DNS.be, the organization who operate the Belgium ccTLD .be, offers a new service for the holder of a .be domain. The registrant of a .be domain can request a certificate in pdf format with the details of the individual or organization who is registered as the holder of the .be domain in question.
The purpose of this certificate is to verify that the domain has been registered with correct details and that the domain can be used for certain business transactions, such as applying for a digital certificate.
The below message will be send by DNS.be after the request.
Dear …
On 16 March, Nominet the ccTLD operator for *.uk reported they had over 10 million registrations. The 10th million .uk domain name registered is SwarveMagazine.co.uk. According to whois records the 10th million .uk domain name was registered by Steven Northam.
“We’ve been growing at around the 10% for the past couple of years,” said Nominet’s chief executive, Lesley Cowley.
Yesterday, SIDN the operator for the ccTLD .NL registered more then 4.9 million registrations. .NL is one of the largest ccTLDs in terms of total registrations . SIDN celebrated its three millionth domain name registration in 2008,while its two millionth milestone …
According to a post from ICANN there are currently 889 users registered in the TLD Application System (TAS). Each user can apply for 50 TLD’s. 50×889 = 44450. A staggering number that surely will not be met. Industry experts expect around 2000 applications.
Tremendous anticipation, planning, and work drove toward 12 January, 2012, the day ICANN began accepting applications for new gTLDs.
Organizations who choose to apply to operate a top-level domain have merely begun a journey that will most likely carry them into 2013. If you’re curious about the next phases of ICANN’s New gTLD Program, here are …
WIPO handled slightly more UDRP cases compared to 2010.
Though the amount of UDRP cases is just slightly higher compared to 2010 the amount of domains involved was up by 9.4%. A smillar trend is noticed by ccTLD registries who use their own ADR procedure to resolve domain name disputed.

Since ICANN appointed WIPO as one of the parties to handle domain disputes back in 1999, WIPO handled more then 22.5000 UDRP cases and this number will only increase according to WIPO with the launch of the new gTLD‘s at the end of this year. How high this increase …
Eurid just released their Q4 results of 2011.
.EU has matured as an extension. This was demonstrated by .eu consumer loyalty,shown in the robust and stable registration renewal rate.In 2011, 81.6% of .eu domain names were renewed which was consistent with 2010’s renewal rate (81.7%) and above the industry average.
Eurid 2011 Highlights.
- In 2011 Eurid reached a total registrations of 3.51 million .EU domain names.
- DNSSEC rollout started
- Website usage research. This study revealed that 31.4% of the .EU websites are being used for business usuage. Full report here.
- Eurid closed the case on sex.eu
Number crunching. …
As mentioned earlier this month ICANN is moving towards a new WHOIS eco system.
ICANN is pleased to announce the posting of the draft
roadmap to implement ICANN’s Security and Stability Advisory Committee’s Report on Domain Name WHOIS Terminology and Structure (SAC 051). To make or view comments click here. The SSAC report specifically targets, among other things, the “internationalization” of the WHOIS protocol, reflecting concern about the inability of the current WHOIS protocol to consistently handle non-ASCII data. Additionally, SAC 051 recommends terminology to be used to clarify discussions where traditionally the terms Whois or WHOIS have been used. …
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has embarked on a programme of allowing new generic top-level domains on the internet (like .com), an initiative that has worried trademark holders and international organisations.
ICANN has recently appointed WIPO as ” the exclusive provider of dispute resolution services for trademark based ‘pre-delegation’ Legal Rights Objections under ICANN’s New gTLD Program”. ”
WIPO will be handling objections to proposed strings filed by Trademark and other rights holders and is part of the Trademark Rights Protection Mechanism for new gTLD’s.
About WIPO.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one …
Afnic has published their IDN specifications last Friday. This is the last step before the sunrise period with the ‘grandfathering’ rule that starts the third of May. This move will extend the number of characters which can used to create a domain name to 67, versus the 37 now. The new IDN rules apply to all the extensions under control of Afnic (.fr, .re, .tf, .wf, .pm and .yt).
The entity filing an IDN must hold an ASCII-equivalent domain name for the transaction to be accepted. However, if the ASCII equivalent has not yet been filed, it will be possible …
The senate in the Philippines approved a new law wich classifies cybersquatting as act of crime. Squatters could face six to 12 years in jail if found guilty under the new Senate Bill.
Min and Max
Six years is the minimum term with a maximum of twelve years.
There is however an alternative punishment of a 500,000 peso fine (roughly $12,000)
According to the new Philippine law cybersquatting is :
The acquisition of a domain name over the internet in bad faith to profit, mislead, destroy reputation, and deprive others from registering the same, if such a domain name is: …
WHOIS verification rules coming this year ?
It appears that ICANN wants to ensure that Mickey Mouse is no longer present as the registrant of domain names.
“Registrars could be obliged to verify their customers’ identities when they sell domain names under new rules proposed for later this year, according to ICANN president Rod Beckstrom in a letter to Lawrence Strickling of the NTIA”
Currently the new Registrar Accreditions Agreements are being renegotiated by ICANN and the registrar community after recent discussions with the Governmental Advisory Committee.
ICANN expects that the RAA will incorporate – for the first time – …