News


CENTR Monthly Roundup September 2012
The latest CENTR Monthly Roundup is now available.
This edition (September 2012)
- Member 185
- Survey Summary on Whois and Registration Query limiting
- CENTR statistics
- Article: "Will .SE shutdown the piratebay.se?"
- Upcoming Events


Consultation on new .uk domain name service
Nominet is launching a consultation on the potential introduction of a new service, which if approved would signal a significant change for the .uk domain name space. The proposed new service, called direct.uk, is aimed at businesses and would potentially offer shorter domain names registered at the second level (i.e. www.yourbusiness.uk) as well as one of the most comprehensive package of security features available.


Heiki Sibul appointed new director of Estonian Internet Foundation
Taking up the post of director of the Estonian Internet Foundation (EIF) on 25 September will be Heiki Sibul. Marika Priske, the chairman of the supervisory board of the EIF, says that Sibul is a highly experienced manager under whose aegis Estonia became the first country in the world to launch e-voting. “It’s very important that we make the most of Heiki’s unique skills in system structuring to maintain the reputation for reliability that the Estonian domain name has,” she said.
Sibul says that he is hoping to represent the Estonian Internet community in the best way possible through open cooperation. “What I’m aiming to achieve is an Estonian Internet that’s stable and secure and to contribute to defending Internet freedom,” he said.
“As one of the founders of the EIF, the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications is really pleased that such an experienced manager will be taking the reins,” said association president Taavi Kotka. “We have high expectations of him! We hope to shortly see a specific plan outlining the steps the EIF will take to become an open organisation that will work with all of the members of the Estonian Internet community.”
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Internet Festival 2012 Pisa, Italy- "Forms of the Future"
From 4 to 7 October, Pisa will be hosting the Internet Festival, an event to discover and explore the trends and future developments of the Net. The theme for 2012 is "Forms of the Future" which focuses on a full program of events and meetings through which to investigate how the Internet has been reshaping the social, cultural and economic landscape of the world.
The festival is free to the public, and is being promoted by the Tuscan Regional Administration, the Municipal Council of Pisa, the Italian National Research Council (CNR), the Italian Registry and Institute for Informatics and Telematics of the CNR, with the Chamber of Commerce of Pisa, the Provincial Administration of Pisa, the University of Pisa, the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, the Scuola Normale Superiore, and the Association Festival of Science.
The Festival has three underlying themes: Internet for Citizens (I4C) which focuses on digital democracy, Internet for Makers (I4M) on business and the economy, and Internet for Tellers (I4T) on the web as a vehicle of expression and opinion. Then there are the TTours, workshops for students of primary, secondary and high schools on topics ranging from programming and problem solving, creating apps, designing ebooks, and Internet security. Finally, IF Events: events of popular and cultural scientific thought for a diverse audience, with various means of interaction.
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CZ.NIC Unveils a New Logo and .CZ Brand
The CZ.NIC Association, maintainer of the Czech national domain, today launched its new logo and with it the .CZ brand (PDF). This was the first step in a gradual transformation of the visual identity of the entire Association that will take place over the coming months. The new design will be used, among others, for the logos of the individual CZ.NIC departments and projects (such as the CZ.NIC Laboratories) and the www.nic.cz website. The new .CZ brand should primarily help registrars who promote the Czech national domain among their end customers. The CZ.NIC Association last changed its logo when it migrated to the new registration system FRED. This occurred at the beginning of October 2007, almost exactly five years ago. Currently, the CZ.NIC Association registers over 980,000 domains with the Czech national suffix.
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Autumn issue of .eu Identity available
This issue includes practical tips about complying with the
European Union’s Cookie Directive and useful advice from expert Samuel Colak on
whether apps are suitable for your business.
.eu websites are used by inspiring companies. The magazine features the German motor racing team InterNetX-Reiter and their behind-the-scenes support from web hosting and public relations companies that all use .eu for their web presence. It is not only small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the frame as .eu websites from some of Europe’s best-known companies and biggest brands are also showcased.
Open the : .eu Identity Magazine


.RU Hits 4 Million Domain Milestone
On 17 September 2012 an important event occurred in Russian domain space: a four-million–name was registered in domain .RU. The previous boundary of 3 500 000 domain names was marked in domain .RU 11 months ago.
By the number of registered domain names Russian ccTLD .RU currently takes the 6th position among world ccTLDs and the 10th among all gTLDs. The rate of growth of ccTLD .RU in 2012 has and the annual growth of domain names accounts for 16%. It is one of the highest figures among major ccTLDs.
“4 000 000 domain names in .RU prove that Russian ccTLD is popular with users. Moreover, there are more than 800 000 domain names in the Cyrillic domain .РФ, therefore the total number of Russian domain names is coming to 5 000 000. It means that Internet in Russia is growing at high rate: the number of Internet users is growing, the interest of Russians in the network as a communication means is increasing and the domain names are more and more used for business development,” said CEO of Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ Andrey Kolesnikov.
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Afnic Domain Name Industry Report issues its 1st key figures
Launched by Afnic for the first time in 2007, the purpose of the Domain Name Industry Report is to improve the understanding of domain names and the market players,while providing keys with which to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the market. For this sixth edition, the Report, designed in partnership with T


DNS.be is looking for Java developers
DNS.be is looking for talented people to develop a new version of the registration system using the most modern technologies.
Go to Original Press Release

.kiwi.nz launch pushes domain names past half-million mark
InternetNZ (Internet New Zealand Inc) subsidiary the Domain Name Commission has today launched a new second level domain – .kiwi.nz – a move that has pushed the total number of .nz registrations past 500,000.
Domain Name Commissioner Debbie Monahan expresses delight at the half-million .nz registrations and .kiwi.nz launch, describing today as a landmark day for the New Zealand Internet.
The 500,000 milestone comes nearly ten years after InternetNZ introduced a competitive market for .nz domain name registrations. There are now over 80 organisations providing .nz registration services, and Monahan credits their role and commitment in spurring the tremendous growth in .nz names.
“Ultimately, this is the result of the willingness of many thousands of people who have chosen .nz names to represent themselves online, and the hard work that .nz registrars have done in promoting the .nz domain name space.”
Over the past ten years the .nz domain name space has experienced average yearly growth of 38,280, with the upward trajectory showing no signs of slowing. Monahan says this is partly because people identify strongly with the .nz domain. She points to a recent report from Europe which found that most businesses continue to put their faith in the local country’s domain, favouring these over generic names such as .com.
“New Zealanders have a choice when it comes to registering domain names, and we acknowledge and thank the half-million holders of .nz names for their support,” she says.
Monahan expects today’s introduction of the .kiwi.nz second-level will give further impetus to the .nz domain name space. What better way to demonstrate that New Zealand is your home than to register a new .kiwi.nz domain name,” she says.
Registrations for .kiwi.nz opened at 10am and in the first fifteen minutes over 1000 names were registered. Monahan thanks InternetNZ subsidiary NZRS for its firm stewardship of the .nz registry during today’s launch, saying it coped admirably with the influx of .kiwi.nz registrations.
More information about registering a .nz domain name is available online at http://dnc.org.nz/story/faq-registrants?m=324.
For more information contact:
Debbie Monahan
Domain Name Commissioner
021 891 620
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.