[AfrICANN-discuss] Week end reading

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

-3. US: We Will Not Give Up Oversight Of Internet Domain Name Root Zone
The letter sent from the Department of Commerce's National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ICANN is
covered by IP Watch and Circle ID with the thrust of the articles
being the United States will not give up its oversight of the
management of the central root zone of the DNS. IP Watch notes the
"NTIA also points out in its statement that ICANN still has some
conditions to fulfil before the JPA that runs until September next
year can really be ended." The article says the NTIA notes ICANN's
transition action plans "fall short with regard to ensuring continued
private sector leadership - pointing to fears that an international
body might take over - increased contract compliance of the bubbling
DNS service providers and enhanced competition. There has been past
tension between ICANN and some in the United Nations who have
considered increasing the UN's role in internet governance."
http://ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1185
http://www.circleid.com/posts/87315_us_in_control_of_internet_root_zone/
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/comments/2008/ICANN_080730.html

16. With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web
The New York Times has a good article that explains the recent flaw
found by Dan Kaminsky and popular with the press around the world. The
article discusses in terms easily understood by people with even the
most basic knowledge of technology issues, what the problem was and
how Kaminsky went about bringing the flaw to the knowledge of the
companied that need to know. There is nothing new in the article, but
it is a well-written article explaining the issue.
http://nytimes.com/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.html


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DOMAIN NAMES
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 - ICANN
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1. US: We Will Not Give Up Oversight Of Internet Domain Name Root Zone
The Bush administration has no intention of giving up United States
oversight role of the management of the central root zone of the
internet domain name system (DNS), the essential database storing
information on how to reach domain names on the global internet.
http://ip-watch.org/weblog/index.php?p=1185

2. U.S. Intends to Remain in Full Control of Internet Root Zone, Says
Letter from NTIA
In a letter sent by bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce,
National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to
ICANN, the department has made it clear that despite recent
discussions in Paris meetings, the U.S. department intends to remain
in full authority over the Internet root zone.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/87315_us_in_control_of_internet_root_zone/

3. Public Comments: Improving Institutional Confidence in ICANN
Dear Chairman Dengate-Thrush: On June 16, 2008, the ICANN posted for
public comment a series of interrelated documents prepared by the
President's Strategy Committee (PSC) regarding improving institutional
confidence in ICANN. The Department of Commerce (Department) takes
this opportunity as a member of the community and ICANN's partner in
the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) to offers its views on such an
important topic.
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/comments/2008/ICANN_080730.html

4. Egypt / ICANN meeting [news release]
The Government of Egypt has the honor to host, in Cairo, the next
ICANN meeting, from 2 to 7 November 2008, at InterContinental
CityStars Hotel. The ICANN meeting was previously hosted in Cairo in
March 2000, by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications, the Cabinet
Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC) and the Internet
Society of Egypt.
http://appablog.wordpress.com/2008/07/29/egypt-icann-meeting-2/

5. ICANN To Offload Domains from De-Accredited Registrar
When RegisterFly lost its ICANN accreditation, GoDaddy swooped in to
take over the registration of RegisterFly clients' domain names. It
was a nice pickup for GoDaddy of nearly 1 million domain names.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/31/icann-to-offload-domains-from-de-accredited-registrar/

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 - ccTLD & gTLD NEWS
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6. Olympic organisers agree to China blocking 'sensitive' internet sites
Olympic organisers 'regret' agreement to restrictions but China claims
censorship will not affect reporting of Beijing 2008 ... Chinese
officials said the censorship would not hamper journalists in their
job of reporting the Games. A BOCOG spokesman Sun Weide said that the
plan had always been to provide "sufficient" Internet access for
foreign reporters. Sites run by the Falun Gong religious sect remain
inaccessible, as do most with the word Tibet in their internet
address.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4431162.ece

7. Personalize your domain using .ME
The .ME Registry officially opened for live, real-time registrations
and was met with huge international demand. .ME after .com, .biz,
.eduis spreading around the world with more than 50,000 new domain
names with the first "live" name registered being: yusu.me.
http://www.ciol.com/Developer/Enterprise-Tools/News-Reports/Personalize-your-domain-using-ME/30708108447/0/

8. Barack Obama Goes .Mobi
United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the
mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using
ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it
actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a
mobile version of a .com we site.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/

9. Dot-na Doman Remains Hot Potato
THE controversy surrounding Namibia's Internet domain name (.na) is
not likely to die down soon, given the recent formation of a new
Ministry of Information and Communication Technology.
http://www.namibian.com.na/2008/July/national/081AFB7980.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200807310688.html

10. InternetNZ selects web advocate board members
InternetNZ has appointed four members to its executive board, formed
earlier this year as part of a structural review of the society in
order to act as an advocate for internet users.
http://www.itbrief.co.nz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2464&Itemid=808

11. The WashBiz Guest Blog: A Day At .ORG
Welcome to Day 2 of our little experiment in guest blogging, something
we hope captures a small slice of Washington at work. All this week we
plan to run posts from Adam Palmer, policy counsel for .ORG, the
Public Interest Registry based in Reston. Adam works on policy issues
dealing with Internet governance, cyber security, and e-commerce.
Today, he talks about what one actually does at .org.
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/washbizblog/2008/07/the_washbiz_guest_blog_adam_pa.html

12. UCC abandons attempt to control Uganda domain name
The Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) says it is not interested
in taking over control of the Uganda country code, .ug. The country
code is registered to and controlled by Charles Musisi, an Internet
entrepreneur who has managed Uganda domain names over the past 12
years.
http://www.independent.co.ug/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=736&Itemid=2946

13. Number of domains in the UZ zone exceeds 7,000
The number of domains registered in the .UZ zone exceeded 7,000 as of
25 July, the administration of the .UZ domain zone said. According to
the statistics, the number has grown by about 22% from 5,766 since the
beginning of the year.
http://www.turkishweekly.net/news.php?id=58005

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 - DNS SECURITY
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14. DNS patches cause problems, developers admit
Patches released earlier this month to quash a critical bug in the DNS
(Domain Name System) have slowed servers running BIND (Berkeley
Internet Name Domain), the Internet's most popular DNS software, and
crippled some systems versions of Windows Server.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111001
http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/07/29/DNS_patches_cause_problems_developers_admit_1.html
http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/scrt/EA56EA85FA872164CC257496000F71E7

15. Apple skewered over missing DNS patch
Apple has come under fire for failing to patch the critical Domain
Name System (DNS) flaw which prompted a (rest of) industry wide
response earlier this month.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/29/apple_dns_patch_mia/

16. With Security at Risk, a Push to Patch the Web
Since a secret emergency meeting of computer security experts at
Microsoft's headquarters in March, Dan Kaminsky has been urging
companies around the world to fix a potentially dangerous flaw in the
basic plumbing of the Internet.
http://nytimes.com/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.html
http://iht.com/articles/2008/07/30/technology/30flaw.php

17. Hackers start DNS attacks, researcher says
Hackers are now actively exploiting a critical flaw in the Domain Name
System, but they're not using any of the already known exploits, said
a researcher who crafted the first attack code to go public.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9111098

18. Internet providers in Vietnam battle DNS flaw
Local internet service providers (ISPs) say they are taking action to
overcome a serious flaw inherent in the Domain Name System (DNS) that
could allow an attacker to re-direct unwilling web users to dangerous
sites.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/tech/2008/07/796258/

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 - MISCELLANEOUS
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19. Asia Pacific Internet Community to descend on Christchurch - NZ to
host APNIC 26 [news release]
Next month, InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) and
the Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC) will jointly host
APNIC 26, one of the most important meetings in 2008 for the local
Internet community.
http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/apnicevent

20. InternetNZ appoints Executive Board members [news release]
InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to
announce it has appointed Peter Dengate-Thrush, June McCabe, Miki
Szikszai, and Judy Speight as members of its recently-established
Executive Board.
http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/execboard

21. InternetNZ launches Liz Dengate Thrush Foundation [news release]
InternetNZ (the Internet Society of New Zealand Inc) is pleased to
announce the launch of an Internet entrepreneurship foundation
established in memory of Liz Dengate Thrush, a former Councillor of
the Society.
http://www.internetnz.net.nz/media/2008/ldtf

22. Barack Obama Goes .Mobi
United States Presidential candidate Barack Obama is leveraging the
mobile web to get his message out. His campaign is using
ObamaMobile.mobi. And unlike most popular .mobi domain names, it
actually resolves to a .mobi domain rather than just forwarding to a
mobile version of a .com we site.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/barack-obama-goes-mobi/

23. Why We'll Never Replace SMTP by John Levine
John Levine An acquaintance asked whether there's been any progress in
the oft-rumored project to come up with a more secure replacement for
SMTP. Answer: No. Truly, spam isn't a technical problem, it's a social
one. If we could figure out some way to make mail recipient networks
and hosts willing to shun known bad actors, even at the cost of losing
some real mail for a while until the bad actors cave, it would make
vastly more difference than any possible technical changes.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/replacing_smtp/

24. Emirates airline website plummets offline in A380 excitement
Dubai's government-owned airline, Emirates, forgot to renew its domain
name this week, sending its website crashing offline on the same day
it was trumpeting delivery of its first Airbus A380 superjumbo.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/07/31/emirates_domain_loss/

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 - DOMAINING & AFTERMARKET
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25. Find an Undervalued Asset. Fix It Up. Flip It. (Now It's Web
Sites, Not Houses)
Dave Hermansen did not own a bird or a cage when he bought
bird-cage.com, an online store, for $1,800 three years ago. He simply
saw a Web site that was "very, very poorly done," and begged the
owners to sell it to him. He then redesigned the site, added
advertising and drove up traffic. Last December, he sold it for
$173,000.
http://nytimes.com/2008/07/29/technology/29flip.html

26. Matt Bentley Leaving Sedo
Sedo Chief Strategy Officer Matt Bentley is leaving the company, Sedo
announced today. The move is effective the end of this month.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/07/29/matt-bentley-leaving-sedo/

27. Imminent Domaining: The domain name market is a hot investment
opportunity for entrepreneurs.
One hundred domains. Sounds like a good, round, impressive number. And
100 felt like a lot for Howard Hoffman, who began snapping up domains
like HealthWater.com and SportsWater.com to help redirect web surfers
to his bottled water company's site, taking advantage of what's called
"type-in traffic," when users just enter words or a guessed-at domain
into the browser address bar.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25932453/

28. Moniker/Snapnames accidentally sell the wrong domain
Imagine the following scenario: A registrant owns a .NET version of
your .COM domain and decides to list it with SnapNames. However he
mistypes the domain by entering the .COM version in the spreadsheet he
sends to his account manager.
http://www.domainnamenews.com/registrars/monikersnapnames-accidentally-sell-the-wrong-domain/1783

29. Crash Course Guide to Domain Name Appraisals
Ever looked for new domains to buy in auctions, pending delete, or
expired? I'm sure all of us have some difficulty appraising the value
of domains. The process is both easy and hard at the same time,
especially when considering the long term value and not necessarily
the present value. Grabbing a domain name now that holds a
potential-value in the future is a real-niche and requires some
strategy. Though the remaining names market and especially the gTLDs
(Generic Top Level Domain Extensions, e.g. .COM/.NET/.ORG) is
saturated and sometimes impossible to get a nice ones but there are
some techniques to grab excellent and superior names using some
technique we had successfully put on trial and lead us successfully to
acquire many domains such as EVERNET.com and PreLanding.com. In this
article, I will be highlighting some quick techniques to evaluate
domains for the present or near-future resale value.
http://www.dotsauce.com/2008/07/31/domain-name-appraisals/

30. Google makes 6 Figure Offer for KNOL.com
For a vacuum cleaner reseller from Dordrecht in the Netherlands,
Europe, this week may very well be the time of their life!. The family
Knol have been the owner of the domain name knol.com for many years
and it looks like Google is interested in purchasing the domain!
Google has reportedly offered "a sum of five zeros."
http://www.domainnews.com/en/general/google-makes-a-5-figure-offer-for-knol.com.html

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 - NON-ENGLISH NEWS
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31. Österreicher lieben heimische Domains
"Die .com-Ära ist vorbei – wir leben in einem Zeitalter des lokalen
Internets, wo regionale Anker immer wichtiger werden", bringt
nic.at-Geschäftsführer Richard Wein das Hauptergebnis der
Domain-Studie 2008 auf den Punkt. Die im Mai vom
Meinungsforschungsinstitut Marketagent durchgeführte Befragung der
webaktiven Bevölkerung in Östereich zeigt: ".at" ist im Vormarsch und
mit Abstand am beliebtesten bei heimischen Internetnutzern.
http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=116636&n=5

32. DNS-Lücke in Mac OS X weiter ungepatcht
Drei Wochen nach Bekanntwerden der Sicherheitslücke im Domain Name
System (DNS) hat Apple bisher noch kein Update für Mac OS X
veröffentlicht. "Apple nutzt den populären BIND-DNS-Server des
Internet Systems Consortium (ISC) für Mac OS X Server. Obwohl der
BIND-Server zu den ersten Anwendungen gehört, für die ein Update zur
Verfügung stand, hat Apple die korrigierte Version noch nicht für Mac
OS X Server freigegeben", kritisiert der Sicherheitsforscher Rich
Mogull in einem Blogeintrag.
http://www.zdnet.de/security/news/0,39029460,39194237,00.htm

33. Online-Reisen im Schatten der Typosquatter
Reisen werden mittlerweile sehr gerne online gebucht. Netnames,
Spezialist für Domainnamen-Management, warnt in diesem Zusammenhang:
Schon ein unbedachter Tippfehler in der Internetadresse und Kunden
laufen Gefahr, in die Fänge so genannter Typosquatter zu geraten.
"Beim Tippen der Domainnamen schleicht sich, egal, ob aus Unwissenheit
oder durch die allgemeine Vorurlaubshektik, so mancher Fehler ein.
Wollen Reiseanbieter, die das Internet als Vertriebskanal nutzen,
potenzielle Kunden nicht verlieren und sich vor Online-Betrügern
schützen, gibt es ein einfaches Rezept: Sie können dafür sorgen, dass
selbst die nicht ganz korrekte Schreibweise der URL zum richtigen Ziel
führt", rät Bernd Beiser, Geschäftsführer der Netnames nicht gänzlich
uneigennützig. Unternehmen sollten sich daher auch Domainnamen
sichern, die gängige Tippfehler oder Buchstabendreher enthalten.
http://www.computerwelt.at/detailArticle.asp?a=116615&n=4

34. Olympisches Komitee akzeptiert Internetzensur in China
Kürzlich sprach IOC-Präsident Rogge noch von einem "unzensierten
Zugang zum Internet" zu den Spielen in Peking. Ein leeres Versprechen,
denn die Zensur geht weiter, auch für die chinesischen
DW-WORLD-Seiten. ... Um beispielsweise einen Zugriff auf die Seiten
www.dw-world.de/chinese unmöglich zu machen, wird unter anderem
verhindert, dass Browser-Eingaben wie www.dw-world.de/chinese mit
einem sogenannten Domain Name Server (DNS) in die technisch notwendige
Zieladresse in Form einer IP-Adresse (194.55.30.46) übersetzt werden.
Gleichzeitig wird der Zugriff auf diese Server-Adressen blockiert, so
dass Internet-Anwender auch mit der direkten Eingabe der IP-Adresse
nicht zum Ziel kommen.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3524889,00.html

35. Wie China unliebsame Websites blockiert
Was den Journalisten im Pressezentrum der Olympischen Spiele in Peking
widerfährt, ist im Rest des Landes Alltag: In der Volksrepublik China
- mit Ausnahme von Hongkong und Macao - gibt es keinen freien Zugang
zum Internet, unliebsame Inhalte lassen die Machthaber blockieren. ...
Will man eine Adresse wie «amnesty.org» mit dem Browser aufrufen, muss
dieser Name erst in eine für Computer verwendbare, eindeutige
Nummernkombination übersetzt werden - die IP-Adresse. Diese Aufgabe
erledigen Domain Name Server, welche die Internet Provider betreiben.
Die Unternehmen können mit Filtern verhindern, dass die Datenbanken
die IP-Adressen regimekritischer Portale ausliefern.
http://www.ov-online.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=129170&Itemid=70
http://www.rhein-main.net/sixcms/detail.php/rmn01.c.5014507.de/v2_rmn_sport_actual_article
http://www.digitalfernsehen.de/news/news_381044.html

36. Internet-Tippfehler können schnell teuer werden
Der britische Domainspezialist Netnames ist ein Unternehmen, das sich
auf die Fahne geschrieben hat, Firmenidentitäten und Marken vor
Domainmissbrauch zu schützen.
http://www.channelpartner.de/knowledgecenter/security/263772/index.html

37. Ist der Provider sicher? [DPA]
Auf eine besonders tückische Sicherheitslücke bei der Internetnutzung
macht das Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) in
Bonn aufmerksam. Die Lücke besteht im sogenannten Domain Name System
(DNS) und betrifft daher potenziell alle Nutzer.
http://www.pcwelt.de/start/sicherheit/sicherheitsluecken/news/173581/experten_warnen_vor_sicherheitsluecke/
http://www.n-tv.de/Erst_Update_dann_Virus_Ist_der_Provider_sicher/310720080914/1002178.html

38. Sicherheitslücke: Das Virus kommt per Update
Auf eine tückische Sicherheitslücke bei der Internetnutzung macht das
Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI) in Bonn
aufmerksam. Die Lücke besteht im sogenannten Domain Name System (DNS)
und betrifft daher potenziell alle Nutzer.
http://www.volksstimme.de/vsm/magazin/digital/digital_news/?&em_cnt=1118023

39. UDRP : la Czech Arbitration Court veut lancer un projet pilote
La Czech Arbitration Court (CAC), accréditée comme institution de
règlement depuis le 23 janvier 2008, a saisi l'ICANN d'une requête
visant à lui permettre d'expérimenter un projet pilote.
http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1598/udrp-la-czech-arbitration-court-veut-lancer-un-projet-pilote.php

40. Express.com : transfert judiciaire d'un nom "hijacké"
Après avoir perdu le contrôle du nom de domaine express.com dans des
conditions relativement mystérieuses, une société américaine en
obtient le transfert devant le juge californien.
http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1590/express-com-transfert-judiciaire-d-un-nom-hijacke.php

41. Perfectionnement du DRS de Nominet
L'institution de règlement des litiges relatifs au .UK a procédé à un
ajustement du DRS, faisant de cette procédure un modèle du genre.
http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1600/perfectionnement-de-la-drs-nominet.php

42. Internet: i domini del registro italiano sono milione e mezzo
I domini internet del registro italiano (.it) hanno superato il
milione e mezzo con un picco massimo diregistrazioni nel maggio
scorso. Si rafforza così la posizione della rete "made in Italy", che
conquista così ilquinto posto in Europa ed ilsettimo nel mondo.
http://www.nove.firenze.it/vediarticolo.asp?id=a8.07.30.13.56

43. Argentina: Nombres de dominio internacionalizados. Resolución 616/2008.
Resolución 616/2008 - REGISTRACION DE NOMBRES DE DOMINIO EN INTERNET.
Incorpóranse caracteres multilingües pertenecientes al idioma español
y portugués, para la registración de nombres de dominio de Nivel
Superior Argentina (.AR).
http://www.leandrotoscano.com/2008/07/argentina-nombres-de-dominio.html

44. Aprueban los caracteres en español para dominios web
El Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores aprobó los signos en castellano
y portugués en la registración de los nombres de dominio de internet
de la Argentina.
http://www.derf.com.ar/despachos.asp?cod_des=213889&ID_Seccion=21

45. Encuentro LACNIC-CARIBE, se realizó en Curazao, 21-22 de Julio/2008
Más de 70 participantes provenientes de más de 15 países de la región
de América Latina y el Caribe se reunieron los 21 y 22 de Julio en
Curazao (Antillas Neerlandesas) en el encuentro LACNIC-CARIBE. El
encuentro fue seguido por el 4to Foro de Gobernanza de Internet en el
Caribe organizado por la Unión de Telecomunicaciones del Caribe (CTU)
y contó con el apoyo de la Oficina de Telecomunicaciones y Correo
(Bureau of Telecommunication and Post) de Curazao.
http://www.latinoamericann.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1669

46. Incorporan caracteres multilingües a dominios de internet
El Ministerio de  Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Internacional y
Culto incorporó  los caracteres multilingües de los idiomas español y
portugués en  la registración de los nombres de dominio de internet de
 Argentina, según publica hoy el Boletín Oficial.
http://www.lacapital.com.ar/contenidos/2008/07/31/noticia_0018.html
http://www.territoriodigital.com/nota.aspx?c=2778576382109578
http://ar.news.yahoo.com/s/31072008/40/n-argentina-incorporan-caracteres-multiling-dominios-internet.html

47. Story in Vietnamese on DNS
http://vn.news.yahoo.com/vne/20080730/ttc-p-a-viet-nam-a-khac-phuc-uoc-60-webs-23a85a1.html