News
IDN Success in Italy
Starting on 11 July dot .it domains got their accents and also started speaking French and German. Nearly eight thousand IDNs (Internationalized Domain Names) were registered in just four hours - an incredible success! In the first five minutes 19,000 requests were handled, which led to the registration of 1,737 names, allocated on a "first come first served" basis. The growth has been exponential right from the start: after 30 minutes 2,620 domains had already been registered, and after an hour 3,000 domains (with a total of 92,362 requests received).
The first dot it IDN name - perché.it - was registered after just 3 seconds, then 5 seconds later perchè.it - i.e with the accent the other way round, and thus incorrect, was also registered. The second name to be registered was più.it, followed by casinò.it . Among the first hundred names were the most common words like papà, caffè and società, but also words that in normal written Italian don’t actually have accents - agentì, pizzà and ìtalià. And then there are the city or country names written in the original language e.g. österreich.it and köln.it.
The numbers speak for themselves, but this is only the beginning: with the extended character set it is now possible to register not just new names with accents, but also the corresponding translations into, for example French and German, of names already registered in Italian (for example, ragazzo.it can become garçon.it, or strasburgo.it can become straßburg.it).
The Italian Registry’s system worked to perfection, supporting the enormous number of requests received.
The success was made possible by the introduction of the synchronous registration system in September 2009 that allows the management of a large number of registrations in real time.
PIR Hits 10 Million .ORG Domain Registrations
The Public Interest Registry (PIR) has reached a major milestone with the registration of its 10 millionth .ORG domain name: JADFORUM.ORG, which was registered on June 24, 2012 with Go Daddy. The domain name was registered by the Jordan River and Dead Sea Basin Forum (JAD), an organization dedicated to advancing the sustainable and regional development of the Jordan River and Dead Sea Basin watershed shared by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
Click to go to Full Article
DNS Changer malware in Switzerland - SWITCH offers online check.
"DNS Changer" is the name of the malware that has infected PCs here in Switzerland too. On the affected PCs, the DNS system has been changed in such a way that the user is diverted to other websites without noticing it. In November 2011, the American FBI was able to arrest the fraudsters and replace the DNS servers used by the criminals by correctly operating servers. These servers are being definitively switched off on 9 July 2012, however. As a result, infected computers will no longer have access to the Internet.
Go to Full Article
AFNIC continues as the registry for the .fr TLD
In an Order, Ms Fleur Pellerin, Junior Minister for the Digital Economy, appointed Afnic as the registry for the .fr TLD for a new five year term.
The decision came after a call for applications issued on 22 March 2012, complying with the new legislative framework for domain names implemented in 2011.
"This decision honours and rewards the quality of the work performed by AFNIC teams, and above all vouches for our main responsibility, which is to provide a safe and stable service fostering the development of innovation and designed to meet the needs of all French stakeholders," said Jean-Pierre Dardayrol".
Go to Full Article
ICANN44 Report Available
The report covers the sessions of the ccNSO, GNSO and GAC.
.cat Develops Innovative Application for Children with Autism
Thanks to more than 50,000 .cat registered domains, the
puntCAT aid program has helped to develop an innovative iPad application for
children with autism and other special needs. The pioneer iSEQUENCES is
available in Catalan, English, French and Spanish from this link of iTunes
Store http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/isequences/id506624913?mt=8
Click to go to original article (Catalan language)
Call for speakers for the 5th International Conference for ccTLD registries and registrars of CIS, Central and Eastern Europe
If you want to share your experience on one of the topics presented in the program, please send the title of your report and its key messages to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please note that the deadline for speakers to submit their topics is August 15, 2012.
Preliminary program of the conference:
The venue for this year's conference in Budva is Avala Resort Hotel. Participants can book single or double rooms with discount rates available for attendees. The deadline for bookings is August 12, 2012. Conference attendees are free to book a room in any other hotel in Budva by their own and on general terms, but please note that September is a high season in Montenegro, so it is highly recommended to book your accomodation in advance.
Participation in the conference is free, but please note that it is mandatory to register.
Attendees have to carry the accommodation and transportation costs by themselves. Visa support for participants that need a visa to enter Montenegro will be arranged on an individual basis. Please check if you need a visa to Montenegro before making travel arrangements.
The latest information on the 5th International Conference for ccTLD registries and registrars of CIS, Central and Eastern Europe is available on the conference's website, http://meeting.cctld.ru/en/.
All attendees are to register before 1 September 2012. Speakers are welcome to send their topics to Julia Ovchinnikova:
RNIDS Invitation to Tender for Designation as Secondary Domain Name Service (DNS) Provider
Register of National Internet Domain Names of Serbia, (RNIDS), is seeking Secondary DNS providers to bid to host secondary DNS servers for up to twenty infrastructure zones and nearly 80.000 records. This number is expected to grow, particularly in light of fast growing Internet community in Serbia. Additionally, RNIDS is looking for sites that are situated globally, utilizing anycast technology as per RFC 4786.
All contractual terms and conditions related to the work performed, Non-disclosure of information, or liability issues must be detailed. RNIDS will require that the vendor performing this service sign a Non-disclosure agreement due to the proprietary nature of the information RNIDS retains for its subscribers.
Proposals must be submitted before 12:00 Central European Time on 20 July 2012 for consideration, and must include a statement of work, full pricing details, and references.
Full text of the RFP can be obtained by sending e-mail to: rnids[dot]dnsrfp[at]rnids[dot]rs
Go to Origin Article
DomainWire 2012 Stat Report Available
CENTR has published the latest edition DomainWire Stat Report (2012) - a bi-annual publication from CENTR giving an update on some basic internet statistics with a focus on domain names particularly in Europe.
The report covers the following areas:
- Global Top Level Domains proportions between gTLD and ccTLD
- Top 20 largest ccTLDs
- Domain name penetration of ccTLDs in Europe
- Growth of ccTLDs in Europe
- Highest Growth European ccTLDs
- Domain name renewal averages
- World Internet Usage
Click to access the report 
Follow CENTR on Twitter @CENTRnews