to the task. Using their own TLD integrates with Etisalat's global strategy to use online technology for the benefit of its customers."

Around 2,000 organisations have applied for the domains. ICANN has prioritised applications and announced the results of around 30 initial evaluations each week for the past two weeks. The company will continue to release another 30 results each Friday until June when it will expand this figure to 100.

New "TLDs" a Revolutionary Change to the Internet

London, England (March 22, 2013) – Two Arabic-language Top-Level Domains ("TLDs") applied for by The Ooredoo Group have been approved today by domain name regulator ICANN.

Adding the names .QatarTelecom and .Mozaic in Arabic script into the domain name system as substitutes for TLDs such as "dot com" and "dot net" represents the biggest change to the Internet since its inception, according to Ben Crawford, CEO of CentralNic, the technology company whose "DotBrand Solutions" division was tasked with obtaining and powering these new TLDs.

"Not only are these the first generic TLDs in Arabic script, but they are also among the world's first "DotBrand" domains. The Ooredoo Group is one of the first companies in the world to have their own brand names approved for use as TLDs. We will see this revolutionary trend continue with the approval of other DotBrand TLDs like .google, .apple and .sony in months to come," said Crawford.

ICANN followed a rigorous due diligence process in assessing the TLD applications prepared for The Ooredoo Group by DotBrand Solutions, and evaluated the applications and CentralNic's technology as surpassing ICANN's requirements.

The domains which were approved are as follows:

	Meaning "Qatar Telecom" – a brand of the Qatar-headquartered telecommunications provider.
	Meaning “Mozaic – The Ooredoo Group's pay TV service brand.

"The Ooredoo Group is a visionary company and a leader in innovation not only in the Arabic-speaking world, but globally," Mr. Crawford said. "We are delighted to congratulate them on taking a leadership position in the next developmental stage of the internet."

About DotBrand Solutions/CentralNic

DotBrand Solutions ("DBS") is the world's first consultancy dedicated to obtaining Top-Level Domains for brands and trademark holders, with clients across three continents including The Ooredoo Group, Kuwait Finance House, Etisalat, Saudi Telecom and The Guardian, among others.

DotBrand Solutions is a service of CentralNic, selected as the back-end service provider for sixty new TLD applications, including .wiki, .rest, .xyz and .feedback. CentralNic currently manages a portfolio of 29 domain extensions, including country codes .LA and .PW, as well as .US.COM for the United States, UK.COM for the United Kingdom, .CN.COM for China, and .COM.DE for Germany.

For further enquiries, please contact CentralNic:

CentralNic Ltd
35 - 39 Moorgate
London, EC2R 6AR, United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 33 88 0600
Fax Number: +44 (0) 20 33 88 0601
Email: press@centralnic.com

Please see this Maintenance Notification (PDF) for further information. This work has been classified as Confirmed Service Affecting.

If you have any questions regarding this maintenance please get in touch.

As of Monday, February 4, 2013, the following changes will be affected:

1. Registration Hold Period (RHP). Domain names may not be transferred within 60 days of initial registration. Domains in the RHP will have the "serverTransferProhibited" EPP status.

2. Transfer Hold Period (THP). Domain names may not be transferred within 60 days of a successful transfer. Domains in the THP will have the "serverTransferProhibited" EPP status.

3. Domain names that are currently Pending Transfer may not be updated, renewed or deleted until the transfer has been completed (either rejected, cancelled or deleted). Domains in the 5-day transfer window will have the serverUpdateProhibited, serverRenewProhibited and serverDeleteProhibited EPP statuses.

If you have any questions regarding this change, please contact us.

When the suspension is lifted, our system will "catch up": that is, any domain that would have been affected during this period will be suspended or deleted as appropriate.

On behalf of everyone at CentralNic, Season's Greetings to all and a prosperous New Year!

December

• Mon 24: email support only until 1pm GMT, emergency support thereafter
• Tues 25 - Wed 26: emergency support only
• Thurs 27 - Fri 28: email support only
• Sat 29 - Sun 30: emergency support only
• Mon 31: email support only

January

• Tues 1: emergency support only
• Wed 2: phone and email support as normal

On behalf of everyone at CentralNic, Season's Greetings to all and a prosperous New Year.

With growing uncertainty over new gTLD timelines, portfolio applicant of over 30 generic new TLDs, The Directi Group, seems to have leap-frogged and accelerated its foray into the registry business.

Directi has just announced that it will be launching .pw — the Professional Web, as a generic and open TLD, during ICANN's Toronto summit.

"The top generics are running in a depleted state. In over 70% of the cases, consumers are unable to obtain a name of first choice, and must settle for longer, less memorable names. Moreover, for these unattractive names, they will pay more and more each year as incumbent gTLDs continue to raise prices. .pw aims to meet the global demand for shorter, first choice names at a reasonable price." said Bhavin Turakhia, Directi's CEO

".pw will open up with a 68 day sunrise and will offer powerful Rights Protection Mechanisms, to ensure active protection for rights holders. We've been fighting a war against domain name abuse for many years. As the registry operator, we will leverage our experience in ensuring .pw comes to be known as a quality namespace." added Business Head, Sandeep Ramchandani.

.pw will be powered by industry stalwarts CentralNic, who operate 27 global domain extensions. Integrated registrars can avail of a paperless and instant online signup process. .pw will support DNSSEC, IPv6, multiple IDNs and operate with a gTLDesque lifecycle.

"We're excited about the launch" said Ramchandani. "Being an open TLD, .pw is truly global and offers first-choice names, affordably, in a reputed and secure namespace. We've backed our decade plus experience with best-in-class partners to provide a stellar experience and table tangible value for registrars and registrants."

Specific details and the launch schedule will be published on the registry's website (www.registry.pw) which goes live on October 13, 2012.

About .pw — the Professional Web

.pw — the Professional Web is a TLD launched by the Directi Group in collaboration with partners. The .pw TLD has been opened globally to create a dedicated namespace for professionals and businesses to set up an online presence, with a first choice domain at a very affordable price point. .pw is powered by domain name veterans with industry standard best practices and policies.

About Directi

With over a decade in the internet industry, Directi is a $300m+ group of businesses, providing various web products and services to millions of global users. Directi businesses include ResellerClub, LogicBoxes, BigRock, Skenzo, Media.net and Radix Registry. Over 1000 employee strong, Directi currently has 5 offices across 4 countries. Directi businesses rank amongst the fastest growing businesses worldwide in their corresponding industry segments.

Source: Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
http://www.circleid.com/posts/20120828_trademark_clearinghouse_secure_reliable_usable_pick_any_two/

Earlier this week, technical and legal experts from ICANN, Deloitte and IBM met in Brussels with their counterparts from registrars and registry service providers representing as much as 90% of prospective gTLD registries, to discuss the technical implementation of the Trademark Clearinghouse, the database of rights holder information that will support the mandatory rights holder protection mechanisms for new gTLDs.

After an unsatisfactory session during the Prague ICANN meeting, this summit was organised at short notice to address what was perceived as serious shortcomings in the proposed implementing model published by ICANN. Registries and registrars need a system that they can implement and deploy without disrupting their businesses, and without imposing costs that would discourage rights holder participation in the Clearinghouse. ICANN wants to develop a model that keeps the TMCH out of the "critical path" of domain registration, and Deloitte and IBM, who are developing the system, need a specification to build on, and a model that can become a self-sustaining entity once built.

The discussions focused on a fundamental contradiction in the TMCH specifications that are mandated by the Applicant Guidebook. During the development of the AGB, rights holders made it clear that a major concern for them was the risk of data mining if the database was released into the public domain: being able to identify new products being developed by global corporations (by tracking their registered trade marks) could threaten multi-billion dollar product development plans. This means restrictions on the distribution of the database, to minimise the chances of unauthorised access.

At the same time, in order to facilitate the Trademark Claims system, that same database has to be freely queryable by anyone wishing to register a domain name. Clearly, something's gotta give!

A number of solutions have been proposed to try to square this circle, but ultimately there is a choice: secure, reliable, usable — pick any two. The database can be secure and reliable (held by the TMCH who can control access to it) but not usable (meeting the service levels required by registries and registrars might make it prohibitively expensive). It can be secure and usable, but not reliable, or it can be reliable and usable, but not secure (as the database is widely distributed). This is essentially a restatement of Zooko's Triangle.

As the new gTLD program develops we are finding more issues that fell through the cracks during the development process (another example being the need to amend applications after submission). But the fundamental problems with the TMCH are much more serious: rights holder protection was probably the most controversial issue surrounding the programme, and if the protection mechanisms devised should fail, then it would be a significant blow to the credibility of ICANN as a corporation and as a community (as Kurt Pritz made clear in Brussels).

Some very smart minds are now paying close attention to this issue, trying to resolve the problems. Much of the progress made in Brussels was down to the sterling efforts of Chris Wright whose no-nonsense antipodean approach to whiteboarding the problems resolved a lot of confusion about the issue. But more feedback - especially from rights holders - is needed if we are going to build a successful platform and ensure the success of the new gTLD programme.

By Gavin Brown, Chief Technology Officer for CentralNic