ICANN today posts the next version of the Frameworks and Principles for consultation

• Read the Accountability and Transparency Frameworks and Principles for Consultation [PDF, 180K]
• Send comments to draft-mop-2007@icann.org
• View comments at forum.icann.org/lists/draft-mop-2007

These documents have been in development since late 2006. The process began with a consultation which asked the community for their views on accountability and transparency at ICANN. An issues paper summarising these comments was posted in January this year (icann.org/announcements/announcement-26jan07b.htm). Based on the feedback that was received and the input from the One World Trust report on accountability and transparency (icann.org/announcements/announcement-4-29mar07.htm), a draft set of Frameworks and principles was released for comment in June. … more

Premium Internet ‘Real Estate’ Up for Auction in 3-Day Event

Have you ever wanted to have a domain name like Bob.com or TopBeaches.com? Well, now is your chance. Go Daddy Signature Auctions takes place November 6 - 8. The fast-paced, online event allows anyone to bid on a long list of premium domain names. … more

John Zuccarini, typosquatter extraordinaire, who used more than 5,500 copycat domain names to divert surfers from their intended Internet destinations to one of his sites, such as Bobthebiulder.com and teltubbies.com, and held them captive while he pelted their screens with a barrage of adult-oriented ads, has agreed to settle FTC charges that he was in contempt of a court order requiring him to halt the practices.

Under the new FTC order, Zuccarini must give up $164,000 in ill-gotten gains, conform to enhanced compliance and monitoring requirements, and transmit a copy of the new order to his probation officer. … more

As recommended by the GNSO Council, ICANN is commencing a forum on potential allocation methods for single-letter and single-digit domain names at the second level in gTLD registries. Examples include a.com, i.info, 4.mobi, 8.org. Since revenue will result from this allocation, comments regarding the potential uses for this revenue are also requested.

ICANN intends to synthesize responses to the forum and present proposed methods for allocation of single-letter and single-digit domain names at the second level for community consideration. … more

With three out of four Internet users watching video online, according to a recent study by comScore, Inc., there’s no doubt that video is one of the hottest Web trends, and a new release of more than 150 video-related domain names under the “VideoLink” brand will provide one opportunist or company the chance to capitalize on this exploding online segment.

Beginning Oct. 16, VideoLinkAmerica.com, VideoLinkNetwork.com and more than 150 supporting (.com) domain names representing key markets in online video will be for sale in a private auction ending Nov. 14, 2007 at 12 p.m. EST. With a reserve price of $64,500 based on an Oct. 2007 independent domain appraisal, the network represents a complete directory of top consumer and business categories under the “VideoLink” brand. … more

Last week the Wall Street Journal had a detailed looked at Internationalised Domain Names (IDN) and the then impending launch this week of the evaluation by ICANN. As the report notes, people with English keyboards, or as they neglect to say also those not with a keyboard in the language of the IDN, won’t be able to type in the address, rather, they will be able to access these IDNs through links from other sites or search engines.

IDNs have come about as “Internet users outside the U.S. in recent years have clamored for the right to have domain names in their own language. They argue their Internet culture and usage are hindered by the requirement to learn English.” … more

ICANN launches global test of Internationalized Domain Names
Internet users around the globe can now experiment with their name in their language on their Internet with today’s launch of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers live testing of Internationalized Domain Names in 11 languages.

“This is one of the most exciting times yet in the development of IDNs,” said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN’s President and CEO. “Internet users who speak the 11 languages of the test can play a key role in testing how IDNs operate, and help us move toward full implementation for all the languages of the world.” … more

Industry Insiders Honor Those Who Understand Power of Domain Names and Internet Traffic at Top Conference, T.R.A.F.F.I.C.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C., the domain industry’s premier conference, concluded its T.R.A.F.F.I.C. East 2007 show in dramatic fashion Friday, October 12, by announcing the winners of its annual We Get It! Awards. This year’s winners are Russian Standard Vodka and Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes, Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Magazine and former presidential candidate (who also delivered the conference’s keynote address). The domain name and Internet traffic industry’s version of the Academy Awards, We Get It! is bestowed upon the organization or individual(s) that has best demonstrated an understanding of the power of domains and the Internet by attracting visitors, increasing sales and beating competitors in terms of Internet marketing. … more

For the headbangers amongst us, acdc.com is no longer a porn site, but is now a website for the great heavy rockers. “ACDC.com is now serving its proper master and we assure you that the dirty deeds being done dirt cheap will now be of an entirely different variety,” the band stated. … more

Kim Davies has an interesting article on the ICANN Blog where he discusses “some of the difficulties we face today in expressing scripts in a consistent way over the Internet. The fact is, whilst we are at the best time in history for having computers represent many different languages clearly and consistently, we are still a long way from the level of support needed to give us strong confidence that people can always see what we intend them to see.” … more

CENTR has announced nic.tr Domain Name Registration, the registry for the .tr country code for Turkey, and SK-NIC, the registry for the .sk country code for the Slovak Republic have become full members. This brings CENTR’s tally of full members to 47, with a total of 55 members. … more

Information Week reports on the new National Strategy for Homeland Security, issued last week by the White House, which they report “places a greater emphasis on the ‘uninterrupted use of the Internet and the communications systems, data, monitoring, and control systems that comprise our cyberinfrastructure.’” … more

ars technica looks at the launch of IDNs in more detail than most media outlets, including reporting on a Wall Street Journal article that quotes a former member of the Egyptian government as saying that the change may be essential in getting “the next 10 percent” of his country online. The story also notes some controversy, with Unicode characters opening “a world of possibilities for phishers, who can use similar looking characters in different alphabets to spoof commercial domains”, something they also say ICANN is aware of, but that it’s not clear IDNs will add to this threat. ars technica notes the WSJ voices concerns of the balkanisation of the internet, something ars technica thinks absurd. The article concludes this internationalisation of TLDs is a step towards recognising the obvious – that people want to use an internet they recognise an understand. … more

CNNIC has published its second list of “domain name violators”. The list includes four registrars - Xiamen Wuxiang Network Technology Company, Xiamen Guoge Network Technology Company, Xiamen Huitong Tianxia Technology Company and Xiamen Zhongyitong Network Service Company - and each registrar has been asked to rectify their business practices in question. … more

The latest T.R.A.F.F.I.C. conference is underway, with domain names being sold left right and centre. But one domain name that didn’t get sold was WallStreet.com, which some news reports had predicted would become the number one domain sale on the charts.

The highest bid was US$3million, substantially under the reserve of $4million to $5million reserve set by the owners. Currently WallStreet.com seems to be just a parking page with links to financial information. Last sold in 2005 for $1.03million and is the 40th highest sale according to SoldNames.com. Nudging it down a place though is Computer.com, sold for $2.2 million at T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Computer.com last sold in 1999 for $500,000. Computer.com would now be the equal 18th highest domain name sale. … more