[AfrICANN-discuss] News from around the web

[Anne-Rachel Inné]

Judge Says We Can't Look Inside US .XXX deliberations by Milton
Mueller Milton Mueller says ICM Registry used the US Freedom of
Information Act to obtain "a lot of embarrassing information about the
US government's intervention in the .xxx case. Documents proved that
the Commerce Department reversed its position, moving from a favorable
opinion of the application and a willingness to let ICANN make its own
decision, to concern about its political impact on the Bush
administration. The released documents also prove that the reversal in
the US position was driven by the lobbying of 'religious Right' groups
close to the Bush administration." However Milton notes the US
government "was careful to keep certain documents concealed because
they touched on the very sensitive issue of US control of the Internet
domain name system, the unconstitutionality of interference with
freedom of expression, and the degree to which the USG can override
the decisions of ICANN."

Milton concludes, "The court rejected ICM's argument and upheld the
Government's assertions that the withheld documents were not
established policies but part of the deliberative process of making
policy. The judge
wrote: 'If the government 'leaned on' ICANN or any other
decision-maker that it did not directly control, its policy choice to
do so is discoverable under FOIA. That choice (if it was made) was not
'political abuse,' however, and so the deliberations that underlay it
are properly exempt from disclosure.'

"This leaves open the issue of whether NTIA's action can be legally
challenged on First Amendment grounds. It is clear that the
information ICM registry was trying to extract would have provided
more of a smoking gun had ICM decided to go for the constitutional
challenge."
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/3/19/3590154.html

7. .cn passes 10 million registrations
With the recent announcements that the .au ccTLD passing one million
registrations, and .es and .ca about to pass the magic number, in
January this year .cn passed another milestone. They reached their ten
millionth domain name registration and six millionth .cn registration
in January 2008.
And then in February they passed the three millionth .com.cn registration.
http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4331

34-39. Network Solutions pulls plug on Dutch politician's anti-Qur'an
film Network Solutions have announced they have suspended the hosting
of the fitnathemovie.com website, used to promote a film from a Dutch
right-wing politician, while they investigate whether the site's
content is in violation of the Network Solutions' Acceptable Use
Policy. The suspension follows a number of complaints regarding hate
language on the site Network Solutions is investigating. John
Berryhill, writing on Circle ID, says "Network Solutions decided to
pre-empt his use of a domain name registered through them", however it
is not clear from Network Solutions' statements whether they are
acting in their role as webhost or registrar, or both.

But Berryhill does say it is within a registrar's right to decide with
whom it does business, however he looks at domain names registered
through Network Solutions that "freely promote killing Muslims rather
than merely making films about them." He gives as an example the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam, or Tamil Tigers, "who maintain at
least two, if not more, domain names through Network Solutions -
eelam.com and eelamweb.com."

Information Week quotes Karl Auerbach who says many registrars have
similar policies regarding domain names and that most registrars are
likely to want avoid conflict and be willing to sacrifice some
registrants. "What NTIA [National Telecommunications and Information
Administration] has done via its ICANN is to create, via contracts, a
de facto law of the Internet in which registrars can impose their
private view of Internet morality and acceptable use," said Auerbach.

However the article notes this incident is complicated by Network
Solutions being a registrar, a registry and a webhost. Jonathan
Zittrain is quoted saying "Network Solutions may have simply decided
not to host Wilder's controversial site in its capacity as a Web
hosting company." The article concludes asking "Even so, the question
remains as to how far Web hosting companies will go to defend
customers who post content that is legal but controversial in the
countries where those companies do business."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/24/netherlands.usa
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7310439.stm
http://newsroom.networksolutions.com/2008/fitna-website-suspended-while-netw
ork-solutions-investigates/
http://www.circleid.com/posts/832412_nsi_dont_taunt_them/
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206905379
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/62277.html

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GOVERNANCE
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1. US-Swedish Carrier Spat 'Breaks' Net [AP] President Bush famously
spoke of "the Internets" in 2004. Well, they're here. Since March 13,
customers of two large Internet providers, Cogent Communications Group
Inc. and TeliaSonera AB are unable to contact each other through the
Internet, unless they have backup connections from other companies.
This means, for instance, that some U.S. Web sites hosted by Cogent
customers are inaccessible to surfers in the Nordic countries, where
Sweden-based TeliaSonera is the largest telecommunications operator.
It's like Cogent and TeliaSonera customers are on different Internets.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/62216.html
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_8632891
http://www.thestate.com/technology-wire/story/350849.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23726127/

2. Sir Tim Berners-Lee attacks scheme to monitor web usage The
inventor of the World Wide Web has warned consumers to be wary of new
technology being tested by three British internet suppliers which will
track the websites users that visit to create personalised
advertising. Sir Tim Berners-Lee said he was concerned at the privacy
implications presented by Phorm, a company that has invented a method
of tailoring the adverts seen by internet users to their interests by
monitoring the websites they browse.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/internets-foun
der-attacks-scheme-to-monitor-web-usage-797133.html

3. State of the Internet & Challenges ahead: "How is the Internet
likely to evolve in the coming decade" by Olivier H. Martin
[ICTConsulting, Gingins (VD), Switzerland]
Abstract: After a fairly extensive review of the state of the
Commercial and Research & Education, aka Academic, Internet the
problematic behind the, still hypothetic, IPv4 to IPv6 migration will
be examined in detail. A short review of the ongoing efforts to
re-design the Internet in a clean-slate approach will then be made.
This will include the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded
programs such as FIND (Future Internet Network
Design) [1] and GENI (Global Environment for Network Innovations) [2],
European Union (EU) Framework Program 7 (FP7), but also more specific
architectural proposals such as the publish/subscribe (pub/sub)
paradigm and Data Oriented Network Architecture (DONA) [3].
http://www.ictconsulting.ch/reports/NEC2007-OHMartin.doc

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DOMAIN NAMES
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**********************
 - ICANN
**********************
4. ICANN GNSO recommends new anti-domain tasting solution In a
proposal to stop domain tasting, ICANN's GNSO Council has recommended
to the ICANN Board restrictions to the Add Grace period that would
mean, if accepted, during any given month a gTLD operator "may not
offer any refund to a registrar for any domain names deleted during
the AGP that exceed (i) 10% of that registrar's net new registrations
in that month (defined as total new registrations less domains deleted
during AGP), or (ii) fifty (50) domain names, whichever is greater."
http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4303
http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/03/19/icann-gnso-recommends-new-anti-domain-
tasting-solution/
http://www.domainnews.com/icann/2008032866/

5. Judge Says We Can't Look Inside US .XXX deliberations by Milton
Mueller It's "Sunshine Week" in Washington, a week devoted to "open
government," but the light came a few days late for ICM Registry and
Stuart Lawley, proponents of the .xxx top level domain for adult
content. A US court dismissed ICM Registry's litigation to pry more
information out of the US government about the pressure it put on
ICANN to reject ICM's application to operate the .xxx top level
domain. The court decision favoring darkness is posted here.
http://blog.internetgovernance.org/blog/_archives/2008/3/19/3590154.html

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 - (cc)TLD NEWS
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6. Canada kicks off Countdown to One Million Internet Domain Names
[news release] The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA)
today launches its campaign to celebrate the registration of one
million dot-ca domain names with the unveiling of a campaign website
at www.onemilliondomains.ca.
http://cira.ca/en/media-room/news/221.html

7. .cn passes 10 million registrations
With the recent announcements that the .au ccTLD passing one million
registrations, and .es and .ca about to pass the magic number, in
January this year .cn passed another milestone. They reached their ten
millionth domain name registration and six millionth .cn registration
in January 2008.
And then in February they passed the three millionth .com.cn registration.
http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4331
http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/03/23/cn-passes-10-million-registrations/
http://www.domainnews.com/registries/2008032883/10-million-cn-registrations/

8. ICANN Board chair visits CNNIC [news release] Mr. Peter Dengate
Thrush, Chair of Board of Directors for ICANN, paid an official visit
to China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) on February 19,
2008. Director General of CNNIC, Mr. Mao Wei showed Mr. Thrush around
CNNIC and its DNS infrastructure.
http://www.cnnic.net.cn/html/Dir/2008/02/25/4995.htm

9. '.hk' Domain Name Spamvertising & Phishing Cases Drop As Stringent
Measures Take Effect An 86% drop in daily reports of spamvertising and
phishing cases using '.hk'
domains was recorded in 2007, according to the '.hk' Domain Name
Spamvertising & Phishing Report 2007 compiled by Hong Kong Domain Name
Registration Company Limited (HKDNR). A daily average of 59 such cases
was recorded from January to July 2007, while the number dropped
drastically to
8 from August to December 2007.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=sa&id=1205

10. How to Register a Domain Name in Hong Kong Hong Kong Domain Name
Registration Company Limited ("HK DNR") is the Hong Kong's authority
in charge of domain name registrations since 2001. HK DNR is under the
control of the Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation Limited
which is the national registry and registrar for the registration and
assignment of domain names in this country. Companies or individuals
can register the following country top-level domain names: .COM.HK,
.EDU.HK, .GOV.HK, .HK, .NET.HK, .ORG.HK in English and other Chinese
domain names.
This article provides start-up guidance on how to register these
English domain names in Hong Kong.
http://www.ibls.com/internet_law_news_portal_view.aspx?s=latestnews&id=2017

11. .LT domain is now accessible through IPv6 protocol .LT domain name
is accessible using IPv6 protocol since 9 March, 2008. This is one of
the .lt domain registry planned DNS service infrastructure upgrades,
to facilitate internet users and internet service providers who are
using or want to start using IP version 6 protocol.
http://nic.lt/public?pg=85D44E

12. .INFO Awards for German-speaking .INFO-Website [news release] From
March 17 to May 25 owners of German-speaking .INFO-Websites can apply
for the .INFO-Award that will award 18.000 Euro in prize money later
this year. The Award is created by global domain name registry Afilias
in media-cooperation with INTERNET WORLD Business and addresses .INFO
domain owners from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
http://www.afilias.info/news/press_releases/pr_articles/2008-03-17-02

13. .info Domains are Not Worthless!
While domain names with the TLD .info are highly associated with spam
because of their low costs, the domains are not worthless or always
associated with spam (I heard this about 10 times at SES NY).
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/info-domains-are-not-worthless/6574/

14. it: Update of the Regulations for the resolution of disputes in
the ccTLD "it" [news release] We would like to inform you that the new
updated versions of the Regulations for the resolution of disputes
(Version 1.1) has been published.
http://www.nic.it/en/novita/comunicazioni.html

15. my: Second Level Domain Name (2LD) Public Launch [news release]
MYNIC are launching registrations of .my domain names at the second
level and are encouraging eligible registrants to be ready for public
registration when it begins on March 25.
http://mynic.net.my/newhp/announcements/mynic-19mar08.html

16. SIDN Releases Numerical Domain Name Investigation Results The
controversial launch of .nl numerical domain names has been
investigated by SIDN, the .nl registry, following complaints by a
number of participants in the landrush between February 28 and 29.
http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/03/23/sidn-releases-numerical-domain-name-in
vestigation-results/
http://www.domainnews.com/registries/2008032885/sidn-releases-numerical-doma
in-name-investigation-results/

17. no: Temporary scheme for refunding the complaint fee (in Norwegian
only) [news release] http://www.norid.no/nytt/gebyr-tilbake.html

18. .SE releases report on tests of consumer broadband routers [news
release] Three of the ten routers that .SE has tested, have passed the
test specification without any remarks. The other seven have had
severe problems when using what might be considered plain Domain Name
System (DNS). The majority of the routers does not manage to pass on
DNSSEC to the client, which gives you problems when there are
applications on the client that want to handle their own DNSSEC
validation.
http://iis.se/about/press?id=135

19. uk: Nominet Welcome email - custom options [news release] On 18
March 2008 Nominet introduced some new functions to enable registrars
to customise the Nominet welcome email. Nominet sends a welcome email
to registrants 48 hours after a domain name is registered which allows
the user to log into their Nominet online services account to check
the details of their .uk domain name. Previously this welcome email
simply contained the name and main web site for the registrar the
customer used to register the domain name.
http://www.nominet.org.uk/news/latest/?contentId=4853

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 - DNS SECURITY
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20. Cyber Solidarity: Five Nations, One Mission [news release] Cyber
attacks, we've been saying for some time now, are the ultimate
borderless crimes: they can come from anywhere, anytime, impacting
millions of people and systems across the planet in the blink of an
eye. That's why we in the global law enforcement community have been
steadily building operational partnerships at every turn—through a
growing number of joint investigations and both formal and informal
collaborations and task forces.
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/march08/cybergroup_031708.html

21. UK government's plans for cyber-crime 'half-baked'
The Government has severely underestimated the threat the country
faces from cyber-crime and risks having its own networks breached by
foreign spies if it doesn't devote more resources to the problem, the
security industry has said.
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3590336.ece

22. FBI Opens Probe of China-Based Hackers The FBI has opened a
preliminary investigation of a report that China-based hackers have
penetrated the e-mail accounts of leaders and members of the Save
Darfur Coalition, a national advocacy group pushing to end the
six-year-old conflict in Sudan.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/20/AR2008032003
193.html

23. Tibet - the cyber wars
We know that YouTube has been blocked in China, as the authorities
seek to control what they see as biased Western coverage of events in
Tibet, but there is a wider battle being fought in cyberspace. Tibet
protest groups have been in touch to say they are under attack, with
emails arriving containing attachments that are designed to infect or
take over their computers.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2008/03/tibet_the_cyber_wars.html

24. Cyber Attacks Target Pro-Tibet Groups Human rights and
pro-democracy groups sympathetic to anti-China demonstrators in Tibet
are being targeted by sophisticated cyber attacks designed to disrupt
their work and steal information on their members and activities.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102
605.html

25. VeriSign Expands Project Titan to Strengthen Internet
Infrastructure VeriSign announced an expansion of its Project Titan
initiative to include additional security upgrades aimed at
strengthening its global Internet infrastructure. Building on its
initiative to expand and diversify the capacity of its global Internet
infrastructure by 10 times by 2010, VeriSign announced it would expand
its existing security by:
http://technewsreview.com.au/article.php?article=4320
http://www.domainpulse.com/2008/03/20/verisign-expands-project-titan-to-stre
ngthen-internet-infrastructure/
http://www.domainnews.com/registries/2008032873/verisign-expands-project-tit
an-to-strengthen-internet-infrastructure/

26. VeriSign commits to increasing e-commerce capacity On Thursday,
VeriSign announced plans to expand Project Titan, a global initiative
to expand the infrastructure of the Internet to anticipate future
demand brought by increased e-commerce transactions.
http://www.news.com/8301-10789_3-9899747-57.html

27. VeriSign Expands Project Titan to Strengthen Internet
Infrastructure with New Security Upgrades [news release] VeriSign,
Inc. announced an expansion of its Project Titan initiative to include
additional security upgrades aimed at strengthening its global
Internet infrastructure.
http://www.verisign.com/press_releases/pr/page_043450.html

28. UK national threat assessment to be made public The full gamut of
dangers facing Britain, from terrorist plots to disasters caused by
climate change, is to be spelt out by the Government in the form of an
annual national threat register, Gordon Brown announced. A new-style
civil defence network, modelled on the Second World War air-raid
wardens – "but without the uniforms" – is also to be set up. Members
of the public can join it to help local authorities and emergency
services at a time of national crisis. ... Included in the threats
delineated in the White Paper was cyber warfare.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3587101.ece

29. China and Darfur by Nicholas D. Kristof Is the Chinese Government
orchestrating I.T. assaults on websites that advocate for Darfur? The
Save Darfur Coalition reported that it has been subject to
sophisticated Internet attacks — attacks that apparently originated in
China. And Eric Reeves, who runs a Darfur-related website, says that
his site has been attacked as well, along with that of Dream for
Darfur, an organization that focuses on pressuring China in the run-up
to the Olympics because of its close associations with the Sudanese
government.
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/china-and-darfur-2/

30. US Firms Brace for Cyber War
A new breed of large-scale cyber attack threatens to wreak havoc on U.S.
businesses and government organizations, according to Rutgers
professor Michael Lesk. The academic used the example of last April's
cyber mayhem in Estonia to illustrate this point during his keynote at
yesterday's Business Continuity and Corporate Security show in New
York.
http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=148929

31. FBI looks at Chinese role in Darfur site hack [IDG] The U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into a possible China
connection in the hack of a nonprofit group created to draw attention
to the ongoing genocide in western Sudan's Darfur region.
http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleI
d=9070778

32. Florida botnet herder sheared by cops, faces 10 years in pen Most
21-year-olds in the US are either off at college enjoying their
newfound freedom to drink themselves into a stupor, or already
throwing themselves into the workforce (possibly also drinking
themselves into a stupor). But 21-year-old Robert Matthew Bentley
instead faces jail time and up to $250,000 in fines after pleading
guilty for installing adware on "hundreds of computers" across Europe.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080320-florida-botnet-herder-sheared-
by-cops-faces-10-years-in-pen.html

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 - DOMAIN DISPUTES
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33. Register.com Loses Register.cc Battle In terms of size,
Register.com is Goliath and Domain-It is David. According to
RegistrarStats.com, Register.com controls 2,635,000 domains compared
to Domain-It's 25,000.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/03/20/registercom-loses-registercc-battle/

34. Network Solutions pulls plug on Dutch politician's anti-Qur'an
film The website where Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders was promoting his
not-yet-released anti-Qur'an film has been suspended by its US hosting
service.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/mar/24/netherlands.usa

35. Dutch Islam film website 'shut'
A website that a Dutch right-wing politician was planning to use to
release a film expected to be fiercely critical of Islam has been
suspended. The US hosting service, Network Solutions, said it was
investigating complaints that it may have breached guidelines on hate
language.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7310439.stm

36. Fitna Website Suspended While Network Solutions Investigates [news
release] Network Solutions has suspended the fitnathemovie.com website
while Network Solutions is investigating whether the site's content is
in violation of the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy.
http://newsroom.networksolutions.com/2008/fitna-website-suspended-while-netw
ork-solutions-investigates/

37. NSI: "Don't Taunt Them, Kill Them" by John Berryhill Clearly
whatever it is that Dutch politician Geert Wilders wants to talk about
in his film is going to be the end of the internet. The news that
Network Solutions decided to pre-empt his use of a domain name
registered through them for the purpose of promoting his film need not
be re-hashed here.
http://www.circleid.com/posts/832412_nsi_dont_taunt_them/

38. Anti-Koran Film Site Suspended By Network Solutions Network
Solutions on Saturday suspended a Web site registered by controversial
Dutch politician Geert Wilders who said he planned to use the site to
host a movie critical of Islam and the Koran. "Network Solutions has
suspended the fitnathemovie.com Web site while Network Solutions is
investigating whether the site's content is in violation of the
Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy," the company said in a
statement. "We have received a number of complaints regarding this
site that are under investigation."
http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206905379

39. Domain Name Registrars: The Weakest Link in Online Free Speech A
storm building around a 15-minute online Dutch film critical of the
Quran is emblematic not only of the growing ability of cyber forces to
banish divergent views -- but also, more specifically, the utter
unwillingness of domain name registrars to stand firm against those
viral tides of protest.
One of them, Network Solutions, has temporarily suspended a site on
which Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders had planned to air his film.
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/62277.html

40. Google loses bid for EU-wide trademark on Gmail name [Bloomberg]
Google lost its bid to get European Union-wide trademark protection
for "Gmail," the name of its Web-based e-mail service. The Gmail name
is too similar to an existing German trademark, according to a ruling
by the EU's trademark agency published on its Web site.
http://www.siliconvalley.com/news/ci_8622621

41. Anti-Trust Complaint Filed Against ICANN, Registerfly and Enom Two
individuals have filed a complaint in US Federal Court in California
accusing ICANN, Registerfly.com and Enom.com of anti-trust activities.
The complainants are seeking $25 Million in damages. Accusations found
in the court documents also claim the companies were involved in
racketeering, RICO violations, Sherman Anti-Trust Act violations,
fraud, breach of contract, negligence and more.
http://www.domainnamenews.com/icann-policy/anti-trust-complaint-filed-agains
t-icann-registerfly-and-enom/1484

42. How to Protect Your 3 Character Domain Names Three letter domain
names are valuable. But owning them carries risk: since so many
companies have three character acronyms, they often feel they are
entitled to your domain.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/03/24/how-to-protect-your-3-character-domain-
names/

**********************
 - MISCELLANEOUS
**********************
43. This Week in Law #13: Domain Name Law This episode of This Week in
Law is hosted by Denise Howell with guests Bret Fausett, Cathy
Kirkman, Collette Vogele and Marty Schwimmer. Topics covered are
WikiLeaks, Julius Baer, Dynadot, registrars, domain tasting vs. front
running, ICANN, Network Solutions, and more.
http://twit.tv/twil13

44. FBI posts fake hyperlinks to snare child porn suspects The FBI has
recently adopted a novel investigative technique: posting hyperlinks
that purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, and then
raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them.
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9899151-38.html

45. VeriSign March/April Digital Branding Bulletin VeriSign have
released their March/April 2008 Digital Branding Bulletin that
spotlights initiatives customers identified as important to them such
as the "Service Delivery team's renewed focus on providing excellent
service" and Brand and Fraud Protection Services. There are also ccTLD
updates on .pr, .asia, .rs and .cr, gTLD update on .tel and the recent
announcement from VeriSign that there are now more than 153 million
domain names registered.
Other issues covered include Email Address Typosquatting Posing
Serious Leakage Threat and Researchers Name top 6 Spamming Botnets.
http://www.verisign.com/Resources/Digital_Brand_Management_Services_Resource
s/Digital_Branding_Bulletin/page_043444.html

46. Demand Media Raises Another $35 Million; Total Comes To $355
Million Demand Media, the the Santa Monica-based social and domain
name media firm, has raised another $35 million in its fourth round of
funding, according to SEC filings picked up by PEHub.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/24/paidcontent/main3964854.shtml

47. What's Demand Media doing with all that money?
With $35 million in new financing disclosed Monday, Demand Media has
now raised $355 million in about two years. This leads to an obvious
question:
what exactly are they planning to do with that money, take over the Internet?
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9902440-7.html

48. Highlighterz: Helping to Kill Off Domain Parking One Click at a
Time Ever wonder why advertisers want to opt out of domain name
advertising?
Fraud. Here's just another example that went live yesterday:
highlighterz.com.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/03/25/highlighterz-helping-to-kill-off-domain
-parking-one-click-at-a-time/

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 - DOMAINING
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49. The Deep End by Paul Venezia: Domain squatting for fun and profit
I just got off the phone with MarkMonitor, a company that according to
the fellow I spoke with is hired by multi-national corporations to
register and squat on domain names in the interest of brand security.
I was calling them to inquire about a specific domain name that they
had registered -- a domain that was simply an ad page. I was hoping to
use that domain for a little project, but I was told that in order to
even inquire about the potential availability of the domain, I would
have to have my attorney contact them directly, and then go through a
process that might take a few months before finding out if I might
have the privilege to buy the domain on their terms.
I asked him if he saw any problem with this, and he went on a brief
tirade about protecting brand identity, and then roughly slammed the
phone down, hanging up on me. Great sales tactic, no?
http://weblog.infoworld.com/venezia/archives/016471.html

50. Why Domaining is Not a Mainstream Industry I was reading the State
of the Industry report at DNJournal the other day and it helped to
underline something that has been on my mind for a while now - on a
global scale, domaining as a mainstream industry has a long way to go.
http://www.dotsauce.com/2008/03/24/why-domaining-is-not-a-mainstream-industr
y/

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 - AFTERMARKET
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51. Extend the Value of Your Domain Name & Realize a Multiple on Your
Investment One of the coolest things about owning a domain name is
that you can get into just about any type of business your heart
desires. Domain ownership breaks down some of the barriers of entry in
an industry, and it allows you to jump right in feet first. You don't
necessarily need to sell product or services to be in a particular
business, and you can make your own niche in the industry....
http://www.elliotsblog.com/index.php/2008/03/20/buy-a-domain-name-and-start-
a-business/
http://tcattorney.typepad.com/anticybersquatting_consum/2008/03/extend-the-v
alu.html

52. Get a good name on the web
Having the right web address can boost business for small firms.
Rachel Bridge looks at how to go about getting it
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/entrepreneur/article3601591.e
ce

53. Name That Firm: What should you call your business?
Selecting a name is one of the most important decisions a company will
ever make. But a lot of small businesses don't give it nearly enough
thought.
When Damien Wolf christened his branding and design business, for
example, he did what a lot of professional-services firms do: He
slapped his own last name on the office door.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120526710337728101.html

54. What's in a name? Plenty.
Today's Wall Street Journal has a nice article on the importance of
choosing a good name to establish a strong corporate identity. The
story highlights some interesting aspects when deciding on a company
name and identity. It also talks about the importance of making sure
that there is a tie between online presence and the corporate name by
way of a solid, memorable domain name.
http://about.tucows.com/2008/03/17/whats-in-a-name-plenty/

55. Fund.com Changes Hands for $9,999,950 in the Largest Cash Deal
Reported to Date When news reports started appearing today (including
one at CNN.com) that Fund.com had been sold for the highest cash price
ever reported ($9,999,950) there were elements to the story that had
me wondering if it was legitimate.
I brought those doubts up in a thread at the DomainState.com forum but
a member there, investor George Kirikos, dug through the purchaser's
Jan. 15 SEC filing and confirmed the transaction had been reported to
the U.S.
government at the stated amount. You don't make that kind of stuff up
in SEC filings unless you have a fondness for jail cells.
http://dnjournal.com/archive/domainsales/2008/domainsales03-18-08.htm

56. Afternic Hits Long Drive with DrivingRanges.com It's been several
months since Afternic announced it would begin auctioning expiring
domains. I've played around with Afternic's expired domain auctions,
but until this weekend most of the auctions have ended for less than a
few hundred dollars.
http://domainnamewire.com/2008/03/24/afternic-hits-long-drive-with-drivingra
ngescom/

**********************
 - NON-ENGLISH NEWS
**********************
57. 20 Jahre .at-Domains: Mehr als 700.000 österreichische Webseiten
[APA] Seit zwanzig Jahren gibt es österreichische Internetseiten. 1998
wurde die österreichische Top-Level-Domain .at in den USA offiziell
registriert.
Damals, als die Domainverwaltung noch der Universität Wien unterstand,
gab es erst eine Hand voll .at-Seiten - heute sind es mehr als
700.000. Die rasante Entwicklung der heimischen Internetlandschaft ist
auch geprägt von der Gründung der österreichischen
Registrierungsstelle nic.at, die heuer ihr zehnjähriges Jubiläum
feiert.
http://derstandard.at/?url=/?id=3270933
http://www.networld.at/index.html?/articles/0812/542/200680.shtml
http://www.nachrichten.at/digitalesleben/online/659827

58. Mehr als 700.000 .at-Adressen im Internet Mehr als 700.000
österreichische .at-Webseiten gibt es inzwischen im
Internet: Das meldet die Registrierungsstelle Nic.at mit Sitz in Salzburg.
http://salzburg.orf.at/stories/264814/

59. FBI ködert Kinderporno-Kunden
Die amerikanische Bundespolizei FBI jagt auf zweifelhafte Weise nach
Kinderporno-Kunden: Das FBI hat Links zu Websites mit entsprechendem
Material verbreitet. Wer klickte, musste damit rechnen, verhaftet zu
werden, da bereits der Versuch strafbar ist, sich solches Material zu
verschaffen.
http://www.golem.de/0803/58534.html

60. La Czech Arbitration Court souhaite introduire la Class Complaint
La Czech Arbitration Court, projette de modifier le règlement ADR pour
y introduire une action de groupe, une procédure bienvenue mais qui
pourrait soulever quelques difficultés.
http://domainesinfo.fr/actualite/1462/la-czech-arbitration-court-souhaite-in
troduire-la-class-complaint.php

61. Des .TK sans publicités
Le registre du .TK suspend l'obligation d'afficher sa publicité sur
les noms qu'il enregistre gratuitement, ce qui était le cas jusqu'à
présent. Un niveau minimum de fréquentation du site correspondant est
cependant exigé.
http://domainesinfo.fr/extension/1465/tokelau-des-tk-sans-publicites.php

62. Des .GP à deux chiffres
Le registre guadeloupéen vient d'ouvrir l'accès à l'enregistrement de
noms en .GP uniquement composés de 2 chiffres.
http://domainesinfo.fr/extension/1461/guadeloupe-des-gp-a-deux-chiffres.php

63. Un coup final porté au .XXX ?
On ne pensait plus en entendre parler depuis le non définitif de
l'ICANN à Lisbonne en mars 2007, le .XXX revient pourtant dans
l'actualité.
http://stephanevangelder.com/archives/46-Un-coup-final-porte-au-.XXX.html

64. La notte che fu spento l'IPv4
Al recente meeting di Philadelphia, la Internet Engineering Task Force
(IETF) ha condotto un interessante esperimento: per circa un'ora ha "chiuso"
l'IPv4. Oramai da alcuni anni, nei meeting della IETF è prevista una
connettività IPv4/IPv6; in quest'ultima riunione, però, verso le sette
di sera, l'IPv4 è stato "spento", forzando i circa 1200 partecipanti,
provenienti da tutto il mondo, a usare solo indirizzi IPv6. Secondo
Leslie Daigle — Chief Internet Technology Officer della Internet
Society — questo test si è rivelato un successo.
http://www.programmazione.it/index.php?entity=eitem&idItem=38891

65. "iphone.es" recuperado ante la OMPI.
La empresa Audiodescripciones S.A. de Sevilla, España, logró recuperar
el dominio "iphone.es", por ser la titular de la marca IPHONE en
España.
http://www.leandrotoscano.com/2008/03/iphonees-recuperado-ante-la-ompi.html

66. .bo: Se emite listado de nombres de dominio reservados para
registro bajo el ccTLD .bo Mendiante la Resolución Administrativa
012/2008, la Agencia para el Desarrollo de la Sociedad de la
Información en Bolivia (ADSIB) ha establecido el listado de dominios
reservados bajo el ccTLD .bo.
http://www.latinoamericann.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=1609
http://www.leandrotoscano.com/2008/03/bo-se-emite-listado-de-nombres-de.html

67. El dominio '.cat' alcanza los 27.500 registros en dos años El
dominio '.cat', único específico para una comunidad cultural y
lingüística, ha llegado a los más de 27.500 registros en sus primeros
dos años de vida y ha anunciado una rebaja del 25% sobre el precio
actual de registro de cualquier dominio durante su primer año.
http://www.latinoamericann.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article
&sid=1608

68. Deel numerieke domeinnamen terug naar SIDN voor heruitgifte [news
release] Vandaag publiceert SIDN, de .nl registry, de resultaten van
haar onderzoek naar de procesgang en uitkomsten van de introductie van
numerieke domeinnamen die op 28 en 29 februari j.l. plaatsvond. Dit
onderzoek toont aan dat gedurende het eerste uur van de landrush er
zeer grote belangstelling was, maar dat met name twee deelnemers zeer
veel registratiecapaciteit bezet hebben gehouden. Naar aanleiding
hiervan heeft SIDN de betreffende partijen aangesproken. De uitkomst
van deze gesprekken is dat een belangrijk deel van de door deze
partijen geregistreerde numerieke domeinnamen door SIDN opnieuw voor
registratie aan het publiek beschikbaar wordt gesteld.
http://www.sidn.nl/ace.php/c,727,5577,,,,Uitkomst_landrush_gecorrigeerd.html

69. Deel uitgifte cijfer-domeinnamen teruggedraaid Een deel van de
uitgifte van domeinnamen die uitsluitend uit cijfers bestaan, is
teruggedraaid. Twee bedrijven sleepten onevenredig grote hoeveelheden
domeinen in de wacht bij een procedure waarbij de domeinnamen werden
verdeeld. In overleg met de Stichting Internet Domeinregistratie
Nederland (SIDN), die de uitgifte regelt, hebben de bedrijven een deel
van de domeinnamen teruggegeven, meldt de SIDN.
http://www.trouw.nl/laatstenieuws/laatstenieuws/article947523.ece/

70. MijnAlbum-domeinen kwijt
De vier slimme internetnerds van MijnAlbum.nl moeten honderden
numerieke domeinnamen inleveren.
http://www.ad.nl/multi-media/2164261/MijnAlbumdomeinen_kwijt.html

71. Prøveordning med tilbakebetaling av klagegebyr [news release]
Norid innfører en prøveordning der klager får refundert klagegebyret
hvis domeneklagenemnda gir klagen medhold.
http://www.norid.no/nytt/gebyr-tilbake.html

72. Story in Czech dealing with IP addressing
http://www.ihned.cz/c3-23480750-000000_d-pharming-muze-osalit-i-zkusenejsiho
-uzivatele-internetu