• Domain name gifts: Dot-com boon for charities
  When Tom Bird started receiving six-figure offers for his domain name, farm.com, the Massachusetts- based entrepreneur this month made an unlikely move: he donated the Internet address to the Boston Foundation
  .... full story
  
• Another delay for .xxx domain
  United Press International says the US Commerce Department has raised objections to the domain, expressing concerns about the mechanisms for running the domain put forward by the domain’s proposed operator, ICM Registry
  .... full story
  
• 10 Ways to Ruin Your Blog with Inferior Domains
  Below are the top ten most common mistakes
  .... full story

03/29/2006

• U.S. Abandons XXX Domain Proposal Once Again
  There were indications early on that ICANN was going to delay action on the .XXX top-level domain proposal, said Michael Froomkin, a founding editor of ICANNWatch.org, and professor at the University of Miami School of Law. "They punted it," he said. "They're likely to just keep putting that one off."
  .... full story

03/28/2006

• ICANN Meets To Hash Out Internet's Problems
  As ICANN hashes out which major issues it will focus on in the coming years, critics have been skeptical as to whether the meeting will bring the kinds of changes that are needed. "The elephant in the room is the issue of transparency," said Michael Froomkin, a founding editor of ICANNWatch.org and professor at the University of Miami School of Law, specializing in Internet law
  .... full story
  
• Domain administrator criticised over consultation
  NetRegistry has called on the Australian domain regulator to change its public consultation processes to get more input from domain name purchasers
  .... full story
  
• Australia wants .xxx domain on hold
  Senator Helen Coonan has weighed into the simmering debate over a new .xxx adult content domain name, calling for its creation to be delayed until the benefits are proven
  .... full story
  
• ICANN Tackles Future of Internet
  Amid brewing controversies, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' 25th International meeting officially opened on Monday in Wellington, New Zealand
  .... full story

03/27/2006

• ICANN's 3-year plan under scrutiny at meeting
  The draft addresses 10 key challenges ICANN faces
  .... full story
  
• President/CEO of ICANN to Speak at Domain Roundtable Conference
  Dr. Twomey will address the Domain Roundtable audience and cover the overall state of the domain name industry. Jothan Frakes, Executive Producer of the conference and VP of Business Development for Name Intelligence, views Dr. Twomey's involvement in the conference as a milestone for not only the industry, but also the event itself
  .... full story
  
• Thinking Up A Great Domain Name That's Still Available
  Even in a highly competitive industry, you can think up original, appealing domain names for businesses by using naming tactics that few people use, such as these
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• ICANN accused of losing touch with its roots
  ICANN is "disenfranchising the little guy" says delegate
  .... full story
  
• Cybersquatters Try New Tactics
  Call it what you will. Speculators are registering the domains of hundreds of amateur athletes, musicians and other would-be stars in the hope that one or two of the names will become well-known
  .... full story

03/24/2006

• Canada's CIRA Withdraws from ICANN
  In a major defection, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) has suspended its involvement with Internet governing body ICANN pending process reforms
  .... full story
  
• Dot-Com Deal Opposition Grows
  The Coalition for ICANN Transparency (cfit.info) reported this week that its opposition to the recent agreement between ICANN (icann.org) and VeriSign (verisign.com), which would extend the registry operator's control of the .com domain through 2012, is gaining momentum
  .... full story

03/23/2006

• auDA wants input on domain rules
  Australia's domain name administrator today called for public comment on the practice of registering large numbers of domain names for the purpose of selling click-through advertising
  .... full story

03/22/2006

• Study: Domain Sales Volume Increased by 68 Percent Last Year
  More and more premium domains were sold through organized platforms with volume nearly doubling to nearly $18 million, while the volume of private sales reported remained flat at approximately $6 million
  .... full story

03/21/2006

• Niche Domain Name Portfolios Offer High ROI
  Domain names have been making the news regularly since the 2005 acquisition by Marchex of a 100,000 name domain portfolio for a reported $165 million dollars. Google AdWord bids on keywords are steadily rising as more companies turn to the web for new business since the advent of do-not-call lists.
  .... full story
  
• ICANN-UN debate comes to Wellington
  What is ICANN and why does it govern the internet?
  .... full story

03/20/2006

• Lawmakers Seek to Revive '.XXX' Domain Plan
  The Free Speech Coalition, a group that represents the interests of the adult entertainment industry, immediately called on Congress to block the bill, saying it would not protect children in any substantial way and result in the "Ghettoization of protected free speech."
  .... full story
  
• CFIT Updates ICANN Complaint
  The new complaint includes a detailed account of what the organization asserts is anti-competitive behavior by VeriSign (verisign.com) and ICANN (icann.org), intended to to protect the .com and .net registries from market forces. CFIT also claims that ICANN allowed VeriSign to have an unfair competitive edge for .net
  .... full story

03/19/2006

• Expert Panel to resolve .nz domain name disputes
  Eight people, including three former High Court judges, have been appointed to the Expert Panel which will from June 1 determine disputes over .nz domain name registrations
  .... full story
  
• Virtual red-light district up for grabs
  ICANN likely to make final decision at the meeting in Wellington
  .... full story

03/17/2006

• Senators renew call for .xxx domains
  Controversial plans to create an Internet red-light district would be revived under a new U.S. Senate proposal
  .... full story
  
• CIRA Suspends Participation in ICANN (and Payments!)
  The gauntlet is thrown. And by Canadians
  .... full story

03/16/2006

• Has the .com Domain Lost Its Luster?
  A survey from Lexicon Branding finds consumers don't make much of a distinction between long-sought ".com" domains and domains ending in ".net" or ".biz."
  .... full story
  
• Nominet loses all three EGM votes
  All three resolutions put forward to members fell when two of Nominet's three largest members unexpectedly voted against them. No resolution reached even a simple majority thanks to a weighted vote system that gives disproportionate power to companies that have registered the largest number of .uk domains
  .... full story
  
• ICANN to test internationalized domain names
  ICANN and the Internet community have appointed a committee to draw up plans for a technical test of internationalized top-level domain names, which will use non-Roman characters or Roman characters with diacritical marks. A system is already in place for internationalized second-level domain names
  .... full story

03/14/2006

• An Omnibus ICANN and Internet Update
  ICANN is under challenge both directly and indirectly. In a way, ICANN's self-definition is part of the problem. While true that IANA operated under contract to the U.S. government, so does ICANN. As we all know, the U.S. Department of Defense initially created ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency - Net) in 1969 to connect defense contractors at universities and in private industry. At its conception, ARPANET had only two nodes. In the mid-1980s, ARPANET became NSFNet, a wide-area network based on the TCP/IP protocol. The Internet then began to emerge.
  ICANN came into being in 1998 to replace the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). ICANN acquired the authority to give names and numbers under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1998. The Department of Commerce had become the "owner" of the Internet when it transferred over from the National Science Foundation, which in turn had gained title from the Department of Defense
  .... full story
  
• TradeMe says while use of "ANZAC" domain name for commercial purposes may be illegal, selling of it is not
  TradeMe business manager Mike O'Donnell says while the use of the domain name for commercial purposes may be illegal, the selling of it is not
  .... full story

03/13/2006

• Domain naming needs better rules
  A recent court battle in which a company sued a rival firm for registering Internet domain names similar to the company's name highlights the need for clear rules in the use of domain names
  .... full story

03/10/2006

• Wellington to host XXX debate
  The issue of whether or not the world needs a virtual red-light district will be on the agenda when the powerful body that oversees internet domain names meets this month in Wellington, New Zealand
  .... full story

03/08/2006

• China Initiating the Start of Regional Nets?
  With China much in the news last week over their plan to start using Chinese character top level domain suffixes, some are wondering if this is the start of a fragmentation of the internet
  .... full story

03/07/2006

• Melbourne IT Sells 10% Stake in NeuLevel for $5.8m
  The transaction will be reflected in the company's profits for 2006 in the amount of $4.47m. The proceeds will increase the company's cash balance, and strengthen ability to pursue acquisitions in Australia and overseas. It will also enable the company to consider lifting the future dividend payout ratio
  .... full story

• Nominet to upgrade Nameserver software
  Nominet, the .uk domain name registry, today announced collaboration with Internet Systems Consortium Inc. (ISC) to enhance security standards of the BIND nameserver software
  .... full story

03/06/2006

• When and Why You Should Secure Multiple Domains
  It is also a good idea to secure alternate versions of your primary domain name as a means to prevent competitors from trying to squeeze in on your name and branding efforts
  .... full story

• China seeks a US-free web full of new characters
  Internet authorities in China have set up a new family of Chineselanguage alternatives to .com and other popular internet address domains. It's a move that bypasses the US-sponsored organisation that controls address information for the global internet, and some analysts fear it could enhance China's ability to censor its citizens' access to the internet
  .... full story

03/03/2006

• China Denies Plans To Split Internet
  Recent reports that China is creating its own version of the Internet are being denied by the country's China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). In news reports from Beijing, the CNNIC has clarified that there is no separate Chinese Internet in the works, and no new top-level domains
  .... full story

• Supporters Of ICANN-VeriSign Agreement Voice Opinions
  Countering criticism over its Internet domain name settlement with VeriSign, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Friday challenged complaints that the agreement was anticompetitive with a list of companies and organizations that support the decision
  .... full story

• Dotcom contract 'undermines' ICANN's integrity
  The new dotcom contract undermines ICANN's integrity and "poses unacceptable risks to the values that underly ICANN's mission", one of the internet watchdog's own board members said
  .... full story

• The great billion-dollar .com giveaway
  VeriSign could add well over a billion dollars to its top line over the next six years, under a new deal approved by the Internet Corp for Assigned Names and Numbers
  .... full story

03/02/2006

• China won't split the internet in two
  Inaccurate news report to blame for fears
  .... full story

• ICANN hands VeriSign new monopoly on .com
  Campaigners are furious that VeriSign can now impose inflation-busting increases in its domain registration fees from now until 2012
  .... full story

03/01/2006

• Deal reached on .com domain price hikes
  The board of the Internet's main oversight agency has approved a deal under which VeriSign must meet some conditions in order to raise fees for ".com" domain names
  .... full story

• China creates own Internet domains
  China may be planning to break away from ICANN and the Domain Name System, after creating its own versions of several top-level domains
  .... full story

• ICANN approves dotcom contract
  9-6 in favour. All hell about to break loose
  .... full story

• ICANN board approves VeriSign settlement
  ICANN allows VeriSign to continue managing .com registry and roll out new services
  .... full story

Click here to see the list of U.S. States and Countries with which we've done business registering domain names!